Why meteorologists are so concerned about Tropical Storm Melissa when it becomes a hurricane near Jamaica, Haiti, the Cayman Islands, and Cuba.

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.

The National Hurricane Center in Miami warned of "life-threatening and catastrophic flash flooding and landslides" throughout Hispaniola.

The National Hurricane Center's 2 p.m. Friday update reported that Tropical Storm Melissa is in the Caribbean Sea, 230 miles southeast of Kingston Jamaica and 250 miles southwest of Port Au Prince Haiti. Packing maximum sustained winds of 60 mph, it is tracking east-southeast at 2 mph.

Heavy rain is expected across Jamaica, where "precipitation totals from multiple models suggest that storm totals exceeding 24 inches and localized amounts above 30 inches are quite possible," noted meteorologists Bob Henson and Jeff Masters in their blog Eye on the Storm.

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

When Melissa departs the Caribbean later next week, it may contribute to stormy conditions along much of the United States East Coast with a new round of rough surf and beach erosion in some areas.