Melissa, Tropical Storm and National Hurricane Center
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Tropical Storm Melissa is expected to rapidly intensify over the weekend into a Category 4 hurricane, according to the National Hurricane Center. The slow-moving storm is forecast to bring "life-threatening and catastrophic flash flooding and landslides to southern Hispaniola and Jamaica through the weekend.
What was once a very powerful storm has now weakened into scraps. As of Friday morning, Melissa has officially become a post-tropical storm.
Melissa is currently the only active tropical system in the Atlantic basin. As of Friday night, the storm remains nearly stationary, drifting north at just 2 mph. Maximum sustained winds are around 65 mph—just below the 75 mph threshold needed to reach Category 1 hurricane status.
At 11 a.m. Saturday, the National Hurricane Center issued an advisory stating that Tropical Storm Melissa is in the Caribbean Sea, 155 miles southeast of Kingston Jamaica and 235 miles southwest of Port Au Prince Haiti. The system, with maximum sustained winds of 70 mph, is moving west-northwest at 1 mph.
Former Hurricane Melissa, one of the strongest Atlantic storms on record, weakened after leaving a trail of devastation across Caribbean islands.
Melissa’s 10-day run as a tropical cyclone – culminating in a catastrophic Category 5 strike on western Jamaica Tuesday – will end Friday as it transitions into a powerful non-tropical storm, clipping Atlantic Canada’s southern Avalon Peninsula tonight before heading swiftly out to sea.
AccuWeather on MSN
Caribbean being monitored for new tropical development in November
AccuWeather forecasters say warm waters and a temporary lull in disruptive winds could support tropical development in the western Caribbean during the final month of the Atlantic hurricane season.
Bermuda is yet again under a hurricane threat this season as Hurricane Melissa is forecast to charge north, bringing dangerous winds and storm surge.