Tag Archives: Hurricane Rafael

Developing Hurricane Rafael headed to Cuba as locals are warned to prepare for flooding and mudslides

National-Hurricane-Center-map-of-Hurricane-Rafaels-path

Important Takeaways:

  • Residents in the Florida Keys have been warned that powerful storm surges could be headed their way as Hurricane Rafael barrels across the Gulf of Mexico.
  • Rafael, which is currently a Category 2 hurricane with wind speeds of 100 mph, will make landfall in Cuba today before sideswiping the Florida Keys on its journey northwest toward the Louisiana coast.
  • Up to 2 feet of storm surge is forecast for the Lower Florida Keys, which may cause some destruction along the coast due to flooding.
  • “Prepare for locally hazardous surge having possible limited impacts across the Florida Keys,” the National Weather Service (NWS) Key West said in a local statement.
  • Potential impacts may include “localized inundation with storm surge flooding mainly along immediate shorelines and in low-lying spots, or in areas farther inland near where higher surge waters move ashore,” as well as damage to marinas and piers, and moderate beach erosion.
  • Rafael is due to possibly reach Category 3 strength today before it makes landfall along the coast of Cuba. Hurricane warnings are in place in the Cayman Islands and several Cuban provinces, with tropical storm warnings across more Cuban provinces, Dry Tortugas, and the Lower and Middle Florida Keys from Key West to the west of the Channel 5 Bridge.
  • The hurricane is anticipated to bring up to 10 inches of rain in some regions of Cuba, which may trigger flash flooding or mudslides.
  • Up to 3 inches of rain are forecast for Jamaica and in the Lower and Middle Florida Keys, and there is also some potential for tornadoes in the Florida Keys.
  • The storm will then carry on across the Gulf of Mexico heading northwest, possibly making landfall in Louisiana at the weekend or early next week. Exactly how strong it will be and where it will make landfall is still unclear this far out, however.

Read the original article by clicking here.

Hurricane season is not over: Meteorologists sound alarm ‘new hurricane hell’ developing

Important Takeaways:

  • America is back on tropical-storm alert with a giant ‘depression’ in the Atlantic threatening to spawn Hurricane Rafael.
  • With the nation still reeling from the devastation wrought by Hurricanes Helene and Milton, tropical ocean waters are once again starting to simmer.
  • Three developments over tropical waters have meteorologists cautiously watching for the next big storm.
  • Sub-tropical Storm Patty is heading east towards Europe while over the weekend, a more powerful system and its twin erupted in the Caribbean.
  • AccuWeather senior meteorologist Alan Reppert said: “We are sounding the alarm for a brewing tropical threat that could bring direct impacts to the Gulf Coast of the United States late this week into next weekend.
  • “The brewing tropical storm is expected to make a north-eastward turn across Jamaica and Cuba, bringing heavy downpours and gusty winds to those islands.
  • “It is not out of the question it becomes a hurricane in the Caribbean.”
  • Warm ocean temperatures late in the season will help boost the formation of the next storm.
  • Torrential downpours and strong winds threaten Cuba and Jamaica before heading north towards the US.
  • It comes just weeks after Helene and Milton hit Florida causing damage running to hundreds of billions of dollars.

Read the original article by clicking here.