November hurricanes in the Gulf of Mexico are rare.
According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, there have only been six in recorded history.
Once Hurricane Rafael moves off the Cuban coast and enters the Gulf tonight, it'll become number 7.
Based on NOAA hurricane tracking data, hurricanes moved across at least a portion of the Gulf of Mexico, most recently in 2020 with Hurricane Eta and in 2009 with Hurricane Ida.
Before the 2000s, the only other named hurricanes to move across the Gulf in November were Kate in 1985 and Jeanne in 1980.
Long before the modern practice of naming tropical systems, records indicate unnamed storms moved over the Gulf of Mexico in 1935 and 1870.
According to NOAA intensity tracks, Rafael will be one of the strongest hurricanes to move across the Gulf of Mexico in November.
The strongest November system was Hurricane Kate in 1985. That storm was a Category 3, producing winds as strong as 120 mph on November 20, 1985.
Though Rafael won't be as strong as Kate, it's still a formidable hurricane. The storm made landfall in western Cuba on Wednesday afternoon as a Category 3 hurricane, producing maximum sustained winds of 115 mph.
NBC2 will keep you up-to-speed on Rafael's movement across the Gulf of Mexico as it moves west-northwestward away from our part of Florida through the end of the week.