Lightning flashes in the eyewall of Category 5 Melissa are a marker of how strong the storm is. It reached a central pressure of 892 millibars, among the lowest ever recorded in the Atlantic Ocean. It is tied as the third-most intense Atlantic storm with the devastating 1935 Labor Day hurricane.

Tropical Storm Melissa is expected to undergo rapid intensification and grow into a powerful Category 4 hurricane by early next week.

Oct. 24 (UPI) -- Tropical Storm Melissa crawled slowly through the Caribbean Sea for the fourth day Friday, threatening to bring long-lasting and potentially deadly flooding to parts of Haiti, the Dominican Republic and Jamaica, forecasters said.

Cuba will take a direct hit from Melissa, likely while it is still a powerful major hurricane — defined as Category 3 or higher. Landfall is expected late Tuesday night or very early Wednesday morning,

The strongest hurricanes in Atlantic Basin history span from the Great Depression to present day. Improvements in technology, including satellites and Hurricane Hunter aircraft instruments, make it challenging to draw apples-to-apples comparisons of hurricanes in recent years with those in the 19th and early 20th century.