ORLANDO, Fla. - Tropical Storm Melissa, soon to be Hurricane Melissa, is located around 155 miles SE of Kingston, Jamaica. She's expected to move westbound in the Caribbean, getting closer to Jamaica on Monday, before making landfall potentially early Tuesday.

With the 11 p.m. Thursday advisory, Melissa was about 150 miles southeast of Kingston, Jamaica and 270 miles southwest of Port-au-Prince, Haiti, creeping north at only 3 mph and packing maximum sustained winds near 45 mph. Tropical-storm-force winds extended outward up to 140 miles from the center, underscoring the storm's broad reach.

Melissa is expected to bring "life-threatening and catastrophic flash flooding and landslides" to Hispaniola and Jamaica through the weekend.

This year was, particularly, special for the festival. Hurricane Helene destroyed the grounds in 2024, so the festival wasn’t possible.

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

SARASOTA, Fla. (WWSB) - The Florida Maritime Museum, documenting Florida’s the rich history of Florida’s fishing and maritime industry, is still reeling from the effects of last year’s hurricane, officials said Tuesday.