Thursday, November 7

Hurricane Rafael made landfall in Cuba yesterday afternoon as a major Category 3 storm, delivering heavy rain and strong winds to the island country.

Rafael began as a tropical depression on Sunday in the southern Caribbean Sea near the northern coast of Colombia, and slowly strengthened as it moved northward. By Monday, it was a tropical storm heading towards Jamaica, but the winds in the area moved Rafael onto a northwest track, missing Jamaica entirely. The storm passed the Cayman Islands on Tuesday, battering the islands with hurricane-force winds, and it proceeded to rapidly intensify over the next 24 hours. By Wednesday afternoon, Rafael was approaching Cuba's southern coast as a Category 3 hurricane, packing winds of over 115 mph and heavy rain on the north and east sides of the eye.

Rafael made landfall yesterday afternoon on Cuba's southwestern coast, a few miles west of the small town of Guanimar. The storm continued its northward track through western Cuba throughout the night, heavily impacting the capital of Havana and its suburbs. Thousands of people have been evacuated from the hardest-hit areas, and residents of surrounding towns are being urged to stay inside. Power lines have gone down across the region, knocking out electricity to the whole country, as Cuba's power grid is extremely vulnerable to storms like this. Power for the country has been in and out for months, including when Hurricane Oscar slammed into the island a few weeks ago.

Rafael is the fifth major hurricane of 2024 in the Atlantic Ocean and the first major hurricane to hit Cuba since Hurricane Ian in 2022, which devastated the island country. It is currently tracking through the Gulf of Mexico, making it the strongest hurricane in the northwestern Caribbean in November since 2009 and only the fifth hurricane in the Gulf of Mexico since 1966. However, as it moves west, whether it will shift north or south is still unknown. The storm could turn northward and hit the American states of Louisiana or Mississippi or it could turn in the opposite direction and head towards the Mexican state of Veracruz. Either way, unfavorable hurricane conditions in the Gulf should hamper Rafael's strengthening, limiting it to a weak hurricane or a tropical storm when it makes landfall.

Fact of the Day (Reader's Digest): At 8 pm on March 31, 1880, Wabash, Indiana became the first city in the world to be lit by electricity-- via four “Brush lights,” invented by Cleveland's Charles F. Brush.

Quote of the Day (Gracious Quotes): Imperfection is beauty. Madness is genius. It is better to be absolutely ridiculous than absolutely boring. (Marilyn Monroe)

Word of the Day (Merriam-Webster): A cappella (adverb/adjective)- When a song is performed a cappella, it is sung unaccompanied by instrumental music.

In a Sentence: A hush fell over the audience as a voice from offstage began singing a cappella.