Rafael made landfall as a Category 3 hurricane Wednesday afternoon in western Cuba before weakening, the National Hurricane Center said.
In a 6 p.m. update, the center said Rafael was 40 miles west of Havana, with maximum sustained wind speeds of 105 mph, making it a Category 2 hurricane.
It was moving northwest at 14 mph. A wind gust of 67 mph was reported by the Havana International Airport.
Rafael made landfall in the in the province of Artemisa, just east of Playa Majana, as a major hurricane. It is forecast to move into the southeastern Gulf of Mexico on Wednesday night.
Earlier Wednesday, Rafael strengthened into a Category 2 hurricane and then into a Category 3. It weakened back to a Category 2 after making landfall.
“Some weakening is forecast while Rafael crosses western Cuba, but the storm is forecast to remain a hurricane over the southeastern Gulf of Mexico,” the hurricane center said in a 4 p.m. update.
The storm is forecast to bring life-threatening storm surge, damaging hurricane-force winds and flash flooding to portions of western Cuba.
A hurricane warning was in effect for the Cuban provinces Pinar del Rio, Artemisa, Mayabeque, Matanzas and the Isle of Youth.
The government of the Cayman Islands has discontinued its hurricane warning for Grand Cayman, Little Cayman and Cayman Brac Wednesday morning. A shelter-in-place advisory had been in effect for the islands Tuesday evening.
A storm surge of 6 to 9 feet along the southern coast of Cuba was possible overnight, federal forecasters previously said.
A tropical storm warning is in effect for the Cuban provinces of Villa Clara, Cienfuegos, as well as the Lower and Middle Florida Keys from Key West to west of the Channel 5 Bridge, and the Dry Tortugas.
The storm will also bring heavy rain to the western Caribbean through early Thursday, including 4 to 8 inches across western Cuba. Isolated higher totals up to 12 inches are expected across the higher terrain, “which could lead to areas of flash flooding and mudslides,” the hurricane center said.
Then heavy rain will spread north into Florida and adjacent areas of the Southeast U.S. by mid- to late week, with 1 to 3 inches of rain expected for the lower and middle Florida Keys.
Tropical storm conditions are expected in the Lower and Middle Florida Keys, beginning Wednesday.
Forecasters were still uncertain about the storm’s path once inside the Gulf of Mexico, but said it was likely to weaken again amid the Gulf’s relatively cooler waters.
Rebecca Cohen contributed.
