Recently, Hurricane Melissa roared ashore in Jamaica, leaving behind a trail of destruction that is still being tallied. The storm struck as a Category 5 hurricane, bringing winds exceeding 185 mph (295 kph), torrential rainfall, and widespread flooding that crippled power grids and cut off communities across the island.

For scientists tracking storms like Melissa, the data suggests that modern hurricanes are getting stronger and more destructive. A primary cause seems to be human-driven global warming, which is increasing ocean temperatures, providing more fuel to monstrous hurricanes in the Atlantic.

What is it?

To understand how hurricanes are becoming more destructive, scientists use satellites and temperature maps, like this one taken by the European Space Agency's Copernicus Sentinel-3 to see the temperature differences in these powerful storms.

Hurricanes form over warm ocean surfaces, drawing immense energy from the heat and moisture of the sea. As these storms intensify, the difference between sea surface temperature and cloud-top temperature becomes more extreme, which Sentinel-3 can see as various thermal bands.

Where is it?

This image was taken above Jamaica in the Atlantic Ocean.

Why is it amazing?

The Copernicus program, created by the European Union and run by the European Space Agency, scans Earth with Sentinel satellites to study coastal changes, ocean temperature and other variables.

In this Sentinel-3 image, the stark temperature difference between the top of Hurricane Melissa and its bottom shows how it formed and how it continued to grow into a Category 5 storm. High-resolution images like this one can help explain why studying these storms is essential in forecasting, preparedness and looking ahead in our changing climate.

Want to learn more?

You can learn more about the Copernicus program and hurricanes.

With the help of satellites, we are beginning to get an understanding of just how catastrophic Hurricane Melissa was.

On Oct. 28, Hurricane Melissa became the fourth hurricane in 75 years to make landfall on the island of Jamaica and shattered several Atlantic hurricane records. It is now tied with the 1935 "Labor Day" hurricane for the strongest Atlantic hurricane to make landfall on record, according to Yale Climate Connections. As of Oct. 31, at least 50 deaths have been reported in the storm's wake, and total damages could reach over $50 billion, according to Reuters. The full impact of the storm is still being assessed.

Satellite photos released by Vantor Technology (formerly Maxar) are beginning to reveal the extent of the damage left in Melissa's wake, which left the island of Jamaica unrecognizable in many parts. Vantor Technology recently shared imagery on X showing several locations throughout the island nation that flooded or were damaged by high winds brought by Hurricane Melissa.

Following Hurricane Melissa, Vantor made its satellite imagery available for free in order to help rescue and recovery efforts. "This imagery can be used by frontline organizations and geospatial community members to map changes on the ground and identify the most severely impacted areas, helping ensure resources are allocated quickly and effectively," Vantor wrote alongside the images.

Imagery like this is useful to first responders and other organizations on the front lines as it can help them locate where the hardest hit areas are and where immediate help is needed most. And as the flood waters begin to recede, responders can also use satellite imagery to determine when it's safe to get into those areas to search for survivors and survey the damage.

There were only two hurricanes before Melissa, Hurricane Charlie and Hurricane Gilbert, that reached the status of a major hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale when they made landfall on Jamaica.

But Melissa surpassed every Jamaican hurricane and is now ranked as the strongest ever to landfall on the island, reaching a Category 5 storm last week with sustained winds at 185 miles per hour mph (298 km/h).

Hurricane Melissa's deadly spin is visible from space.

Satellite footage caught the hurricane in rotation on Tuesday (Oct. 28) as it wreaked destruction across the Caribbean. Imagery from the GOES-19 satellite shows "mesovortices" surrounding the hole, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

Metavortices refer to "small-scale rotational features" around the eye of the storm; they form in circumstances of "extreme differences in wind speed and direction," Weather.com states.

Emergency authorities told the Associated Press that Melissa is one of the most powerful Atlantic Ocean hurricanes ever recorded. Human-driven climate change has caused an overall intensification of extreme weather, including hurricanes.

Melissa hit Jamaica on Oct. 28 as a Category 5 storm (the strongest type of storm) with winds of 185 miles per hour (295 kilometers per hour).

Desmond McKenzie, deputy chair of Jamaica's disaster risk management council, declined to share how many people have died, although authorities separately told AP at least four deaths occurred in southwest Jamaica. Roughly 72% of the island has no power and 65% of mobile phone sites are down.

In Haiti, AP added, at least 25 people were killed and 18 others missing following flooding. Cuba had no reported deaths after Melissa hit as a Category 3 on Wednesday (Oct. 29), but "many communities were still without electricity, Internet and telephone service because of downed transformers and power lines," AP stated.

