MIAMI —

Tropical Storm Melissa formed in the Caribbean Sea on Tuesday as forecasters warned that heavy rain, flooding and strong winds from the storm could lash Haiti and Jamaica later this week.

The U.S. National Hurricane Center issued a hurricane watch for parts of Haiti, while the Jamaican government issued a tropical storm watch for the island.

By Tuesday evening, Melissa was about 310 miles south-southwest of Port-au-Prince, Haiti, with maximum sustained winds of 50 mph. It was moving west at 15 mph.

Officials said Haiti and the Dominican Republic could see 5 to 10 inches of rainfall by Friday, with Aruba, Puerto Rico and Jamaica getting 1 to 3 inches of rain.

Heavy rains blamed on Melissa snarled traffic Tuesday in the Dominican Republic’s capital, Santo Domingo, where official

See Full Page