Hurricane scientist Andy Hazelton with the University of Miami took this photo inside the eye of Hurricane Melissa aboard a flight on the NOAA WP-3D hurricane reconnaissance aircraft dubbed Kermit, for Kermit the Frog.
An NRD41 dropsonde, like the ones dropped into Hurricane Melissa, is seen inside Hurricane Irma. The dropsonde technology is developed by the National Science Foundation's National Center for Atmospheric Research and manufactured by Vaisala.

The incredible 252 mph peak wind gust measured in Hurricane Melissa as it approached Jamaica was verified this week.

That wind gust is now officially the highest wind speed ever recorded by the expendable instruments, called dropsondes, that are deployed into hurricanes, according to the National Center for Atmospheric Research at the National Science Foundation, where the instruments were developed.

When Andy Hazelton, an associate scientist at the University of Miami, saw the data coming in from his spot aboard the NOAA Hurricane Hunter aircraft "Kermit" on Oct. 28, he could hardly believe his eyes. The wind reading was so high it was off the edge of the graph chart that displays the measurements.

"I knew it was a potentially historic observation," Hazelton told USA TODAY on Nov. 20. "It was sobering to see it happen right near landfall."

Other scientists watching the data flow in had similar reactions to the peak gust, a mix of awe at the power of nature and concern for the havoc it can wreak on people and their communities.

At least 90 deaths have been blamed on Hurricane Melissa, including 45 in Jamaica, where Melissa struck the island as a Category 5 hurricane on Oct. 28 with winds at the surface of more than 150 mph. Jamaican officials said this week Melissa caused at least $8.8 billion in damages. The storm also claimed lives in Haiti and the Dominican Republic.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration promptly contacted the atmospheric research center to ask them to confirm the measurement.

"NOAA looped us in when they saw the high wind speed and asked, 'Are these numbers any good?'" said Holger Vömel, a senior scientist in the center's dropsonde program.

"They have pilots and researchers literally putting their lives on the line to get these measurements," Vömel stated in a news release. "They’re the heroes, and it’s a privilege we get to play a role in making sure the measurements they acquire are accurate."

The center's staff ran the gust through a quality control program, checked that the numbers tracked with the laws of physics and typical hurricane behavior. With no gaps in reported measurements, and no other anomalies, the center confirmed the gust surpassed the previous dropsonde record gust of 248 mph, measured during Tyhpoon Megi over the Western Pacific in 2010.

The dropsondes, dropped through a chute in the hurricane hunter aircraft, gather data at levels that would be unsafe for the airplanes and their human passengers.

The crew aboard Kermit was deploying a fleet of instruments into the hurricane, where they dropped down through intense winds and rain, also streaming data on pressure, temperature and humidity back to the plane, where it could be transmitted to the hurricane center.

The 252-mph wind gust was recorded just before the dropsonde plunged into the Caribbean south of Jamaica on the morning of Oct. 28. Melissa, with peak sustained winds of 185 mph, was one of the most intense hurricanes on record in the Atlantic.

But forecasters at the National Hurricane Center and the models they use "need to know what is happening near sea level because that’s where people and property are most affected," said Terry Hock, an engineer who manages the dropsonde program at the foundation's atmospheric research center. "The dropsonde gets you information you can’t get any other way and that’s why it’s been around for decades."

The scientists and engineers at NCAR works with other hurricane scientists to continue advancing the technology and tools to analyze the data the dropsondes collect.

This story has been updated to add new information.

Dinah Voyles Pulver, a national correspondent for USA TODAY, has written about hurricanes, tornadoes and violent weather for more than 30 years. Reach her at dpulver@usatoday.com or @dinahvp on Bluesky or X or dinahvp.77 on Signal.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Hurricane Melissa's 252 mph wind gust sets historic record

Reporting by Dinah Voyles Pulver, USA TODAY / USA TODAY

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