Hurricane Melissa is heading towards Jamaica as a Category 5 storm, the most important on the lists. The maps show your planned trajectory.

Hurricane Melissa is starting to spank jamaicaapproaching landfall on Tuesday as a fierce Category 5. It is expected to bring “catastrophic winds, flash flooding and storm surge” to Jamaica before passing Cuba and the Bahamas, the Miami-based National Hurricane Center warned.

Melissa, the 13th named storm of the Atlantic season, is not expected to have any major consequences. impacts in the continental United Statesbut it has become the strongest Atlantic system this season.

Melissa’s prognosis and path.

The storm had maximum sustained winds of 175 mph according to the NHC’s latest update Tuesday morning. Hurricanes reach Category 5, the top of the Saffir-Simpson hurricane wind scale – when its winds reached 157 mph.

The center of Melissa was about 115 miles west-southwest of Kingston, Jamaica, and about 290 miles southwest of Guantanamo, Cuba, early Tuesday, according to forecasters. Hurricane-force winds extended about 30 miles from the center of the storm and tropical storm-force winds extended out to 195 miles. The storm accelerated its pace slightly and was moving north-northeast at 5 mph.

“On the forecast track, the core of Melissa is expected to move over Jamaica today, across southeastern Cuba on Wednesday morning and across the southeastern or central Bahamas later on Wednesday,” the hurricane center said.

“Some fluctuations in intensity are likely before Melissa makes landfall in Jamaica later today. However, Melissa is expected to reach Jamaica and southeastern Cuba as an extremely dangerous major hurricane, and will remain at hurricane strength as it passes through the southeastern Bahamas,” the center continued.

Maximum storm surges accompanied by destructive waves are forecast to reach 9 to 13 feet above ground level in Jamaica, 7 to 11 feet in Cuba, and 4 to 6 feet in the southeastern Bahamas and Turks and Caicos Islands.

The extremely slow pace of the storm also increases the risk of destructive impacts, particularly in Jamaica.

“The devastation will be very profound because the storm is moving slowly,” said CBS News Philadelphia meteorologist Grant Gilmore. “It will remain at a very slow pace as it passes through the island… All the threats that a hurricane can unleash on an island, they will all happen in Jamaica.”

Melissa is on track to become the most powerful hurricane to ever hit Jamaica.

“The terrain on the island makes it even worse,” said CBS News Philadelphia meteorologist Andrew Kozak. explained. “The mountains of Jamaica force the air to rise and that creates more rain.”

The strongest hurricane to hit Jamaica was Gilbert in 1988, Kozak said. It killed 45 people and caused more than $700 million in damage.

Hurricane warnings

A hurricane warning is in effect for Jamaica and the Cuban provinces of Granma, Santiago de Cuba, Guantánamo and Holguín and the southeastern and central Bahamas.

A hurricane watch is in effect for the Turks and Caicos Islands.

A tropical storm warning is issued for Haiti, the Cuban province of Las Tunas and the Turks and Caicos Islands.

Naval Station Guantanamo Bay said it was moving “non-essential” U.S. citizens off the island in groups ahead of Melissa’s severe weather.

Precipitation forecasts

Melissa is expected to bring 15 to 30 inches of rain to areas of Jamaica and 6 to 12 inches south of Hispaniola (the island divided into Haiti and the Dominican Republic) through Wednesday, with a total of 40 inches possible in some places, the hurricane center said. “Catastrophic flash floods and numerous landslides are likely,” the center noted.

For eastern Cuba, rainfall totals could reach 10 to 20 inches, with up to 25 inches in some locations from Monday through Wednesday, which could result in “potentially catastrophic and life-threatening flash floods with numerous landslides,” the center added.

And rainfall totals of 5 to 10 inches are expected today through Wednesday in the southeastern Bahamas and Turks and Caicos Islands, causing areas of flash flooding.

In the southeastern Bahamas, forecasters said, rainfall totals of 4 to 8 inches are expected Tuesday through Wednesday, leading to areas of flash flooding.

Climate change fuels the storm

Above average temperatures in the Atlantic Ocean, worsened by climate changehelped Melissa rapidly intensify into a major hurricane, according to climate scientists. Stronger winds, heavier precipitation, and greater sea level rise will make storm surges more intense.

Preliminary data from Climate CentralA nonprofit group of scientists that monitors the effects of climate change, suggests that climate change has increased Melissa’s wind speed by 10 mph.

“Climate change is fundamentally changing our climate. It doesn’t mean that every tropical cyclone is going to experience rapid or superrapid intensification. However, in our warmer world, the likelihood that storms will experience rapid and superrapid intensification will continue to increase,” Bernadette Woods Placky, chief meteorologist at Climate Central, told The Associated Press.