Update
Oct. 27 (11 p.m.)
Hurricane Melissa intensified to a top category 5 system Monday with its forecast path covering western and central Jamaica.
The storm is now up to maximum sustained winds of 175 mph, moving slowly north-northeast late Monday night.
The storm's center is projected to reach western and/or central Jamaica Tuesday morning. The peak wind speeds and gusts are located around 10 miles from the center of the hurricane. While the entire island will not experience these peak winds, this will likely be the strongest hurricane to ever directly hit Jamaica.
Afterwards, the track continues to move northeast over Cuba by midweek as a category 3 and then through the southeastern Bahamas on its way out to open waters.
Oct. 26; (2 p.m.)
As Hurricane Melissa continues to strengthen, Jamaica is bracing for impact.
The storm is now up to maximum sustained winds of 140 mph and is expected to reach a maximum strength of 160 mph Monday before making landfall in Jamaica. This will be the strongest hurricane to ever directly hit Jamaica.
Afterwards, the track continues to move northeast over Cuba as a category 3 and then out to open waters.
Oct. 25; (11 p.m.)
Hurricane Melissa has now rapidly intensified to a major category 3 hurricane with sustained winds of 115 mph.
The system will continue to gain strength over the next two days and eventually reach category 5 strength with winds over 155 mph.
With the slow movement of Melissa, catastrophic winds, rain, and flooding is expected for Jamaica, Cuba, Haiti and surrounding areas. The system is currently crawling west at 3 mph.
Stick with us for updates as they become available.
Oct. 25; (2 p.m.)
As of 2 p.m., Melissa has upgraded to a category 1 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 75 mph.
The system is still slowly moving to the west-northwest at 1 mph and is expected to continue strengthening as it stays over the warm Caribbean.
The latest forecast cone continues to have Jamaica as the first landfall for Melissa at category 4 strength.
Original
Tropical Storm Melissa strengthened Friday evening, with top winds of 65 mph, and slowly moving north at 2 mph.
Melissa will move slowly for a few more days, with a slight drift to the north or west, while remaining over the Caribbean Sea through early next week.
Melissa is expected to have a greater effect on some of the islands of the Greater Antilles, such as Hispaniola, Cuba, and Jamaica, where a variety of tropical-related advisories are issued.
There is still some long-range uncertainty about the storm's exact track, but it appears that it will generally move to the north or northeast into early next week. There are no signals that show Melissa entering the Gulf of America / Gulf of Mexico.
Melissa is forecast to strengthen into a major hurricane by early next week, if not sooner.
Stay with us for updates as they become available.
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