SARASOTA, Fla. (WWSB) – Tropical storm Melissa is getting a little bit more organized now. Conditions are expected to become more favorable in a day or two and this will allow the storms to coalesce around the center through the weekend. The center of Melissa has redeveloped a little further north tonight. That can happen with weak tropical storms. This shift north could change track predictions of where Melissa is heading but the thinking is that it will move north for a day and then to the west.
As of 11 p.m. this Thursday evening Melissa is still a weak tropical storm with winds at 45 mph. This is likely to become a very strong storm which could pose a significant life threatening flood issue for Jamaica and Haiti as well as east Cuba. The big story is that it is caught in a low steering environment which will allow Melissa to sit and spin for a few days. Rainfall amounts could be excessive over the weekend and into next week for Jamaica and Cuba. Life threatening landslides and flash flooding will be occurring for many days.
At this time there are no forecast models showing anything close to our coast. It looks like a trough of low pressure will build in over the SE which will eventually force Melissa off toward the NE through east Cuba and then into the central Bahamas by mid week next week.
Our weather is looking good with little chance for rain through Saturday with only a slight chance for a few showers on Sunday…