Hurricane Melissa has intensified into a catastrophic Category 5 storm, the highest level on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale. AccuWeather experts continue to sound the alarm over a deadly situation unfolding across the Caribbean, even as the storm is confirmed to pose no direct impact risk to Florida.
The National Hurricane Center (NHC) reports that Melissa has maximum sustained winds of 160 mph and is crawling westward at a speed of just 3 mph, allowing it to linger and unleash prolonged devastation.
As of the 5 a.m. NHC update, the storm’s center was located approximately 130 miles south-southwest of Kingston, Jamaica, with a minimum central pressure of 917 mb.
Melissa has already been attributed to at least four fatalities across Haiti and the Dominican Republic, and conditions are set to rapidly worsen across the northern Caribbean as the storm continues to gain power over warm waters.
Warnings and Catastrophic Rainfall Threat
A Hurricane Warning is in effect for all of Jamaica and the eastern Cuban provinces of Granma, Guantanamo, Holguin, and Santiago de Cuba. A Tropical Storm Warning remains in place for Haiti and the Cuban province of Las Tunas, while a Hurricane Watch has been issued for the southeastern and central Bahamas and the Turks & Caicos Islands.
The slow, powerful movement of the storm guarantees a multi-day disaster of torrential rainfall:
- Jamaica: Expected to receive 15 to 30 inches of rain.
- Eastern Cuba: Forecast to see 10 to 15 inches of rain, with local amounts of up to 20 inches possible.
- Southern Hispaniola (Haiti/Dominican Republic): Will receive an additional 8 to 16 inches of rainfall.
Forecasters warn that catastrophic flash flooding and numerous landslides are likely across these mountainous islands, potentially cutting off entire communities and leading to a humanitarian crisis.
AccuWeather Chief Meteorologist Jon Porter previously warned that the capital area of Kingston, Jamaica, is extremely vulnerable, with a storm surge of 10 to 15 feet possible near the landfall area, threatening to seriously damage or destroy critical infrastructure such as airports and power plants.
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Melissa is forecast to track in a general northwest fashion before a large-scale jet stream pattern influences it to curve north and shoot northeastward, taking it toward the Bahamas later this week. The Atlantic hurricane season runs through November 30.
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