Rainfall. Melissa is expected to bring an additional 4 to 8 inches across Jamaica, where storm total amounts will be between 12 to 24 inches. Isolated areas near 30 inches will be possible over mountainous terrain. Ongoing catastrophic flash flooding and numerous landslides will continue through Tuesday night.

Hurricane Melissa has strengthened into a major Category 4 hurricane, with the possibility of intensifying to a Category 5 storm Sunday night, unleashing torrential rain and threatening to cause catastrophic flooding in the northern Caribbean,

Hurricane Melissa on Monday became the third Category 5 Atlantic hurricane in 2025, and all of them surged up within days/ Why is this happening?

The storm is bringing destructive winds and life-threatening and catastrophic flooding and landslides to Jamaica, forecasters say.

Tuesday, 4 p.m. Melissa was downgraded to a Category 4 hurricane , the National Hurricane Center said, with maximum wind speeds of 150 mph. The center of the storm was reported as just 10 miles south of Montego Bay, one of Jamaica’s largest cities.

Today, Today, several developments occurred. Melissa changed into hurricane, before turning into a Category 5 hurricane. Then, it weakened to a Category 4 hurricane and eventually became a Category 3 hurricane before being downgraded to a Category 3 hurricane with sustained winds of 125 mph.

Jamaica's central location in the Caribbean, the island has never recorded a direct landfall from a Category 4 or 5 hurricane, according to records from the National Hurricane Center (NHC) dating back to 1850.