Human-caused climate change is making major hurricanes like Melissa much stronger, faster and ultimately more life-threatening

Hurricane Melissa, one of the strongest Atlantic storms on record, has carved a devastating path through the Caribbean this week.

According to the NHC, the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale, developed in 1971 by civil engineer Herbert Saffir and meteorologist Robert Homer Simpson, is a rating of 1 to 5 based on a hurricane's sustained wind speed and its potential for significant loss of life and damage.

Hurricane Melissa followed what has unfortunately become a pattern for major storms: It formed late in the season, intensified rapidly, then stalled near the coast.

Here's the status of Hurricane Melissa now. On Halloween morning, Melissa was about 255 miles north of Bermuda. It was recorded moving northeast at about 47 miles per hour, AccuWeather stated online. The storm is expected to move through the Atlantic Ocean, remaining too far offshore to impact New England.

Hurricane Melissa has grown into one of the most powerful storms the Atlantic has seen in years. Here are five startling facts about this devastating storm.

AccuWeather meteorologists issued a warning about what's to come with the last few months of hurricane season.

Hurricane Melissa strengthened into a Category 4 storm as it churned northwest through the Caribbean Sea on Sunday.

Josh Wurman and Karen Kosiba, the researchers inside the mobile radar unit, noted the average wind inside the hurricane’s eyewall was between 90 and 100 mph; it ramped up to 145 mph during the passage of at least one of these whirls.