A tropical wave moved offshore western Africa on October 13th. The tropical wave entered the eastern Caribbean Sea on the 19th, having spread rain across the Lesser Antilles and Leeward Islands and begun rainfall across the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico. The tropical wave slowed as it entered the Central Caribbean Sea. Convection organized and a well-defined center formed, which led to the development of Tropical Storm Melissa on the 21st. Melissa moved erratically and slowly to the west to west-northwest for days. Environmental conditions for Melissa's development improved on the 25th, allowing the cyclone to attain hurricane intensity that afternoon and a major hurricane on the 26th. The intense hurricane moved north-northeast, peaking in intensity on the 28th while approaching Jamaica. Melissa made landfall near New Hope, Jamaica early that afternoon, weakening during its Jamaica passage. Melissa then struck southeast Cuba as a major hurricane early on the 29th, weakening durings its Cuban passage. Melissa emerged still at hurricane strength while impacting the southeast Bahamas later that afternoon. Melissa was undergoing extratropical transition while a hurricane as it passed by Bermuda on the 31st. Melissa raced by Cape Race, Newfoundland on November 1st.
The graphics below show the storm total rainfall for Melissa, which used rain gage information from the National Weather Service Forecast Office in San Juan/xMACIS2 and CoCoRAHS.
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