AccuWeather forecasters say warm waters and a temporary lull in disruptive winds could support tropical development in the western Caribbean during the final month of the Atlantic hurricane season.

Tropical Storm Melissa is nearly stationary in the central Caribbean, with forecasters warning it could soon strengthen and brush past Jamaica as a powerful hurricane.

According to a bulletin from the National Hurricane Center released Monday Oct. 20, "a tropical wave located over the eastern Caribbean Sea is producing a concentrated area of showers and thunderstorms. The system is moving westward at 15 to 20 mph toward the central Caribbean Sea and is expected to slow down over the next few days."

Tropical Storm Melissa is expected to become a hurricane late this week as it crawls through the northern Caribbean. Hurricane watches cover southwestern Haiti, including Port-au-Prince, and Jamaica,

San Juan, Puerto Rico — Tropical Storm Melissa lumbered through the Caribbean Sea on Thursday, bringing a risk of dangerous landslides and life-threatening flooding to Jamaica and southern Hispaniola. Officials urged residents of flood-prone areas to seek higher ground.

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.