Six Cuban provinces, from Camagüey to Guantánamo, are in a cyclonic alarm phase due to the imminent passage of Hurricane Melissa.
MONDAY, OCTOBER 27
2:00 pm Part of the United States National Hurricane Center (NHC)
Hurricane Melissa, category 5, is advancing slowly through the Caribbean with maximum sustained winds of 280 km/h and minimum central pressure of 906 hectopascals. The N.H.C. maintains a “hurricane warning” for Jamaica and for the Cuban provinces of Granma, Santiago de Cuba, Guantánamo and Holguín. A “tropical storm warning” is also in effect for Las Tunas.
At 2:00 pm this Monday, the center of Melissa was located about 230 km southwest of Kingston (Jamaica) and 525 km southwest of Guantánamo. The system is moving west-northwest at 6 km/h and “a slow turn toward the northwest and north is expected later today, followed by a turn toward the northeast and a faster forward speed on Tuesday,” with a movement toward the northeast Wednesday and Thursday, according to the NHC.
On the forecast track, “the core of Melissa is expected to move over Jamaica tonight and early Tuesday, across southeastern Cuba Tuesday night, and across the southeastern Bahamas on Wednesday.”
Melissa’s wind field maintains a hurricane radius of up to 45 km from the center and a tropical storm radius of up to 315 km, according to the NHC report. Forecasts indicate that, although fluctuations in intensity may occur prior to impact in Jamaica, “Melissa is expected to reach Jamaica and southeastern Cuba as an extremely powerful major hurricane” and that it “will still be at hurricane strength as it moves through the Bahamas.”
For Cuba, “tropical storm conditions are expected to begin in the east of the country this Tuesday, and hurricane conditions on Tuesday night.”
For the eastern region of the Island, the NHC predicts “a total storm rainfall of 15 to 20 inches, with locally higher amounts” and expects “potentially catastrophic, life-threatening flash floods, as well as numerous landslides.”
Additionally, “there is potential for significant storm surge along the southeastern coast of Cuba from late Tuesday or Wednesday,” with maximum heights of “7 to 11 feet above normal tide levels,” also accompanied by “large and destructive waves.”
