Hurricane Melissa formed Saturday afternoon and is forecast to rapidly strengthen into a major storm as it moves across the northern Caribbean, according to the National Hurricane Forecasters.

Four deaths have been reported from Hurricane Melissa, which isn't expected to threaten Louisiana.

As of 1 p.m., Melissa was about 145 miles southeast of Kingston, Jamaica, inching across warm waters west-northwest at 1 mph. The Category 1 storm has winds of 75 mph, and rapid intensification over the weekend is expected, forecasters said, with Melissa becoming a major storm by Sunday.

Jamaica is under a Hurricane Warning, which means tropical storm-force winds are expected to arrive in 36 hours. A Hurricane Watch is in effect for Haiti from the border with the Dominican Republic to Port-Au-Prince

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