Melissa simmers in the Caribbean, posing a serious flood threat and a track that’s hard to pin down

CIRA/RAMMB/NOAA

Tropical Storm Melissa is crawling through the Caribbean Sea, threatening to unleash life-threatening flooding and mudslides across parts of the Caribbean later this week. This year’s Atlantic hurricane season is not over yet, and Melissa has plenty of time and fuel ahead.

The storm is expected to slow down and turn northwest toward Jamaica and Haiti’s southwestern peninsula as it strengthens into a hurricane by the end of the week. Heavy rain is already spreading north, with 5 to 10 inches forecast across southern Haiti and the Dominican Republic through Friday. That much rain over mountainous terrain in the area could trigger catastrophic flash flooding and landslides.

Melissa was churning about 300 miles south of Haiti with maximum sustained winds of 50 mph as of We