Hurricane Melissa, now a Category 4 storm, slowly moving toward Jamaica and Cuba

Hurricane Melissa strengthened into a 140 mph Category 4 storm early Sunday morning and continues on its path toward Jamaica and Cuba.

“Tropical storm conditions are likely occurring in Jamaica, with hurricane conditions expected by Monday,” the National Hurricane Center said in its 8 a.m. Sunday advisory.

As of the 8 a.m. advisory from the National Hurricane Center…

Where Melissa is and where Melissa is going: Melissa is about 120 miles south-southeast of Kingston, Jamaica, and 280 miles south-southwest of Guantánamo, Cuba. As it moves directly west, its speed has picked up to 5 mph from 3 mph most of Saturday night.

“A slow westward motion is expected (Sunday), followed by a turn to the north and northeast on Monday and Tuesday,” the hurricane center said. “On the forecast track, the center of Melissa is expected to move near or over Jamaica through Tuesday, across southeastern Cuba Tuesday night, and across the southeastern Bahamas on Wednesday.”

Melissa’s size and strength: Melissa’s bringing 140 mph maximum sustained winds, making it a Category 4 storm. Hurricane force winds blow up 25 miles from the storm’s center, and tropical storm force winds blow another 150 miles from Melissa’s center.

“Further rapid intensification is expected through (Sunday night), followed by fluctuations in intensity,” the hurricane center said. “Melissa is expected to be a major hurricane when making landfall in Jamaica Monday night or Tuesday morning and southeastern Cuba late Tuesday.”

Watches and warnings about Melissa: These remain as they’ve been since Saturday afternoon.

Jamaica’s under a hurricane warning.

Hurricane watches are in effect for the Cuban provinces of Granma, Guantánamo, Holguín and Santiago de Cuba. Haiti’s southwest peninsula, from the border with the Dominican Republic to Port-Au-Prince, is under a hurricane watch and tropical storm warning, meaning they can expect tropical storm conditions within the next 36 hours.

On Saturday, the South and Grand’Anse regions of Haiti were both upgraded to red alerts by the National Disaster Risk Management System. Haitians were warned that the intensification of Melissa had increased the risks of flash floods and landslides. Haitians were asked to remain home, or to move to higher ground if they lived in a flood-prone area. They were also warned to “not cross rising water,” by any means.

Melissa’s effects: If you’re looking for good news in the update for any part of the Caribbean, “the potential for hurricane conditions in the watch area in Haiti have diminished for (Sunday).”

But, tropical storm winds are still expected there on Sunday and hurricane winds remain possible there Tuesday. Eastern Cuba could get hurricane force winds Tuesday and Wednesday.

Being a slow moving storm, Melissa is expected to dump 15 to 30 inches of rain on Jamaica and the southern part of Hispaniola, with some areas getting 40 inches. And, the rain isn’t expected to stop on Wednesday.

“Catastrophic flash flooding and landslides are probable across portions of southern Hispaniola and Jamaica,” the hurricane center said.

All that wind and rain means, “Life-threatening storm surge is likely along the south coast of Jamaica late Monday through Tuesday morning. Peak storm surge heights could reach 9 to 13 feet above ground level” near Melissa’s landfall area and east of that.

“This storm surge will be accompanied by large and destructive waves,” the hurricane center said. “There is a potential for significant storm surge along the southeast coast of Cuba late Tuesday or Wednesday.

Next advisory: The next complete advisory will be at 11 a.m.