Hurricane Melissa is now moving toward eastern Cuba. Conditions from Hurricane Melissa expected to deteriorate rapidly over the next several hours. Feeder bands of hurricane Melissa presently impacting the southeast and central Bahamas.
A Tropical Storm warning is in effect for the Turks and Caicos Islands
A Tropical Storm warning means that tropical storm conditions are expected in the mentioned islands within 36 hours
Tropical storm conditions expected in the Turks and Caicos Islands Wednesday morning
A hurricane warning is now in effect for the central and southeast Bahamas. This includes Exuma and its cays, Ragged Island, Rum Cay, Long Island, San Salvador, Cat Island, Acklins, Crooked island, Long cay, Mayaguana, and Inagua.
At 8 pm edt, the eye of hurricane melissa was located near latitude 18.8 degrees north and longitude 77.2 degrees west, 380 miles south southwest of Providenciales, Turks and Caicos Islands
Hurricane melissa is moving toward the north-northeast near 8 miles per hour. A turn toward the northeast is expected later this evening, and a faster motion in that direction is expected on Wednesday and Thursday. On the forecast track, the core of melissa is expected to move over eastern Cuba later tonight and early Wednesday morning, and move across the southeast or central Bahamas later on Wednesday.
Maximum sustained winds are now near 125 miles per hour with higher gusts. Hurricane melissa is a category 3 hurricane on the Saffir Simpson hurricane wind scale. Melissa is expected to remain a powerful hurricane when it moves across Cuba and the Bahamas.
Hurricane-force winds extend outward up to 30 miles from the center, and tropical-storm-force winds extend outward up to 195 miles.
Residents in The Turks and Caicos Islands should continue to shelter in place, until the “ALL CLEAR” is given.
Rainfall amount:
Expected rainfall totals for the Turks and Caicos Islands are approximately 1 to 3 inches
Storm surge:
A storm surge of 2 to 4 feet is expected in the Turks and Caicos Islands on Wednesday.
