Tropical Storm Melissa Forecast to Explode Into Major Hurricane

Tropical Storm Melissa continues to churn in the central Caribbean with conditions favorable for gradual strengthening later this week. Here is the latest on how the 13th named storm of the 2025 Atlantic season is developing.

Latest Update on Tropical Storm Melissa

Tropical Storm Melissa is creeping through the Caribbean, raising the risk of torrential rain capable of triggering flooding and mudslides. As of Thursday morning’s update from the National Hurricane Center (NHC), Melissa carried maximum sustained winds near 50 mph, moving northwest at 5 mph about 215 miles southeast of Kingston, Jamaica, and 275 miles southwest of Port-au-Prince, Haiti.

Forecasters are warning that Melissa will intensify into a major hurricane, defined by the NHC as Category 3 or higher. The slow forward speed of the storm means that it could linger over one area for long periods of time, exacerbating the potential damage.