Hurricane Rafael strengthened into a category 3 hurricane early Friday morning, making it one of the strongest storms on record in the Gulf during the month of November.
Rafael is beginning to show signs of weakening, however, with maximum sustained winds now down to 100 mph after peaking at 120 mph earlier today.
The good news is despite this uptick in strength, Rafael will meander over the Gulf of Mexico over the next several days and eventually succumb to a more hostile environment, with stronger wind shear and drier air downstream.
Elsewhere in the tropics, an area of low pressure north of Puerto Rico will move toward the the southern Bahamas this weekend. Some gradual development of this system is possible, but the most likely outcome is some extra tropical moisture drifting toward south Florida by early next week.
Currently, the National Hurricane Center gives this feature a low chance for tropical development over the next 7 days.
Count on the NBC2 First Alert Hurricane Tracking Team to keep you updated.
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