Science

NOAA satellites watch Hurricane Rafael make landfall in Cuba (video)

As we go into the final days of November, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)’s GOES-East satellite is busy keeping a watchful eye on what’s now the 17th storm of the season.

It’s been quite the wild ride lately after what started off as a quieter 2024 hurricane season in the Atlantic. Two previous storms, Hurricane Milton and Hurricane Helene, caused billions in damage and took hundreds of lives throughout the American southeast in September and October. The latest storm, Hurricane Rafael, began its development at the end of October and has now organized more into a tropical system to kick off November. On Nov. 5, it strengthened into a hurricane.

The storm set its sights on Cuba as it moves northwestward just west of Jamaica in the coming days. In the warm waters of the Caribbean Sea, Rafael continued to intensify and reached hurricane status on Nov. 6, making landfall in the Artemisa province of Cuba as a major Category 3 hurricane with sustained winds at 115 miles per hour (185 kilometers per hour) with even stronger gusts.

(Image credit: NOAA/CIRA)

In the accompanying images captured by NOAA’s GOES-East satellite, you can see in high resolution and crisp detail the powerful and large storm tear through the island in the eastern Caribbean. Thanks to this next generation weather satellite, forecasters are able to keep a close eye on the storm every step of the way.




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