Melissa could become a Category 5 hurricane. If that wasn't enough, flooding and landslides could be widespread from Hispaniola to Jamaica and Cuba. Here's the very latest forecast.

Forecasters warned of rapid intensification, with Melissa expected to reach hurricane strength later today and potentially major hurricane status by Sunday. The storm’s projected path shows Jamaica directly in its core wind field, with tropical-storm-force winds already extending up to 115 miles (185 km) from the center.

Tropical Storm Melissa is expected to rapidly intensify over the weekend into a Category 4 hurricane, according to the National Hurricane Center. The slow-moving storm is forecast to bring "life-threatening and catastrophic flash flooding and landslides to southern Hispaniola and Jamaica through the weekend.

Jamaica's central location in the Caribbean, the island has never recorded a direct landfall from a Category 4 or 5 hurricane, according to records from the National Hurricane Center (NHC) dating back to 1850.

Although Jamaica has been hit by many hurricanes, a storm stronger than Category 3 has never made landfall on the island.

According to the hurricane center, Hurricane Melissa has a significant possibility of making landfall on Jamaica as a major hurricane and could maintain major hurricane strength when it reaches eastern Cuba. Forecasters say Melissa poses little to no risk for Florida and the U.S. at this time.

Why meteorologists are so concerned about Tropical Storm Melissa when it becomes a hurricane near Jamaica, Haiti, the Cayman Islands, and Cuba.

Tropical Storm Melissa is trekking north-northwest across the Caribbean. NHC has issued a tropical storm warning and hurricane watch for the southern peninsula of Haiti from the border with the Dominican Republic to Port-au-Prince, and Jamaica.

he Port Authority of Jamaica (PAJ) is exploring the development of a new export port in St Thomas, part of its push to make Jamaica the go-to supplier of construction materials across the Caribbean — particularly Guyana, where oil wealth has triggered an unprecedented wave of infrastructure projects.