If it types, Rafael could be the eleventh hurricane of the 2024 season and will hit western Cuba as a Class 1 storm.
Miami, Florida, United States – A hurricane is anticipated to type within the Caribbean and convey heavy rain and landslides to Cuba earlier than heading to the nice and cozy waters of the Gulf of Mexico, based on the US Nationwide Climate Service.
Tropical Storm Rafael is anticipated to turn out to be a hurricane on Monday because it approaches Jamaica and will additionally carry heavy rain to the Florida Keys and components of the southeastern United States later within the week, the Nationwide Hurricane Middle mentioned. (NHC), based mostly in Miami.
Jamaica and Cuba might obtain as much as 230 mm (9 inches) of rain, which might trigger flooding.
The Cuban authorities has issued a hurricane warning for the capital, Havana, and Cuba’s jap provinces, together with Pinar del RÃo and Matanzas.
The storm might exacerbate an acute vitality disaster in Cuba. Elements of the island have skilled extended energy outages in latest weeks because of decrepit infrastructure and a scarcity of gas for its oil-fired energy crops.
Cuba remains to be recovering from Hurricane Oscar, which made landfall on the jap tip of the island two weeks in the past with most sustained winds of about 130 km/h (80 mph).
The brand new climate system was nonetheless solely a tropical despair early Monday and was positioned about 310 kilometers (196 miles) south of Kingston, Jamaica. It had most sustained winds of 55 km/h (35 mph) and was shifting north at 15 km/h (9 mph), the NHC mentioned.
A tropical storm types when sustained winds attain 63 km/h (39 mph) and turns into a hurricane once they attain 119 km/h (74 mph).
The storm was anticipated to maneuver close to Jamaica late Monday and is anticipated to achieve hurricane energy earlier than reaching western Cuba late Tuesday or early Wednesday.
Forecasters mentioned the hurricane’s core is forecast to cross west of Florida, whereas adversarial atmospheric circumstances ought to forestall Rafael, the 18th named storm of the 2024 hurricane season, from changing into a doubtlessly lethal climate system by because it approaches the US coast on the Gulf. from Mexico.
This hurricane season has seen above-average exercise, with 10 hurricanes already, together with two main ones – Helene and Milton – hitting Florida and North Carolina, inflicting widespread destruction and killing greater than 200 individuals.
Solely seven seasons on report have had 11 Atlantic hurricanes within the first week of November, based on Philip Klotzbach, a meteorologist at Colorado State College.
Attainable Tropical Cyclone 18 has shaped within the Caribbean and is anticipated to turn out to be a #hurricane earlier than November 6. If it does, it will be the eleventh of the 2024 Atlantic season. Seven recorded seasons have had greater than 11 Atlantic hurricanes by means of November 6: 1933, 1950, 1969, 1995, 2005, 2010, 2020. pic.twitter.com/EXYqB5ZLPC
—Philip Klotzbach (@philklotzbach) November 3, 2024
“It is value noting that solely 4 hurricanes within the trendy report (since 1966) have been recorded within the Gulf of Mexico in November, so a hurricane right here this late within the season could be an uncommon occasion,” mentioned Michael Lowry, a hurricane specialist. in hurricanes. in Miami and writer of the weblog Eye on the Tropics.
