Melissa is poised to rapidly strengthen this weekend and become a powerful hurricane as it churns through the Caribbean. The intensifying storm has the potential to unleash feet of rain that can trigger life-threatening flooding and mudslides, high winds that will lead to widespread power outages, and storm surge that may inundate coastal areas from Jamaica this weekend to eastern Cuba into next week.

The abundance of warm water in the Caribbean is a recipe for explosive development. Wind shear (stiff breezes pushing on the storm) was preventing strengthening on Wednesday and Thursday, but is forecast to drop off in Melissa's path in the coming days, which will allow the storm to intensify.

The AccuWeather RealImpact™ Scale for Hurricanes is 5, or the maximum, for the western Caribbean.

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