With Rafael quickly spinning down over the Gulf of Mexico this weekend – its thunderstorm activity wiped clear by a slug of dry air and hostile wind shear – we’d hope the hurricane season would finally come to its senses and move into its traditional November hibernation, but the Caribbean has other plans.

Rafael strengthened into a major Category 3 hurricane with 115 mph winds shortly before striking the southern coast of western Cuba at 4:15 PM ET Wednesday near Playa Majana in Artemisa Province.

Rafael took advantage of a deep reservoir of warm water south of Cuba to rapidly intensify since yesterday and is expected to be a major (Category 3) hurricane before striking western Cuba later today.

Hurricane Rafael has pushed into the Gulf of Mexico after plowing across western Cuba as a Category 3 hurricane with winds so powerful it knocked out the entire country’s power grid.

Tropical Storm Rafael formed on Monday in the Caribbean – the 17th named storm of the busy 2024 Atlantic hurricane season – and is on track to impact the Cayman Islands on Tuesday and parts of western Cuba on Wednesday as a hurricane.

Tropical Storm Rafael has strengthened to near hurricane intensity as it barrels toward the Cayman Islands and Cuba, where it was forecast to hit as a full hurricane.

On Sunday, the National Hurricane Center initiated advisories on Potential Tropical Cyclone Eighteen, a tropical disturbance in the southwestern Caribbean forecast to develop into a named storm in the coming hours, possibly reaching hurricane status before impacting western Cuba by Wednesday.

U.S. weapons maker Lockheed Martin Corp. and Israeli defense contractor Rafael say they will team up to develop a high-energy laser system to defend against aerial attacks.

A passenger aboard the RED Air flight that crashed, then caught fire at Miami International Airport recalls his terrifying experience.