Hurricane Melissa, now a Category 4 storm, is expected to gain force as it threatens catastrophic damage to Jamaica and other Caribbean islands. Forecasters say Melissa will reach Category 5 intensity with winds surpassing 150 mph later in the coming days.
As the storm tracks northwest through the Caribbean Sea, it’s expected to bring damaging winds, heavy rainfall, life-threatening flash flooding, and risk of landslides to Jamaica on Oct. 26. The strongest winds will hit early in the week, though catastrophic conditions are likely to begin much earlier, the National Hurricane Center said.
A hurricane warning was in effect Oct. 26 for Jamaica, as the slow-moving storm brewed 110 miles off the coast of the country's capital. When the powerful hurricane makes its forecast landfall between late Oct. 27 and early Oct. 28, Melissa is expected to be "an upper-end Category 4 hurricane, which could be the strongest direct landfall for the island" since tropical storm records have been kept, the National Hurricane Center said.
When Hurricane Melissa makes landfall in Jamaica, "it'll be only the 5th major hurricane on record to strike the nation," said hurricane researcher Michael Ferragamo in a post on X on Oct. 25. With a forecast landfall speed of 150 mph, the storm "would easily surpass the island's strongest on record." Hurricane Gilbert made landfall as a high-end Category 3 hurricane in September 1988.
