TAMPA, Fla. - Tropical Storm Melissa is expected to gain strength on Friday as it heads toward Jamaica. As of Friday morning, it was located about 270 miles to the southwest of Port-au-Prince, Haiti, and about 150 miles to the southeast of Kingston, Jamaica, according to the National Hurricane Center.

Fortunately, the storm poses no threat to any land areas, and "there are no coastal watches or warnings in effect," the hurricane center said.

Dozens of people were already in shelters in the Dominican Republic, and schools, businesses and government agencies were closed.

FOX 13 Meteorologist Nash Rhodes is keeping an eye on Tropical Storm Melissa which hasn’t gained or lost strength in the Caribbean since yesterday. However, Melissa is expected to become a major hurricane over the next few days.

Almost all models show Tropical Storm Lorenzo curving north and then east, staying far away from Florida and the U.S. east coast. This auto-updated graphic shows a map of all active storms in the Atlantic and Pacific basins.

At 500 AM AST (0900 UTC), the center of Tropical Storm Lorenzo was located near latitude 20.5 North, longitude 45.1 West. Lorenzo is moving toward the north near 13 mph (20 km/h). A turn toward

Tropical Storm Lorenzo formed Monday morning, Oct. 13, in the central Atlantic, according to the National Hurricane Center.

The Atlantic basin includes the northern Atlantic Ocean, Caribbean Sea and Gulf of America, as the Gulf of Mexico is now known in the U.S. per an order from President Trump. NOAA and the National Hurricane Center are now using Gulf of America on its maps and in its advisories.

Hurricane Melissa has strengthened into a hurricane and could soon rapidly intensify into a monstrous Category 4 or 5 storm.