According to the National Hurricane Center's 11 a.m. Saturday advisory, Tropical Storm Melissa is in the Caribbean Sea, 165 miles southeast of Kingston Jamaica and 240 miles southwest of Port Au Prince Haiti. The system is moving to the northwest at 3 mph, with maximum sustained winds of 70 mph.

October can be a dangerous month for Florida as storms tend to form in the Gulf and gain strength rapidly as sea temperatures are still high.

Tropical Storm Melissa is forecast to rapidly intensify into a major hurricane this weekend as it lashes Jamaica and parts of the northern Caribbean, bringing days of life-threatening, potentially catastrophic impacts.