Rafael will make a landfall in Cuba as a major Category 3 hurricane, but it will weaken considerably as it moves into the Gulf of Mexico.

The hurricane is in rarified air for storms in November, but will be in much different shape as it approaches the US.

The National Hurricane Center is tracking two systems in the Atlantic basin: Hurricane Rafael and a disturbance approaching the Leeward Islands. Hurricane Rafael has intensified to a Category 2 storm with maximum sustained winds of 110 mph as it nears Cuba,