As of Thursday (Oct. 30) morning, Melissa was classified as a Category 2 storm with top sustained winds nearing 105 mph (169 kph) and is situated roughly 515 miles (830 kilometers) southwest of Bermuda, which remains under hurricane warning at the time of AP's report.

Satellites in space watched Hurricane Debby roar across Florida on Monday, bringing with it potentially record-setting rainfall and dangerous 80 mph (129 km/h) winds.

NOAA's GOES-East satellite recorded real-time views of Debby as it watched the hurricane unleash its force across the southeastern U.S. The footage, gathered from the satellite's position about 22,236 miles (35,785 kilometers) above Earth's equator, shows Debby strengthening in the Gulf of Mexico on Sunday, swirling dangerously close to Florida.

Debby made landfall at Steinhatchee, Florida around 7 a.m. ET (1100 GMT) on Aug. 5 as a Category 1 hurricane, drenching the state's Big Bend coast in over 10 inches (25 cm) of rain. By 11 a.m. ET (1500 GMT), it weakened into a tropical storm and was traveling north, carrying with it the potential for record-setting rain and dangerous flooding, the National Hurricane Center (NHC) reported. At least four deaths have been reported so far in Florida, and over 300,000 people remain without power across the state, NBC reported.

The hurricane's outer bands can be seen in the satellite footage sweeping across the state, where it delivered at least two isolated tornadoes and intense thunderstorms, including a few that overturned several campers in an RV park. The satellite continued to capture imagery the storm as it barreled toward the state in the early hours of Monday and as it came ashore in the morning. 

Such satellite imagery helps scientists determine the strength, size, shape and direction of the storms. The day-time views of the hurricane seen in the video are approximately the way they would appear to human eyes from space, according to NOAA. The city lights shining in the night-time views are not real-time depictions, but are sourced from a static database of nighttime mosaics gathered by another NOAA satellite.

Hurricane Hunters of the U.S. Air Force Reserve, who flew into Debby on Sunday, provided data useful for NHC weather forecasting.

Debby is the fourth named storm of this year's Atlantic hurricane season, after Hurricane Beryl and tropical storms Alberto and Chris, all of which formed in June. Forecasters have warned that the season, which runs from June 1 to Nov. 30, will be a busy one.

Debby, now a tropical storm ferrying "potentially historic" amounts of rain and winds of 70 miles per hour (110 kilometers per hour), is moving north along the southeastern coast, the NHC said. In the coming days the storm is expected to dump up to four feet of rain in both Georgia and South Carolina. Governors in both states have declared emergencies.

Hurricane Irma is barreling through the Caribbean as a massive Category 5 storm and its fury unmistakable even from orbit, according to the crew on the International Space Station (ISS).

"Hurricane Irma is clearly visible from the ISS," Russian cosmonaut Sergey Ryazanskiy wrote in a Twitter post showing his photos of Irma from space. "It is one of the most powerful Atlantic hurricanes ever."

It was the sheer size of Hurricane Irma that left Italian astronaut Paolo Nespoli of the European Space Agency in awe. On Wednesday (Sept. 6), he had to snap several photos of the storm just to take it all in. [Hurricane Irma in Photos: Space Views of the Monster Storm]

"One image wasn't enough for what may be the most powerful Atlantic Ocean hurricane ever, stay safe down there," Nespoli wrote on Twitter.    

Cameras mounted to the exterior of the space station have been beaming views of Hurricane Irma daily as the orbiting lab sails high over the storm. The station makes 16 orbits of Earth each day. 

As of  2 p.m. EDT today (Sept. 7), Irma had maximum sustained winds of 175 mph (280 km/h) and was moving across the Caribbean about 65 miles (105 kilometers) north-northeast of Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic, according to an update from the National Hurricane Center. In Florida, where residents are preparing for Irma's arrival later this week, NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral announced it will close on Friday (Sept. 8) and remain so through at least Monday (Sept. 11). 

In Puerto Rico, where Irma made landfall late Wednesday, officials with the  Arecibo Observatory — the world's second-largest radio telescope — reported that the iconic observatory appears to have survived the storm relatively unscathed, though damage evaluations are ongoing. 

Ryazanskiy, Nespoli and NASA astronaut Randy Bresnik make up the Expedition 53 crew living on the International Space Station. The trio will be joined by three new crewmembers next week. 

Email Tariq Malik at tmalik@space.com or follow him @tariqjmalik and Google+. Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook and Google+. Original article on Space.com.