Saturday afternoon Melissa strengthened into a hurricane and within a few hours is up to a category 2 storm. As of the 7 PM Central report from the National Hurricane Center, Hurricane Melissa was located about 130 miles southeast of Kingston, Jamaica.Â
The storm is forecast to strengthen to a category 5 by Monday before making direct landfall on Jamaica. A Hurricane Warning has been issued for the island where the NHC warns "life-threatening and catastrophic flash flooding and landslides" are expected. Parts of Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Cuba, and the Bahamas are also on alert for potential impacts from this hurricane.Â
As a reminder, hurricane ratings only come from wind speed. No other threats are factored into the category ratings such as storm surge, flooding, rainfall, torando potential, etc. The Saffir Simpson scale, shown below from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, shows the wind speed and damage potential of each category. Melissa is currently a category 2 storm with maximum sustained winds at 100 mph and is expected to strengthen to a category 5 storm in the next 36 hours.Â
Hurricane Melissa does not pose any threat to central Illinois, and it will not impact our weather here.Â
