From the National Hurricane Center, 11 pm EDT, October 27:
....DISCUSSION AND OUTLOOK
----------------------
At 1100 PM EDT (0300 UTC), the center of Hurricane Melissa was
located near latitude 16.6 North, longitude 78.5 West. Melissa is
moving toward the north-northeast near 2 mph (4 km/h). A turn
toward the northeast with an increase in forward speed is expected
on Tuesday, followed by a faster northeastward motion on Wednesday
and Thursday. On the forecast track, the core of Melissa is
expected to move near or over Jamaica on Tuesday, across
southeastern Cuba Wednesday morning, and across the southeastern
or central Bahamas later on Wednesday.
Maximum sustained winds are near 175 mph (280 km/h) with higher
gusts. Melissa is a category 5 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson
Hurricane Wind Scale. Some fluctuations in intensity are likely
before Melissa makes landfall on Jamaica. However, Melissa is
expected to reach Jamaica and southeastern Cuba as an extremely
powerful major hurricane, and will still be at hurricane strength
when it moves across the southeastern Bahamas....
....MUCH MORE
