Storm Rafael: Heading Toward Cuba and U.S. 

United States: Tropical Storm Rafael is getting stronger as it moves through the warm waters of the Caribbean. It is headed toward the Cayman Islands and western Cuba. On Tuesday afternoon, Rafael will pass by Jamaica and could turn into a hurricane near the Cayman Islands. It is expected to make landfall in Cuba on Wednesday. Weather experts say the storm has the right conditions to grow even stronger. 

 The U.S. Gulf Coast is also being watched for possible impacts. There is so much unknown in the extended outlook, however, that the National Hurricane Center cautioned it is too soon to know whether Rafael poses any threat to deliver any sort of effect to parts of the northern Gulf Coast. 

As reported by the USA Today, the storm may come ashore anywhere between the Texas coast and the Florida Panhandle, perhaps over the weekend; AccuWeather places the greatest likelihood of an actual landfall along the central Louisiana coast. Other possibilities are that the storm will shift towards the west and affect western Mexico. 

The good news: Drier air and increased vertical wind shear is anticipated to inhibits hurricane development as it forms over the Gulf of Mexico. “This will not be like having a major hurricane that is intensifying just before landfall in the U.S, but instead something lower in terms of wind climber,” AccuWeather says. 

Nevertheless, the storm is expected to produce flooding rain, mudslides, damaging wind, and dangerous surfs and rip currents this weekend in western Cuba, the island still struggling with the collapse of its electricity and Hurricane Oscar. 

The Cayman Islands and much of Cuba are under hurricane warnings Tuesday morning, said the hurricane center, which added that “Preparations to protect life and property should be rushed to completion.” Tropical storm warnings were also in Jamaica, portions of the north of Cuba and the Florida Keys while there were tropical storm watches in the rest of Cuba. 

Where in the vicinity is Tropical Storm Rafael? 

Tropical Storm Rafael was at about 95 km southwest of Montego Bay, Jamaica and 321 km southeast of Grand Cayman island based on a bulletin issued by the hurricane center at 10 a.m. With a speed of 13mph heading northwest through the Caribbean, storm watchers are describing it as a storm of 60 mph in speed. 

Rafael is expected to brush Jamaica Tuesday, and should deliver excessive amounts of rain to the island nation inspiring mudslides across the higher topography. There will be some possibility of minor flooding on the coast.