The Meteorological Service of Jamaica has activated a tropical storm warning for the island as Tropical Storm Melissa stalls in the central Caribbean Sea on Thursday (October 23).

In its latest bulletin this morning, the Met Office further indicated that a hurricane watch is also in effect for Jamaica as it continues to monitor the system’s slow progression through the basin.

As at 8:00 am Eastern Daylight Time (EDT), the National Hurricane Center (NHC) located the disorganised eye of Melissa near latitude 15.5 North, longitude 74.9 West—or roughly 345 kilometres southeast of Kingston.

Melissa, the 10th named storm of the 2025 Hurricane Season, is moving toward the northwest at seven kilometres/hour and currently packs maximum sustained winds near 85 kilometres/hour, with higher gusts.

On the forecast track, the Met Service warned that TS Melissa is expected to continue in the direction of Jamaica before turning towards the west on Saturday and moving over the waters south of the island.

With a glancing approach, shower bands of Melissa’s outermost fringes may start drenching Jamaica with periods of moderate to heavy rainfall as early as this afternoon. This will continue through Friday and the weekend.

Strong, gusty winds, possibly reaching tropical storm strength, are expected to gradually develop late today and Friday, continuing into the weekend. These winds will initially affect eastern and southern parishes before gradually spreading across the remainder of the island. Hurricane-strength winds are possible over sections of eastern parishes as early as Saturday, as Tropical Storm Melissa continues to move closer to Jamaica.

NHC forecasters anticipate little change in strength is expected during the next day or so, but significant development by late Friday and over the weekend. Projection models already forecast Melissa to reach major hurricane (category three or higher) intensity in a couple of days.

Meanwhile, the Met Service advised that fisherfolk and other marine interests should expect widespread heavy showers and thunderstorms, accompanied by tropical-storm-force winds today and continuing through the weekend. Winds reaching hurricane strength are likely on Saturday, particularly over southern and eastern offshore waters, as Tropical Storm Melissa moves closer to the island.

“All small craft operators, including fishers from the cays and banks, should by now be in port and are urged to complete their necessary safety precautions without delay,” the local watchdog noted.

A hurricane watch is also in effect for the southwestern peninsula of Haiti from the border with the Dominican Republic to Port-Au-Prince, as the NHC further warned interests elsewhere in Haiti, the Dominican Republic, and Cuba to monitor the progress of Melissa.