Hurricane Rafael forms in the Caribbean Sea: NPR

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The National Hurricane Center says Rafael has strengthened into a hurricane as it approaches the Cayman Islands. The storm will move over Cuba and enter the Gulf of Mexico as a hurricane.

The National Hurricane Center says Rafael has strengthened into a hurricane as it approaches the Cayman Islands. The storm will move over Cuba and enter the Gulf of Mexico as a hurricane.

National Hurricane Center/via NPR screenshot


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National Hurricane Center/via NPR screenshot

Rafael has strengthened himself into a hurricane as it moves through the southern Caribbean Sea.

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The Category 1 storm has maximum sustained winds of 80 mph and will pass over the Cayman Islands overnight. It is expected to be near or over western Cuba on Wednesday and move into the Gulf of Mexico later in the day.

Forecasters know National Hurricane Center saying that a “stable to rapid intensification” is expected over the next 18 hours and that it is expected to become a Category 2 storm when it hits western Cuba with “damaging hurricane-force winds, a dangerous storm surge and destructive waves .”

Heavy rainfall is forecast for early Thursday across Jamaica, the Cayman Islands and parts of Cuba. Isolated totals of up to ten inches are expected across higher ground, which could lead to flash flooding and mudslides.

Fishermen remove their boats from the water Tuesday ahead of Hurricane Rafael's arrival in Havana. Cuba braced for Rafael, which is expected to make landfall on the island on Wednesday, compounding the misery caused by a massive blackout and Hurricane Oscar.

Fishermen remove their boats from the water Tuesday ahead of Hurricane Rafael’s arrival in Havana. Cuba braced for Rafael, which is expected to make landfall on the island on Wednesday, compounding the misery caused by a massive blackout and Hurricane Oscar.

Adalberto Roque/AFP via Getty Images


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Adalberto Roque/AFP via Getty Images

A tropical storm warning is in effect for the Lower and Middle Florida Keys and the Dry Tortugas, where up to three inches of rain is forecast. ONE few tornadoes are possible Wednesday over the Keys and inland Southwest Florida.

While further strengthening is forecast, the storm is expected to weaken due to wind shear and cooler waters after it enters the Gulf of Mexico. Meteorologists caution that it is too early to determine what impacts, if any, Rafael may bring to parts of the northern Gulf Coast.

Rafael is the seventh Atlantic hurricane to form since September 25. According to hurricane researcher Phil Klotzbachit is the most recorded since 1870.