safety steps

𝗝𝗢𝗜𝗡 𝗢𝗨𝗥 𝗪𝗛𝗔𝗧𝗦𝗔𝗣𝗣 𝗖𝗛𝗔𝗡𝗡𝗘𝗟! 𝗖𝗟𝗜𝗖𝗞 𝗢𝗡 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗟𝗜𝗡𝗞: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029VaN7nmQGOj9na4QhBa12

At 800 PM EDT (0000 UTC), the center of Hurricane Melissa was located near latitude 16.5 North, longitude 75.6 West. Melissa is moving toward the west near 3 mph (6 km/h).

A slow westward motion is expected tonight through the end of the weekend. A turn to the north and northeast is forecast on Monday and Tuesday.

On the forecast track, the center of Melissa is expected to move near or over Jamaica during the weekend and early next week, and it could be near or over eastern Cuba by the middle of next week.

Reports from NOAA and Air Force Reserve Hurricane Hunter aircraft indicate that maximum sustained winds have increased to near 100 mph (155 km/h) with higher gusts.

Rapid intensification is forecast to continue over the next day or so, and Melissa is forecast to become a major hurricane tomorrow and is expected to still be a major hurricane when making landfall in Jamaica early next week.

Hurricane-force winds extend outward up to 15 miles (30 km) from the center and tropical-storm-force winds extend outward up to 160 miles (260 km).

The minimum central pressure estimated from the Hurricane Hunter aircraft data is 971 mb (28.68 inches).