TAMPA, Fla. – Tropical Storm Melissa is expected to gain strength on Friday as it heads toward Jamaica.
What we know:
As of Friday morning, it was located about 270 miles to the southwest of Port-au-Prince, Haiti, and about 150 miles to the southeast of Kingston, Jamaica, according to the National Hurricane Center.
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Melissa’s winds were at 45 miles per hour on Friday morning, but FOX 13 Meteorologist Jim Weber noted that he’s starting to see deeper convection at the center of the storm, which means the storm will intensify.
Weber expects the storm to either move over Jamaica or very close to the island.
What they’re saying:
“This could be a major hurricane as it moves over Jamaica,” Weber said. “Then the rainfall because it’s moving so slowly. We’re talking over a foot of rain, so this is life-threatening, flash-floods, mudslides. Really, the worst-case scenario across Jamaica, stretching over toward Haiti with some of that rain as well.”
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Jamaica’s government issued a hurricane watch and a tropical storm warning on Thursday morning. Similar alerts have been issued for the southwestern peninsula of Haiti, including Port-au-Prince.
The NHC said that hurricane conditions are possible within the watch areas in Jamaica and Haiti starting on Saturday.
What’s next:
Computer forecast models have come into better agreement that Tropical Storm Melissa will track south of Jamaica and Haiti, with those countries being on the strong side of the storm for several days as Melissa potentially rapidly intensifies into a hurricane.
From there, most models have Tropical Storm Melissa making a turn to the north, some over Jamaica and Cuba, and others have the storm moving northward closer to Hispaniola before tracking out to sea and staying east of the United States. Â
The Source: This article was written with information from FOX 13 Meteorologist Jim Weber’s forecast, FOX Weather and the National Hurricane Center.Â