Melissa is forecast to become the first Category 5 landfall in the Atlantic Basin since Dorian roared into the Bahamas in 2019. There have been 32 Category 5 hurricanes in the Atlantic since the use of satellites began in 1966, with 13 of those having formed in the past nine years.

Hurricane Melissa exploded Monday into a Category 5 monster, threatening more than 25 million people across Jamaica, Haiti and Cuba. The powerful storm is expected to make landfall on Jamaica Tuesday morning, though its outer bands had already begun unleashing fierce winds and rain on the island.

Hurricane Melissa is now a Category 5 storm, capable of dumping catastrophic rainfall in addition to the powerful winds it's packing. The monster storm has begun to impact Jamaica, Cuba and Haiti, and is expected to cause life-threatening problems for days during its slow crawl through the Caribbean.