Melissa is not expected to make landfall in Florida or the U.S. The powerful storm is expected to make landfall on the island nation of Jamaica Tuesday morning. At 8 p.m., Melissa has maximum sustained winds of 175 mph and gusts of well over 200 mph. Melissa is a dangerously powerful Category 5 hurricane.

Hurricane Melissa formed in the Caribbean, making it the 13th named storm in the Atlantic this year, the Miami-based National Hurricane Center said. Tuesday, it hit Jamaica as a Category 5 storm, making landfall as one of the strongest hurricanes ever recorded in the Atlantic basin.

Hurricane Melissa, the most powerful storm of the 2025 Atlantic season, made landfall in Jamaica Tuesday as possibly its worst storm in recorded history.

Life-threatening and catastrophic flash flooding and landslides are expected in portions of Jamaica and southern Hispaniola on Tuesday.

Hurricane Melissa’s destructive path through Jamaica has left residents and visitors in South Florida anxiously checking on loved ones back home.

Joan Edghill of Ocoee worried about her 90-year-old uncle in Jamaica as the ferocious Category 5 Hurricane Melissa barreled toward the country where she was born.

Evacuations are in place for parts of Cuba, especially vulnerable areas including nearby dams and in flood zones, as well as in mountainous regions that are susceptible to landslides. Hurricane Melissa is heading north towards Cuba and is expected to hit it within the next five hours roughly.

Melissa is expected to become a Category 5 hurricane by Sunday night, Oct. 26, and have catastrophic impacts on islands in the northern Caribbean.

Melissa is a deadly Category 5 hurricane and is expected to become to worst hurricane in Jamaica's history before it travels north to Cuba.