Hurricane Rafael remains a powerful Cat. 2 storm in Gulf after making landfall in Cuba

As of Thursday morning, Rafael has maximum sustained winds around 105 mph and is moving northwest at 12 mph.

Read: American Red Cross: Help people affected by Hurricanes Milton and Helene

The storm system is forecast to weaken as it moves to the west and away from Florida over the weekend.

Rafael will move almost due west over the next several days and could eventually make another landfall in Mexico.

Watch: “After Milton: Severe Weather Center 9 Special”

Follow our Severe Weather team on X for live updates:

• Chief meteorologist Tom Terry
• Brian Shields
• Kassandra Crimi
• David Heckard