Jamaica remains under tropical storm watch as TS Melissa continues its slow westward drift 

Jamaica: A tropical storm watch remains in effect for Jamaica as the newly formed Tropical Storm Mellisa continues to move slowly across the Caribbean Sea south of Hispaniola, confirmed Prime Minister Andrew Holness.

Through an official post on his social media account, the PM said that this means tropical storm conditions pose a potential threat to Jamaica during the period of next 48 hours.

Tropical Storm Melissa continues its slow westward drift…
Jamaica remains under a tropical storm watch. pic.twitter.com/NU20vBlUmn

— Andrew Holness (@AndrewHolnessJM) October 23, 2025

Forecasters say that as the system nears Jamaica, heavy showers will begin to impact the island with periods of moderate to heavy rainfall starting in the afternoon and continuing through Friday and till the end of weekend.

Moreover, strong and gusty winds, possibly reaching tropical storm intensity are likely to slowly develop late on Thursday, especially over northeastern and southern parishes and continuing through the weekend.

The forecasters also urged the people linked with marine sector that they can expect widespread heavy showers along with thunderstorms as well as tropical storm force winds on Thursday throughout the weekend.

“All small craft operators should by now be in port and urged to complete their necessary safety precautions without delay,” noted Jamaica Meteorological Service.

While sharing the latest update, he said that as of 10 pm, the centre of Tropical Storm Melissa was located near latitude 14.3 degrees towards North and longitude 74.6 degrees towards West. It was further noted that this is around 535 Km south southwest of Port-au-Prince in Haiti and around 435 km south southeast of Morant Point in Jamaica or around 475 km south-southeast of Kingston, Jamaica.

According to forecasters, Tropical Storm Melissa is moving very gradually towards the west at a speed of 4 km per hour. A slow forward speed along with a gradual turn towards the northwest or north northwest is predicted during the upcoming days which is expected to be followed by a westward turn this weekend.

As of now the maximum sustained winds are around 85 km per hour which is 50 miles per hour with higher gusts. Some gradual strengthening is predicted during the coming days with forecasters saying that Melissa could become a hurricane by Friday with more substantial intensification predicted by this weekend.

The storm is also expected to continue in the direction of Jamaica as shown on its forecast track before turning towards the west this Saturday and moving over the waters towards south of the island.