The National Hurricane Center’s most recent report says that Tropical Depression 18 has grown stronger and is now Tropical Storm Rafael.
Low and middle Florida Keys, from Key West to west of the Channel 5 Bridge, as well as the Dry Tortugas, are under a tropical storm watch.
As it gets closer to Cuba, where a hurricane watch and a tropical storm watch are already in effect, the NHC thinks that Tropical Storm Rafael will keep getting stronger and turn into Hurricane Rafael by Tuesday.
At the same time, the National Hurricane Center says that the western tip of the Florida Panhandle is right on the right side of Rafael’s possible path. According to AccuWeather, Escambia, and Santa Rosa counties are right in the path of the tropical eye.
The storm is more likely to hit Jamaica and Cuba.
“The brewing tropical storm is expected to make a northeastward turn across Jamaica and Cuba this week, bringing heavy downpours and gusty winds to those islands.” Alan Reppert, a senior meteorologist at AccuWeather, said.
Once the storm moves out of the northern Caribbean, it could go in a number of different directions. This means that people in the western tip of Florida should keep an eye on how it grows over the next week.
For now, here’s what you need to know about Tropical Storm Rafael.
What is the name of Tropical Storm Rafael?
Stormy Weather Rafael is going north at about 9 mph. It’s going to begin moving northwest later today and keep going that way for a few days. The storm is expected to hit Jamaica on Monday night and be near or over the Cayman Islands by Tuesday. It will get close to Cuba on Wednesday.
It is about 395 miles southeast of the Grand Cayman Islands and 175 miles south of Kingston, Jamaica.
Winds that last the longest: 45 mph
Moving north at 9 mph (10 degrees) at the moment.
997 MB, or 29.44 inches, is the lowest center pressure.
Are we going to see Hurricane Rafael?
Forecasters think that Tropical Storm Rafael will get stronger and turn into a hurricane by Tuesday afternoon after it goes by Jamaica. Hurricane Rafael will then keep moving northwest. It is expected to pass over the western tip of Cuba and keep moving toward the Gulf Coast of the United States.
Will Florida be affected by Tropical Storm Rafael?
Stormy Weather It is expected that Rafael will hit the Gulf of Mexico this week, but it is hard to say where it will go or how strong it will be in the long run.
Most Rafael spaghetti models show that the storm will move over the central Gulf Coast and hit land anywhere from Louisiana to Mobile, Alabama. Any of those places could have effects on the western part of Florida’s Panhandle, depending on how strong the storm was when it hit land.
Twenty years ago today, Hurricane Ivan hit land as a Category 3 storm near Gulf Shores, Alabama. It did a lot of damage to buildings as far away as Okaloosa County. Even though storm Katrina hit land as a Category 3 storm in southeast Louisiana, it still flooded downtown Pensacola and Pensacola Beach and damaged buildings.
Rafael is likely to be a hurricane or tropical storm with less force, but people should still be careful.
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