A weather system in the eastern Caribbean Sea continues to show signs of development on the afternoon of Monday Oct. 20, and forecasters say a tropical depression or tropical storm is likely to form within the next day or two. If it becomes a named storm as expected, it would get the name Melissa.
While the system could impact the islands of the Caribbean later this week or by the weekend, "none of our model guidance shows future Melissa posing any threat to Florida or the mainland U.S.," said WPLG-TV hurricane specialist Michael Lowry in a Substack post on Oct. 20.
"This is a concern for Caribbean interests – from Honduras and Nicaragua to parts of Cuba, Jamaica, Haiti, and the Dominican Republic – not us stateside in the U.S.," Lowry said.
October is still hurricane season: The most destructive storms in U.S. history
If Melissa forms, it would be the 13th named storm of the 2025 Atlantic hurricane season. A typical year sees 14 storms, according to data from Colorado State University.
