Tropical Storm Melissa stationary
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Melissa is the fifth hurricane of the 2025 Atlantic hurricane season, joining Erin, Gabrielle, Humberto and Imelda.
Melissa increased into a near hurricane and is forecast to rapidly intensify into a possible Category 5 through portions of southern Hispaniola and Jamaica.
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Melissa will likely intensify into a hurricane in a matter of hours. Once the storm has its structure in place, rapid intensification is forecast over the near-record warm water.
The NHC said in an 8 p.m. ET advisory on Friday, Oct. 24, that Melissa was located about 225 miles southwest of Port-Au-Prince and 190 miles southeast of Kingston, Jamaica, with maximum sustained winds of 65 mph with higher gusts.
An intensifying Melissa is expected to bring destructive flooding to Jamaica, southern Haiti and the Dominican Republic before tracking toward Cuba next week.
Forecasters warn that Tropical Storm Melissa could bring destructive winds and over 30 inches of rain to Jamaica as the storm edges closer to the island.
Hurricane conditions could last for three days straight in some places, AccuWeather lead hurricane expert Alex DaSilva warned.