Hurricane Tracker Picks Up Multiple Disturbances Approaching America Shortly After Helene and Milton
There’s a hurricane brewing, but this one has nothing to do with this week’s elections.
Tropical Depression 18 is growing stronger and will soon become Tropical Storm Rafael, according to Fox Weather.
The National Hurricane Center said tropical storm conditions are likely in Jamaica on Monday night.
As of Monday afternoon, the storm was located about 200 miles south of Jamaica, with sustained maximum winds of 35 mph.
However, the forecast expected Rafael will grow into a hurricane and hit the Cayman Islands on Tuesday afternoon and Cuba on Wednesday.
A weekend landfall along the Gulf Coast is expected. The storm’s arrival could hit a region already reeling from the impacts of hurricanes Helene and Milton.
“There has never been a tropical storm or hurricane landfall in Texas, Louisiana or Mississippi during November and December. So that would be quite a milestone, but this does not mean that people along the central and western Gulf Coast should let their guard down,” AccuWeather lead hurricane expert Alex DaSilva said, according to USA Today.
“A northwestward motion is expected later today and forecast to continue for the next few days,” the National Hurricane Center said Monday.
Up to nine inches of rain could hit parts of Jamaica and Cuba.
As of Monday, landfall along the Louisiana coast is considered the most likely, according to AccuWeather.
However, forecasters say that Rafael could land anywhere from the Florida panhandle to the Texas coast.
“Steering breezes will guide the tropical storm on a northwesterly track that takes it near Jamaica and the Cayman Islands early this week and then western Cuba at midweek,” AccuWeather Chief On-Air Meteorologist Bernie Rayno said.
“In this zone, waters are sufficiently warm, and disruptive breezes and wind shear will be low,” he said.
“This storm is expected to make landfall Wednesday morning as a Category 1 or possibly a Category 2 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale in western Cuba,” AccuWeather meteorologist Geordan Lewis said.
According to USA Today, another system in the Caribbean should not be discounted yet.
The National Hurricane Center said a “trough of low pressure” near Puerto Rico is producing a “large area of showers and thunderstorms” near the Greater Antilles
“Slow development of this system is possible during the next few days as it moves west-northwestward near the Great Antilles,” forecasters said.
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