Jamaica is expected to be in the storm's eyewall, which refers to the band of dense clouds surrounding the eye of the hurricane. The eyewall generally produces the fiercest winds and heaviest rainfall, according to Deanna Hence, a professor of climate, meteorology and atmospheric sciences at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.

Melissa is forecast to become the first Category 5 landfall in the Atlantic Basin since Dorian roared into the Bahamas in 2019. There have been 32 Category 5 hurricanes in the Atlantic since the use of satellites began in 1966, with 13 of those having formed in the past nine years.

After it lashes the Caribbean this weekend, there’s still uncertainty about where the storm will go next. Here are the scenarios, one day at a time.

Tropical Storm Melissa may not have reached hurricane strength yet, but it’s still already causing dangerous conditions in parts of the Greater Antilles. Localized rain totals over the next several days could reach 35 inches in southern Haiti,

Melissa has now become a Category 1 hurricane that is expected to intensify over the weekend, the National Hurricane Center said Saturday.

Tropical Storm Jerry could become a hurricane by the weekend, the Miami-based National Hurricane Center said early Thursday. Tropical storm conditions are possible later today into Friday on portions of the northern Leeward Islands as Jerry passes nearby,

With sustained winds of 175 mph, Melissa is now one of the strongest hurricanes, based on top wind speeds, on record in the Atlantic basin.

Hurricane Melissa is expected to crash into Jamaica with a strength reserved for a tiny percentage of Atlantic hurricanes. A hurricane reaching Category 4 or 5 strength is quite a feat in itself. The two categories combined make up about 17 percent of all hurricanes in recorded history.