Potentially catastrophic Hurricane Melissa is forecast to slam the southern coast of Jamaica on the morning of Oct. 28 with sustained winds of up to 175 mph, even higher gusts and a life-threatening storm surge, leaving a wake of destruction across the island before focusing its ferocity on southeastern Cuba.
Torrential downpours that could produce 15 to 30 inches of rain, with as much as 40 inches of rain possible in isolated locations, are also expected to contribute to deadly landslides in the island's mountainous terrain, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said.
With its fierce intensification, Melissa became the strongest tropical cyclone of 2025 globally, "beating out the Western Pacific’s Typhoon Ragasa," meteorologist Jeff Masters wrote for Yale Climate Connections on Oct. 27. At least 7 deaths in the Caribbean had been blamed on the dangerous hurricane as of Oct. 27.
At 5 a.m. ET on Oct. 28, the National Hurricane Center reported Melissa was centered about 115 miles west-southwest of Kingston, Jamaica, and 290 miles southwest of Guantanamo, Cuba. The hurricane had begun moving toward the north-northeast, but was moving at only about 5 mph, with maximum sustained winds near 175 mph.
