Thursday, Nov 7 update from the National Hurricane Center: Latest on Category 2 Hurricane Rafael

This graphic created by the National Weather Service/NCEP Weather Prediction Center (WPC) shows the projected path. NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER

Article first published: Thursday, Nov. 7, 2024, 4 a.m. ET

Article last updated: Thursday, Nov. 7, 2024, 10 a.m. ET

According to the National Hurricane Center’s 10 am Thursday advisory, Category 2 Hurricane Rafael is 200 miles west-northwest of Havana Cuba and 215 miles west of Key West Florida, with maximum sustained wind of 100 mph. It’s moving at 9 mph to the west-northwest.

"... Rafael is expected to move over the southern Gulf of Mexico for the next few days." according to forecasters.

YESTERDAY (Wednesday):

Yesterday, significant changes occurred. Rafael began as a Category 2 hurricane, a Category 3 hurricane and a hurricane and ultimately became a Category 2 hurricane with sustained winds of 105 mph.

HAZARDS AFFECTING LAND:

RAINFALL: Additional rainfall amounts of 2 to 4 inches are expected today, leading to storm total accumulations of 12 inches across portions of western Cuba. This may lead to areas of flash flooding and mudslides, especially along the higher terrain.

For a complete depiction of forecast rainfall associated with Hurricane Rafael, please see the National Weather Service Storm Total Rainfall Graphic, available at https://www.nhc.noaa.gov/graphics_at3.shtml? Rainqpf

SURF: Swells generated by Rafael are expected to spread across most of the Gulf of Mexico during the next several days. These swells are likely to cause life-threatening surf and rip current conditions.

Source: National Hurricane Center

This article was generated by the Miami Herald Bot, artificial intelligence software that analyzes information from the National Hurricane Center and applies it to templates created by journalists in the newsroom. We are experimenting with this and other new ways of providing more useful content to our readers and subscribers. You can report errors or bugs to mcclatchybot@mcclatchy.com. Full hurricane coverage at miamiherald.com/news/weather/hurricane/