Tropical Storm Melissa is expected to strengthen into a hurricane, threatening the northern Caribbean with massive rainfall and life-threatening flooding

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.

At 8 a.m. Saturday, the National Hurricane Center issued an advisory stating that Tropical Storm Melissa is in the Caribbean Sea, 160 miles southeast of Kingston Jamaica and 235 miles southwest of Port Au Prince Haiti. The system, with maximum sustained winds of 70 mph, is moving west-northwest at 1 mph.

Melissa is forecast to become a hurricane by Saturday, Oct. 25, and a major hurricane by Sunday, Oct. 26, the Hurricane Center said. Current forecasts predict Melissa will be a Category 4 storm early next week. A major hurricane is one that is a Category 3 or higher, with maximum sustained winds of at least 111 mph.

Melissa is expected to bring "life-threatening and catastrophic flash flooding and landslides" to Hispaniola and Jamaica through the weekend.

Melissa is currently the only active tropical system in the Atlantic basin. As of Friday night, the storm remains nearly stationary, drifting north at just 2 mph. Maximum sustained winds are around 65 mph—just below the 75 mph threshold needed to reach Category 1 hurricane status.

Tropical Storm Melissa is nearly stationary in the central Caribbean, with forecasters warning it could soon strengthen and brush past Jamaica as a powerful hurricane.