A Tropical Storm Warning means that Tropical Storm conditions are expected in the mentioned islands within 36 hours
A Hurricane Watch means that Hurricane conditions could be experienced within the mentioned islands within 48 hours.
Residents should rush to complete Hurricane preparations by tonight. Tropical Storm or Hurricane conditions expected tonight/early Wednesday morning through Thursday.
At 5 AM EDT, the center of Hurricane Melissa was located near latitude 17.2 degrees north and longitude 78.3 degrees west 500 miles Southwest of Providenciales, Turks and Caicos Islands.
Hurricane Melissa is moving toward the North-Northeast near 5 miles per hour. A turn toward the northeast with an increase in forward speed is expected later today, followed by a faster northeastward motion on Wednesday and Thursday.
Maximum sustained winds are near 175 miles per hour with higher gusts. Melissa is a Category 5 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale. Some fluctuations in intensity are likely before Melissa makes landfall on Jamaica later today. However, Melissa is expected to reach Jamaica and southeastern Cuba as an extremely dangerous major hurricane and it will still be at hurricane strength when it moves across the Southeast Bahamas.
Hurricane-force winds extend outward up to 30 miles from the center, and tropical-storm-force winds extend outward up to 195 miles.
Storm surge of 4 to 6 feet above normally dry ground is possible in the Southeast Bahamas and the Turks and Caicos Islands on Wednesday.
