Potentially catastrophic Hurricane Melissa is forecast to hit the southern coast of Jamaica Tuesday morning with sustained winds of up to 175 mph, a life-threatening storm ahead of the island of Southeast Cuba.
Heavy rains that could produce 15 to 30 inches of rain, with 40 inches possible in remote areas, are expected to contribute to deadly landslides in the mountainous region, the USational Hurricane Center said.
With its aggressive intensity, Melissa became the tropical storm of 2025 around the world, “typhoon ragasa of the Western Pacific storm,” at least 7 deaths in the Caribbean.
At 5 a.m. ET Tuesday, the National Hurricane Center said Melissa was centered 115 miles west-southwest of Kingston, Jamaica, and 290 miles southwest of Guantanamo, Cuba. The storm had begun to move northeast, but it was only moving at five-year speed, with maximum sustained winds near 175 mph.
Hurricane Melissa becomes a category 5 hurricane to hit Jamaica
Jamaican Prime Minister Holveness and other officials urged Jamaicans to seek shelter and stay on the roads until the worst of the storm. Residents of the island were also encouraged to be prepared for the effects they had not experienced in previous storms.
“Hour by hour, it’s clear that the impact of Hurricane Melissa will be greater than the impact of Hurricane Beryl, certainly in terms of hair and flooding,” Holness said.
Melissa is expected to be the first category 5 hurricane to hit the island. This is the highest possible category in the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane wind scale. It is also forecast to bring a 13-foot storm surge, including large storm surges, to the southern coast of Jamaica, and the highest intensity forecasted to the southeast coast of Cuba, the Hurricane Center said.
Torrential rains had already fallen for days, and tropical-force winds and rain from Melissa’s outer forces had begun to batter Jamaica earlier Monday. The storm was more predictable than falling near the black river and beginning to accelerate.
Within the catastrophic winds of the eyewall, “structural failure may occur, especially at high altitudes where the wind is faster than the hills and in the structures of strong hills, the center of the motorcycle may be strong. If the estimated winds on the face of the face remain at 175 mph, that would put the wind speed in high places over 200 mph.
The storm could cause “major infrastructure damage, permanent power and connectivity,” isolating communities, the center said.
Even though hurricane-force winds begin to decrease as storms approach land, the Hurricane Center has distinguished the destructive power of category 4 winds (130-156 mph) as opposed to category 5, (above 157 mph).
Hurricane Melissa strengthened to a powerful Category 5 hurricane with 175-MPH winds on Oct. 27 as it is transported to the Caribbean Sea south of Jamaica.
Melissa powered over warm waters in the Caribbean last week, with sustained winds of 65 mph during one 15-hour period. Its low barometric pressure and high winds propelled Melissa to become the most protected tropical cyclone in the Atlantic Basin, investigators said.
Deaths, injuries reported on islands as Hurricane Melissa approaches
At least three people have died in Jamaica as they prepare for Typhoon Melissa, Christopher Tufton, Minister of Health and Welfare, said Monday.
The deaths, which occurred in Hanover, St. Katherine and St. Elizabeth counties, occurred while the trees were being cut down, Tufton said. Two people died after trees fell on them, including a health worker who was rushed to hospital and later died of his injuries. The third case involved a person who had been electrocuted again, said the Health Minister.
Another 13 people were injured, according to Tufton, most after falling from stairs or roofs while trying to prepare for the storm.
At least four deaths were also reported in Haiti and the Dominican Republic late Monday, according to the opposition.
What is keeping Hurricane Melissa away from the US?
A series of weather events have contributed to heavy rains and dangerous surf in the southeast, especially in Florida, but timed systems are also part of the path of miraculous weather from a powerful storm.
On Sunday, “many meters” of water “were reported in the living room of boca ratan chatter after heavy rains, according to the National Weather Service in Miami, Florida. In Central Florida, more than 19 centimeters were reported in 24 hours in Eustis, Lake County, while 16 centimeters were reported in many places elsewhere in Melbourne, Florida. Read more.
Hystricane Melissa rain
Melissa could briefly bring hot and rough seas to the US East Coast after passing the Bahamas later in the week, but because of the high-level weather angle, but a meteorologist with the National Weather Service Prediction Center, said any coastal impacts should be short-lived.
Although storms pass through the ocean, including tropical systems and Nor’aster, they have caused wear and tear and serious impacts in this period of Surlantic CHANGAL, which passed to North Carolina and July 6.
Hurricane Melissa is a dangerous storm
As Melissa’s pressure dropped and winds picked up on Monday, she began working in the history books. A third category 5 Atlantic hurricane season.
What lowers the pressure, Hurricane, Phil Klotzbach, senior hurricane researcher at Colorado State University, said in a post to X.
When its pressure was recorded at 901 milliyars in the 2 AM update on Tuesday, Melissa became the sixth lowest pressure Atlantic hurricane since researchers began recording pressures in 1979, according to data from Klotzbach.
Klotzbach listed low pressure storms as:
Only five other hurricanes with winds of 111 mph or more have made landfall in Jamaica, according to historical records, Klotzbach said. Hurricane Gilbert, which made landfall with winds as high as 130 mph in 1988, is the strongest hurricane on record to make direct landfall on the island.
TRAINING IN THE EYE EYE The powerful storm forced another National Oceanic and Atmospheric Rescue and Atmospheric Administration aircraft to be removed from the eye of the storm beginning Monday, according to the Hurricane Center.
A resident stands in the flooded section of Port Royal in Kingston on October 27, 2025 before the arrival of the strongest winds of Hurricane Melissa. At least seven deaths have already been attributed to the storm, even before landfall, officials in the region said.
Hurricane Melissa promises feet of rain in Jamaica. How does it measure
Weather of several feet of rain is rare, but not unheard of during the fall in Jamaica.
In 2010 – Hurricane Nicole was similar to that, but in less time, dropping 37.42 centimeters in Belleisle, Jamaica, in five days, the hurricane center said. Most of the island received 1 to 2 meters of rain during the same period. More than 13 people died, and damage to the country’s infrastructure was reported at about $235 million.
2001 – During the last few days of October and the first few days of November in 2001, the slow-moving Michelle helped to cause heavy rains in the central United States and Jamaica, according to the hurricane center. Naulfall Totals over 10 days were as high as 37.44 inches near Castle, Jamaica. It is reported that two people died in Jamaica, and five died in Cuba.
In 1963 – Typhoon Flora reportedly dropped 60 inches of rain in Silver Hill, Jamaica, and 100.39 inches in Santiago de Cuba, Cuba, according to meteorologist Noaa.
1909 – Historical records, including monthly updates by the US Weather Bureau, show a record 135 inches of rain on Silver Hill over eight days from Nov. 4 to Nov. 11.
Credit: Reuters
Dinah Voyles Pulver, a national correspondent for USA Today, has written about hurricanes, storms and violent weather for more than 30 years. Reach him at dpulver@usatoday.com or @Dinahvp on Bluesky or X or DINAHVP.77 on Signal.
This article originally appeared in USA Today: Hurricane Melissa Live Updates: Hurricane Expected To Hit Jamaica
