Hurricane Rafael tracker: Storm passing near Cayman Islands Tuesday night
Rafael was upgraded to a hurricane on Tuesday night and is set to pass over the Cayman Islands after it passed near Jamaica earlier in the day, according to the National Hurricane Center.
Rafael was located about 25 miles southeast of Little Cayman, with maximum sustained winds around 75 mph with higher gusts, as of 7 p.m. ET Tuesday.
The hurricane center said a northwestward motion was anticipated over the next two to three days, with the storm forecast to be over western Cuba by Wednesday.
"Steady to rapid intensification is forecast over the next 24 hours or so," the hurricane center said in its advisory Tuesday afternoon, adding that the storm is projected to be near or over Cuba on Wednesday night.
Tropical Storm Rafael: Tropical Storm Rafael forms in Caribbean, forecast to become hurricane in Gulf of Mexico
Hurricane Rafael path tracker
This forecast track shows the most likely path of the center of the storm. It does not illustrate the full width of the storm or its impacts, and the center of the storm is likely to travel outside the cone up to 33% of the time.
Hurricane Rafael spaghetti models
Illustrations include an array of forecast tools and models, and not all are created equal. The hurricane center uses only the top four or five highest performing models to help make its forecasts.
'Tropical storm conditions' expected in Cuba, parts of Florida
Hurricane conditions are expected in the Cayman Islands by Tuesday night. Tropical storm conditions are expected in parts of west-central Cuba, and in the lower and middle Florida Keys on Wednesday and Wednesday night.
Areas of Jamaica and the Cayman Islands, and the southern and western portions of Cuba, were projected to see rainfall totals between 3 to 6 inches with isolated totals up to 10 inches in areas of higher terrain.
The rainfall will spread north into Florida and adjacent areas of the southeastern U.S. during the middle to later part of the week, and rainfall totals of 1 to 3 inches are expected for the Lower and Middle Florida Keys, according to the hurricane center.
Gabe Hauari is a national trending news reporter at USA TODAY. You can follow him on X @GabeHauari or email him at [email protected].
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Hurricane Rafael: Projected path, spaghetti models for storm