See projected path, spaghetti models

Hurricane Rafael, the storm that Cuba abandoned this week with winds of 185 km/h and now intense rainfall It is not expected to make landfall in the USbut the storm will be felt along U.S. beaches with high surf and dangerous currents through Monday.

Rafael regained major hurricane status Friday and reached maximum sustained winds of 120 miles per hour, causing waves and high seas in the Gulf of Mexico, the National Hurricane Center said.

The hurricane brings a high risk of life-threatening rip currents and high surf with large breaking waves along the Gulf Coast beaches of Corpus Christi south along the Florida Peninsula over Veterans Day weekend, National Weather Service offices warned Friday.

“The swell generated by Rafael is expected to spread across most of the Gulf of Mexico in the coming days. These swells are likely to produce life-threatening surf and rip conditions,” the National Hurricane Center said in a Friday forecast.

In Corpus Christi, wave heights were expected to reach 8 feet on Friday and rise as high as 10 feet over the weekend, the weather service said. Along beaches Alabama and the western Panhandle of Florida, Fire breakers up to two meters high are expected.

In his final advice Early Friday morning, the hurricane center said Rafael, which was moving west at Category 3 strength, should begin to weaken and weaken further to become a tropical storm by Saturday.

Raphael in Cuba

Rafael soaked Western Cuba and has knocked out the island’s entire power grid when it made landfall on the island as a Category 3 storm. The resulting power outages have exacerbated a crisis that has left many residents without power for more than two weeks amid a series of power outages.

Tens of thousands of people were evacuated before the storm arrived and some 10 million Cubans were without power on Thursday as authorities struggled to restore electricity. The country’s state media said the country had returned power to some areas, but the capital Havana remained largely in limbo.

Additional rain amounts of 2 to 4 inches were expected Friday. according to the hurricane centerleading to storms totaling 12 inches in parts of western Cuba. This can cause flash floods and mudslides, especially along higher ground.

Will Hurricane Rafael hit the US?

The United States, especially Floridashould take a break if the latest forecast from AccuWeather shows how Rafael spares the central Gulf region.

According to AccuWeather meteorologists, Rafael’s more westward track will take him away from the US. This would make Rafael the first hurricane to reach the Gulf of Mexico in 2024 and not make landfall in the US

“Rafael’s impacts on the U.S. will be indirect through this weekend and mainly in the form of rough seas over the Gulf and rough surf along Gulf Coast beaches,” AccuWeather said. “Depending on the level of humidity of the area over the Southwest Gulf, some rain may also fall in South Texas next week.”

What is Rafael doing in the Gulf of Mexico?

As at least one model had predicted this week, the center’s current forecast calls for the hurricane to make a small loop in the Gulf as it meanders through Monday.

At least a dozen storms have occurred since 1963 loops of different sizes as they were pushed around by larger weather systems. Rafael was controlled by a ridge extending from the Atlantic Ocean into the Gulf and a trough over the continental US, thwarting a landfall on the northern Gulf Coast.

In 1985, Hurricane Elena traveled across Cuba and then appeared headed toward Florida before steering currents pushed it into a short loop, eventually making landfall between New Orleans and Mobile, Alabama.

Hurricane Rafael path tracker

This forecast track shows the most likely path from the center of the storm. It does not illustrate the full width of the storm or its effects, and the center of the storm is likely to move outside the cone up to 33% of the time.

Spaghetti models of Hurricane Rafael

Illustrations cover a range of forecasting tools and models, and they are not all the same. The hurricane center uses only the four or five best-performing models to help make its forecasts.

(This story has been updated with new information and a new video.)

Contributions: Christopher CannUSA TODAY

Eric Lagatta covers the latest and trending news for USA TODAY. Reach him at [email protected]