Hurricane Melissa has become one of the strongest hurricanes ever recorded in the Atlantic.

Melissa is hours away from making landfall over Jamaica as an extremely dangerous major hurricane, the National Hurricane Center said.

In its 9 a.m. update, the NHC said Hurricane Melissa had grown stronger with sustained winds of 180 mph, making it a very dangerous and powerful Category 5 storm.

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Hurricane Melissa is approaching the western coast of Jamaica, where it is expected to make landfall Tuesday as a powerful and "extremely dangerous" major hurricane, the National Hurricane Center said.

It's minimum central pressure was recorded at 896 MB – ranking it as the third-strongest Atlantic hurricane on record (tied with the Labor Day hurricane in 1935).

Strongest Atlanti

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