ALERT #6 ON HURRICANE MELISSA issued by The Bahamas Department of Meteorology, Monday, October 27th, 2025, at 9:00 A.M. EDT.
BAHAMAS DEPARTMENT OF METEOROLOGY
FORECAST OFFICE SECTION
Telephone: 377-7178 / 377-7040
Fax No. 377-5275
Nassau, Bahamas
Website: https://met.gov.bs
Email: meteo@batelnet.bs
ALERT #6 ON HURRICANE MELISSA issued by The Bahamas Department of Meteorology, Monday, October 27th, 2025, at 9:00 A.M. EDT.
...NOAA AND AIR FORCE RESERVE HURRICANE HUNTERS
INVESTIGATIONS CATEGORY 5 MELISSA...DESTRUCTIVE WINDS
AND STORM SURGE AND CATASTROPHIC FLOODING WILL
WORSEN ON JAMAICA THROUGH THE DAY AND INTO THE NIGHT...
A Hurricane Watch is now in effect for the Central and Southeast Bahamas and the Turks and Caicos Islands. This includes Exuma and its Cays, Ragged Island, Rum Cay, Long Island, San Salvador, Cat Island, Acklins, Crooked Island, Long Cay, Mayaguana, Inagua, and the Turks and Caicos Islands.
A Hurricane Watch means that Hurricane conditions could be experienced within the mentioned islands within 48 hours.
At 8:00 A.M. EDT, the center of Hurricane Melissa was located near latitude 16.4 degrees north and longitude 78.0 degrees west, or about 135 Southwest of Kingston, Jamaica, 425 miles South-southwest of Duncan Town, Ragged Island, 425 miles Southwest of Matthew Town, Inagua 525 miles Southwest of Providenciales, Turks and Caicos Islands, 521 miles Southwest of Mayaguana
and 600 miles South of New Providence.
Hurricane Melissa is moving toward the west near 3 miles-per-hour. A slow turn
toward the northwest and north is expected today and tonight, followed by a
northeastward acceleration beginning on Tuesday and continuing through at least
Thursday. On the forecast track, the core of Melissa is expected to move near or
over Jamaica tonight and Tuesday, across Southeastern Cuba Tuesday night, and
across the Southeast Bahamas on Wednesday.
Maximum sustained winds remain 160 miles-per-hour with higher gusts. Melissa is a category 5 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale. Some
additional strengthening is forecast today, with fluctuations in intensity likely before Melissa makes landfall on Jamaica early Tuesday. Melissa is expected to reach Jamaica and southeastern Cuba as a powerful major hurricane, and will still be at hurricane strength when it moves across the southeast Bahamas and the Turks and Caicos Islands.
Hurricane-force winds extend outward up to 30 miles from the center and tropical-storm-force winds extend outward up to 195 miles.
Residents in the Central and Southeast Bahamas and the Turks and Caicos Islands
should begin to make preparation for the possibility of Hurricane and/or Tropical
Storm conditions beginning late Tuesday night or early Wednesday morning.
FILE NO: 7.6A
Residents in the Northern and Northwest Bahamas should closely monitor Alerts
issued by the Bahamas Department of Meteorology and be ready to make
preparation for possible Tropical Storm or Hurricane conditions in the next few days.
Potential Impacts:
Hurricane Melissa, should it continue to move along the forecast track, could bring tropical storm or hurricane conditions to the southwestern islands of the Southeast Bahamas, including the Turks and Caicos Islands, beginning Tuesday, and the rest of the Southeast and Central Bahamas on Wednesday through Thursday. However, the magnitude of potential impacts depends on the intensity of Melissa as it approaches The Bahamas.
Melissa is forecast to interact with major mountainous landmarks, such as those in Jamaica and Cuba or Hispaniola, which could potentially weaken the system slightly as it nears the Southeast and Central Bahamas late Tuesday and Wednesday.
Residents in the Southeast and Central Bahamas, as well as the Turks and Caicos
Islands, should brace themselves for prolonged periods of strong winds, heavy
rainfall that will lead to severe flooding, and coastal inundation beginning Tuesday, should Melissa's forecast track hold.
The next Alert on Hurricane Melissa will be issued at 12:00 P.M. EDT.
Issued by: Gregory D Thompson (CCO)
Duty Forecaster
