(Bloomberg) -- Hurricane Rafael slammed the western coast of Cuba with Category 3 winds, causing an island-wide blackout before it is expected to emerge in the Gulf of Mexico, where it could weaken quickly before reaching the US coastline.
Rafael’s winds measured 115 miles (185 kilometers) per hour at landfall just after 4 p.m. local time, according to an update from the US National Hurricane Center, confirming its ranking on the five-step Saffir-Simpson scale. The current Atlantic hurricane season has produced 17 storms, three more than average.
Rafael landed in the Cuban province of Artemisa, about 40 miles southwest of Havana. The hurricane will quickly cross the island before heading into the Gulf, said Al Reppert, a meteorologist with commercial forecaster AccuWeather Inc. It will meander over the Gulf for several days and could even fall apart.
“It should wind down over the Gulf of Mexico,” Reppert said. Its impact on the US “should be minimal.”
Rafael’s winds increased by 50 mph in 24 hours, meaning it has reached the threshold for rapid intensification. That phenomenon has become more common as the planet warms, increasing the risk that people will be caught off guard by storms strengthening quickly before landfall. Rafael’s threat to offshore oil and gas production in the Gulf has sparked some evacuations.
As high winds raked western Cuba Wednesday afternoon, Rafael knocked the island’s fragile power grid offline, according to an X post from the national utility. President Miguel Diaz-Canel said the nation had prepared for Rafael’s landfall and recovery work would begin as soon as the storm clears.
--With assistance from Jim Wyss.
(Updates wind speeds and power outage impacts in first, second and sixth paragraphs.)
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