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    • Hurricane Rafael causes Cuba’s electricity grid to collapse. What kind of storm is next?
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    Hurricane Rafael causes Cuba’s electricity grid to collapse. What kind of storm is next?

    Vaseline Posted on

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    Hurricane Rafael barreled across the open waters of the Gulf of Mexico on Thursday, moving away from Cuba after lashing the country with pouring rain and knocking out its fragile power grid.

    The storm was located 190 miles west-northwest of Havana and 190 miles west of Key West, Florida, according to the National Hurricane Center’s 7 a.m. update. With winds of 170 km/h, Rafael remained at Category 2 strength, which it had been weakened to as it swept over the island.

    Meteorologists paused storm-related advisories and kept vigil as Rafael was expected to swing across the south-central Gulf of Mexico, well away from coastal areas, this weekend and early next week. Forecasters say it will weaken and possibly disappear before reaching the western Gulf Coast.

    Hurricane Rafael tracker: Storm heads towards Gulf of Mexico after landfall in Cuba

    Rafael made landfall in Cuba late Wednesday afternoon as a Category 3 storm, unleashing a deluge that caused flash flooding and a new power outage across the island, furthering a crisis that has left many without power for more than two weeks and has has been exacerbated by two consecutive hurricanes

    About 10 million people were without power across the country on Thursday as Cuban authorities struggled to restore electricity. The country’s state media said the country had returned power to some areas, but the capital Havana remained largely in limbo.

    As the storm moves further into the Gulf, it will continue to cause mudslides and flooding along Cuba’s higher terrain while bringing another 2 to 4 inches of rain, the National Hurricane Center said. Parts of western Cuba will see up to a foot of rain by the time Rafael moves completely away from the island.

    Days before Rafael made landfall, tens of thousands of people evacuated the eastern province of Guantanamo after a series of storms caused heavy rains and flooding. At that time, the ground was already saturated by the deluge caused by Hurricane Oscar, a Category 1 storm that killed at least six people last month.

    As a preventive measure, thousands of people were evacuated from Cuba’s western provinces, especially low-lying areas, as Rafael approached. The country also closed government offices and closed schools. Havana’s Jose Marti International Airport was expected to remain closed until at least late Thursday afternoon.

    Will Rafael reach the US Gulf Coast?

    The latest predictions indicate that Rafael will move westward in the coming days, although it is unclear how long he will maintain his strength and how far westward he will track.

    “Once in the Gulf of Mexico, small differences in Rafael intensity and atmospheric steering winds can have a significant impact on the final trajectory,” said Bill Deger, a senior meteorologist at AccuWeather.

    The chance of a landfall in the US is extremely low, according to the latest forecast from AccuWeather.

    A non-tropical storm from the south-central U.S. could also influence the hurricane’s path, prompting meteorologists to urge residents along the Gulf Coast to keep Rafael running through the rest of the weekend and into next week to keep an eye on.

    “It is also possible that Rafael will be torn apart by strong winds high in the atmosphere and disappear into the Gulf of Mexico before making landfall,” Deger said, noting the expected weakening from cooler water and wind shear.

    Another storm system could develop in the Caribbean

    As Rafael moved further into the Gulf of Mexico, meteorologists watched for the possible development of another storm system in the Caribbean Sea.

    Located several hundred kilometers east-northeast of the Leeward Islands, the system could undergo gradual development over the coming days as it moves near the Greater Antilles. However, formation was considered “low” at 20% during the following week, compared to 30% a day earlier, according to the National Hurricane Center.

    Showers and thunderstorms associated with the brewing system are expected to bring heavy rain to the northern Leeward Islands, the Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, Hispaniola and the southeastern Bahamas through Saturday, the National Hurricane Center said.

    The 2024 Atlantic hurricane season turned out to be well above average for both the named storms and the hurricanes, which meteorologists say were fueled by record warm oceans.

    Storm tracker from Rafael

    Contributors: Reuters; Jorge L. Ortiz and Doyle Rice, USA TODAY

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