TAMPA, Fla. - Tropical Storm Melissa may appear to be struggling as it slowly swirls in the Caribbean, but it is expected to become a hurricane by Friday and a Category 4 storm next week.

As of Thursday at 2 p.m., Melissa was about 300 miles to the southwest of Port-au-Prince, Haiti, and about 240 miles to the south-southeast of Kingston, Jamaica.

It had maximum sustained winds of 45 mph with some higher gusts, and it is crawling off to the west-northwest at 2 mph. Tropical-storm-force winds extend 115 miles from the storm's center.

The NHC said that slow movement is expected to continue along with a gradual turn to the northwest and north over the next few days, followed by a turn back to the west by the end of this week.

FOX 13 Meteorologist Jim Weber said as Melissa finds its wa

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