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.

Melissa is expected to significantly strengthen by late Friday and over the weekend, when the storm could become a hurricane as early as Saturday.

Tropical Storm Melissa could become a dangerous hurricane in the Caribbean over the coming days. Meanwhile, a long-duration lake-effect rain event is unfolding across the Great Lakes.

Tropical Storm Melissa's forecast is filled with uncertainty, prompting some dire worst-case scenarios for Caribbean islands.

Tropical storm Melissa still looks fairly disorganized in the Central Caribbean. But it is forecast to slowly get stronger and blow up into a major hurricane by early next week as it pushes into warmer waters and encounters less shear.

Jeff Penner says we have an increasing chance of rain Friday into the weekend and possibly early next week. He’s also tracking a slowly intensifying tropical system in the Caribbean Sea.