Melissa is moving quickly away from Bermuda and is expected to weaken into an extratropical cyclone later Friday, according to the National Hurricane Center.

Hurricane Melissa's reign of terror over the Caribbean appears to be coming to an end.

The National Hurricane Center said in its 5 a.m. ET advisory on Oct. 31 Melissa is moving quickly away from Bermuda and is expected to weaken into an extratropical cyclone later Friday, and gradually weaken throughout the weekend. The storm was located about 255 miles north of Bermuda with maximum sustained winds near 90 mph with higher gusts.

Forecasters said Melissa is moving toward the northeast around 41 mph, with this general motion expected to continue into Saturday, followed by a slowdown and a turn toward the east-northeast later in the weekend. The center of Melissa is expected to pass to the south of the Avalon Peninsula of Newfoundland as a post-tropical cyclone Friday night, Oct. 31.

After Melissa becomes post-tropical, a "brief period of heavy rain and gusty winds" is possible over the southern Avalon Peninsula of Newfoundland Friday night, the hurricane center said in the advisory.

Swells generated by Melissa will continue to affect portions of Hispaniola, Cuba, the Bahamas, the Turks and Caicos Islands, and Bermuda during the next couple of days, the NHC said, with the swells expected to reach the northeastern coast of the U.S. and Atlantic coast of Canada Friday and persist into the weekend.

The swells are likely to cause life-threatening surf and rip current conditions, forecasters said.

Hurricane Melissa tracker

This forecast track shows the most likely path of the center of the storm. It does not illustrate the full width of the storm or its impacts, and the center of the storm is likely to travel outside the cone up to 33% of the time.

Hurricane Melissa spaghetti models

Illustrations include an array of forecast tools and models, and not all are created equal. The hurricane center uses only the top four or five highest-performing models to help make its forecasts.

At least 50 dead after Hurricane Melissa slams the Caribbean

Parts of the Caribbean are conducting search and rescue operations and surveying the extensive destruction Hurricane Melissa brought to the region, leaving dozens of people dead and drawing an outpouring of support from the international community.

Melissa tore through the Caribbean as one of the most powerful storms in recorded history and made landfall in Jamaica on Tuesday as a deadly Category 5 hurricane. By Thursday, the storm had further weakened as it moved over the southeastern Bahamas and toward Bermuda, about 500 miles off the U.S. East Coast.

The hardest-hit areas include Jamaica, Cuba, and Haiti, where damaging winds and severe flooding from storm surge and days of rainfall destroyed homes and tore down utility poles.

Rescue and recovery operations are hampered by widespread power outages, communications failures, and blocked roads. The death toll is growing — with more than 50 deaths attributed to the storm in Jamaica, Haiti, and the Dominican Republic — as authorities continued to verify reported deaths.

"There are entire communities that seem to be marooned and also areas that have been flattened," said Jamaican Minister of Education, Skills, Youth, and Information Dana Dixon. "We are trying to get to the areas that have been marooned. We will get there... we are going to get to every single Jamaican and give them support.”

“The entire Jamaica is really broken because of what has happened, but we remain resilient," Dixon said.

How do hurricanes form?

Hurricanes are born in the tropics, above warm water. Clusters of thunderstorms can develop over the ocean when water temperatures exceed 80 degrees. If conditions are right, the clusters swirl into a storm known as a tropical wave or tropical depression.

A tropical depression becomes a named tropical storm once its sustained wind speeds reach 39 mph. When its winds reach 74 mph, the storm officially becomes a hurricane.

Contributing: Thao Nguyen, Jeanine Santucci, Doyle Rice, and Dinah Voyles Pulver, USA TODAY

Gabe Hauari is a national trending news reporter at USA TODAY. You can follow him on X @GabeHauari or email him at Gdhauari@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Where is Hurricane Melissa headed? Track storm's path as it's set to weaken

Reporting by Gabe Hauari, USA TODAY / USA TODAY

USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect