Storm Chasers Fly Into Eye of Hurricane Melissa

Millions in Jamaica, Haiti, and Cuba are bracing for catastrophe as the monster Hurricane Melissa bears down on them. But before the expected devastation on land, a "Hurricane Hunter" plane from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration flew into its eye on Sunday. You can watch the video here via the AP.

• First person: "It was humbling, mesmerizing and, surprisingly, poignant—equal parts scientifically stunning and horrifying from a humanitarian standpoint," writes meteorologist Matthew Cappucci in a first-person account of the flight for the Washington Post. It was like being in a "10-mile-wide stadium of the gods." The trip also made him sweat, literally, because it was "swelteringly warm and humid" inside the eye, and Cappucci explains the science of why that is.

• The storm: Melissa, a rare Category 5 storm with sustained winds of 175mph, is expected to make landfall Tuesday morning in Jamaica near St. Elizabeth parish in the south, per the AP. It moves on to Cuba after that.
• Stark warning: "There is no infrastructure in the region that can withstand a Category 5," said Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness. "The question now is the speed of recovery. That's the challenge." After the winds, southern Jamaica is bracing for a storm surge of 13 feet or more.
• US spared: See the storm's expected path and arrival times via a New York Times map. This time, the US East Coast is spared.