The National Hurricane Center's 5 p.m. Friday update reported that Tropical Storm Melissa is in the Caribbean Sea, 215 miles southeast of Kingston Jamaica and 225 miles southwest of Port Au Prince Haiti. Packing maximum sustained winds of 65 mph, it is tracking north at 2 mph. Melissa is expected to strengthen into a hurricane.

Officials across the Caribbean prepare for days of heavy rain from the storm.

The National Hurricane Center in Miami warned of "life-threatening and catastrophic flash flooding and landslides" throughout Hispaniola.

Tropical Storm Melissa is set to intensify this weekend, and Jamaica and other Caribbean islands are bracing for harsh weather, forecasters with the National Hurricane Center in Miami said Thursday morning.

Tropical Storm Melissa was nearly stationary in the central Caribbean on Friday, with forecasters warning it could soon strengthen and brush past Jamaica as a powerful hurricane while unleashing catastrophic flash flooding and landslides in southern Haiti.

The hot ocean temperatures and dry air are primed for a potentially explosive hurricane to erupt, with some severe weather impacts possible for Florida.

Tropical Storm Melissa is barely moving through the Caribbean, and that’s exactly what makes it so dangerous. The longer it lingers, the more rain it dumps. Haiti, Jamaica and the Dominican Republic could face days of relentless downpours and mudslides.

When Melissa departs the Caribbean later next week, it may contribute to stormy conditions along much of the United States East Coast with a new round of rough surf and beach erosion in some areas.