Tropical Storm Melissa forms in the Caribbean

Tropical Storm Melissa formed in the Caribbean Sea on Tuesday morning. Melissa is the 13th named storm of the 2025 Atlantic Hurricane Season.

At 2 p.m., the National Hurricane Center showed that Melissa had sustained winds of 50 mph and was moving west at 14 mph. The storm was moving over very warm waters.

This will help to fuel additional strengthening in the days to come. For now, the speed and strength have remained unchanged.

Melissa could become a hurricane by later this week, but the official track from the National Hurricane Center keeps the storm in the Caribbean through this weekend.

The farther north this storm gets, the more wind shear it is expected to encounter. Wind shear can help to weaken tropical systems, but can also create uncertainty regarding the strength and direction of a storm.

A Hurricane Watch has been issued for the southern peninsula of Haiti from the border with the Dominican Republic to Port-Au-Prince. The government of Jamaica has also issued a Tropical Storm Watch for the island.

While Melissa moves through the Caribbean, it will unleash flooding rains, strong winds, and rough surf for the Dominican Republic, Haiti, and Cuba. By Friday, 5 to 10 inches of rain could fall in these areas. More rain is expected this weekend.

NOAA Hurricane Hunters are expected to fly into Melissa later Tuesday to get a better idea of the storm's intensity.

Hurricane season lasts through Nov. 30.