Hurricane Melissa strengthens to Category 5, expected to make landfall in Jamaica

Hurricane Melissa strengthened to a Category 5 hurricane early Monday, before its expected landfall in Jamaica on Tuesday.

The National Hurricane Center said that Hurricane Melissa now has maximum sustained winds of 160 mph with some higher gusts, and some strengthening is possible ahead of making landfall, Fox Weather reported.

Jamaica has a forecast of flooding, with rainfall totals of 15-30 inches across certain portions of the island, and additional rainfall of 8-16 inches for the southern area of Haiti and the Dominican Republic through Wednesday, with storm totals of up to 40 inches possible, according to the NHC forecast.

Jamaica is currently experiencing tropical storm conditions, per the NHC, and destructive hurricane conditions are expected to begin Monday night or early Tuesday.

"Wind speeds atop and on the windward side of hills and mountains could be up to 30 percent stronger than the near-surface winds indicated in this advisory, and in some elevated locations could be even greater," the NHC warned.

Last week, Melissa claimed at least three lives in the Dominican Republic. There was a landslide in Haiti, leaving two people dead on Thursday, and a falling tree killed a man in his 70s during flooding on Wednesday, according to Haiti’s Civil Protection Agency.

"Do not venture out of your safe shelter," the NHC said. "Catastrophic and life-threatening flash flooding and numerous landslides are likely (Monday) through Tuesday."

"Destructive winds, especially in the mountains, will begin by (Monday) evening, leading to extensive infrastructural damage, long-lasting power and communication outages, and isolated communities."

The 2025 Atlantic hurricane season has now had the second-most Category 5 hurricanes to form, with three total. It's just behind the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season, which had four.