The latest storm news from Reuters said that Hurricane Rafael made landfall on the southwestern coast of Cuba as a Category 3 hurricane, carrying maximum sustained winds of 185 km/h and devastating the island nation.
The storm was moving about 75 km southwest of the Cuban capital Havana late on the afternoon of November 6, causing heavy rain and strong gusts of wind in the Cuban capital of nearly 2 million people.
Cuba's state grid operator UNE said that strong winds caused the country's power system to collapse. State television reported that the entire population of 10 million people were without power.
This is the second power outage in Cuba in less than a month. Hurricane Oscar made landfall in the far east of Cuba at the same time as the power outage last month, creating a double blow to the island.
Rafael had previously swept through the Cayman Islands as a Category 1 hurricane overnight and then surged to a strong Category 3 hurricane in less than 24 hours off the southwestern coast of Cuba. Previously, forecasters predicted Rafael would peak as a Category 2 hurricane.
Forecasters predict Rafael will leave Cuba on November 7 to begin a westward journey across the Gulf of Mexico and maintain the intensity of a Category 3 hurricane, but the path of the newest storm of the Atlantic hurricane season remains uncertain.
AccuWeather forecasts show Rafael could make landfall anywhere from the Texas coast to the Florida Panhandle around the weekend. The most likely landfall location is along the central Louisiana coast as a tropical storm.
Other possible scenarios for Rafael's path include the storm turning west and moving across the west coast of Mexico.
Forecasters point out that drier air and stronger vertical wind shear in the Gulf of Mexico are expected to weaken Rafael as it approaches the US mainland.
"This will not be a situation where a major hurricane intensifies to make landfall in the US, but a less intense storm in terms of wind intensity," AccuWeather forecast stated.
The Washington Post's hurricane report shows that Rafael's compact size, combined with extremely warm ocean waters and humid atmospheric conditions, are contributing to the storm's intensity.
Rafael is expected to become the fifth major storm of the Atlantic hurricane season, two more than the long-term average and the year with the most storms since 2020.
Rafael is the first major hurricane to hit Cuba in November since Typhoon Michelle in 2001, according to Philip Klotzbach, a forecaster at Colorado State University.
