Rafael has weakened to a tropical storm and was expected to dissolve over the Gulf of Mexico in the coming days after barreling across Cuba as a Category 3 hurricane.

Hurricane Rafael made landfall in western Cuba as a Category 3 storm Wednesday and continues to move toward the northwest Thursday morning, according to the National Hurricane Center. The National Hurricane Center said at 4:15 p.

Rafael was moving west across the Gulf of Mexico Friday morning as the first major hurricane in the Gulf of Mexico in November for almost 40 years, bringing the threat of life-threatening conditions to the southern United States coastline.