Hurricane Rafael, intensifying to a Category 3, hit western Cuba, bringing extensive power outages and halting flights. It weakened after landfall but remains potent as it moves through the Gulf, with uncertain forecasts.
The latest major storm in 2024’s active hurricane season brought heavy rain and storm surges to Cuba as it moved into the Gulf of Mexico.
Hurricane Rafael’s Impact on Western Cuba
Hurricane Rafael made landfall in Cuba’s western Artemisa province as a powerful Category 3 storm on the afternoon of November 6, 2024. The hurricane approached from the south, skirting past Jamaica the previous day as a tropical storm. As it neared Cuba, Rafael moved over warm waters and encountered light to moderate vertical wind shear, conditions that allowed it to intensify into a major hurricane.
According to the National Hurricane Center (NHC), Rafael’s sustained winds peaked at 115 miles (185 kilometers) per hour before it made landfall. The storm weakened slightly as it crossed over Cuba, downgrading to a Category 2 storm, before continuing northwest toward the Gulf of Mexico.
Satellite Imagery and Aftermath in Cuba
The VIIRS (Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite) sensor on the NOAA-21 satellite captured this false-color image of the storm at about 1:45 a.m. Eastern Time (06:45 Universal Time) on November 7, approximately 8 hours after entering the gulf. The image depicts infrared signals known as brightness temperature, which is useful for distinguishing cooler cloud structures (white and purple) from the warmer surface below (yellow and orange). At the time the image was acquired, Rafael was a Category 2 hurricane with sustained winds of 105 miles (170 kilometers) per hour.
According to news reports, the Cuban government announced the hurricane had knocked out power across the entire island before landfall. Several airports suspended flights. Western Cuba was expected to receive 4 to 8 inches (100 to 200 millimeters) of rainfall from the storm system, according to the NHC, with several inches also forecast for the Cayman Islands and Florida Keys. The NHC also warned of a strong storm surge that could raise water as much as 14 feet (about 4 meters) above normal levels along Cuba’s southern coast.
Hurricane Rafael’s Continued Threat
As of the morning of November 7, forecasters expected Rafael to move slowly to the west and remain a hurricane for several days, though it could weaken as it encounters a dry airmass in the southern Gulf of Mexico. The longer-term forecast remained uncertain.
2024 North Atlantic Hurricane Season Overview
Consistent with National Weather Service predictions, it has been an active year for hurricanes in the North Atlantic. Rafael is the 17th named storm and 11th hurricane of the 2024 season, which runs from June 1 to November 30. These numbers exceed the average seasonal totals of 14 named storms and seven hurricanes.
NASA Earth Observatory image by Wanmei Liang, using MODIS and VIIRS data from NASA EOSDIS LANCE, GIBS/Worldview, and the Joint Polar Satellite System (JPSS).
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1 Comment
Not nearly as deadly as the US sanctions, though. End the illegal US sanctions on Cuba now!