NASA’s Earth Observatory has released a satellite image of Hurricane Rafael hurtling through Cuba after making landfall on the island, bringing strong winds and rain.

The false-color image, captured by the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) sensor on the NOAA-21 satellite, shows the storm overturning parts of the western island and the Gulf of Mexico around 1:45 a.m. Wednesday. ET Thursday. At this time, Rafael was classified as a Category 2 hurricane with sustained winds of approximately 105 miles per hour.

The image depicts infrared signals known as brightness temperatures, revealing the differences between the cooler cloud structures (shown in white and purple) and the warmer surface below (shown in yellow and orange).

Rafael reached western Cuba on Wednesday as a powerful Category 3 hurricaneaccording to the National Hurricane Center (NHC) of the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). It approached the island from the south, having passed Jamaica the previous day as a tropical storm.

As it neared Cuba, Rafael crossed warm waters and encountered light to moderate vertical wind shear—factors that allowed the storm to develop into a hurricane.

Wind shear is the difference in wind speed or direction over a short distance, either vertically or horizontally, in the atmosphere. In the context of hurricanes, vertical wind shear—the change in wind speed or direction with altitude—plays a significant role in the development and intensity of a storm. Low wind shear helps hurricanes strengthen, while strong wind shear inhibits their growth and can weaken them.

Before making landfall in Cuba, Rafael’s sustained winds peaked at about 115 miles per hour, but the storm weakened slightly as it made landfall. It was downgraded to a Category 2 hurricane as it crossed the island and headed northwest.

Raphael cut off power in Cubait destroyed hundreds of homes and caused damage to other infrastructure, the Associated Press said. No deaths were immediately reported.

The hurricane has passed Cuba and is currently moving west into the central Gulf of Mexico with maximum sustained winds of 120 miles per hour. It is now classified as a Category 3 hurricane again after strengthening, according to the report latest NHC advisory issued Friday at 3 am CT.

“Rafael is moving to the west at nearly 9 miles per hour and a general westerly to west-northwesterly slower motion is expected ahead of the weekend. On the forecast track, Rafael is expected to move over the central Gulf of Mexico for the next few days,” the advisory said.

“Some intensity fluctuations are possible today. A steady weakening trend is forecast through this evening and should continue into the weekend.”

Hurricane-force winds extend outward up to 30 miles from the center, and tropical storm-force winds extend outward up to 115 miles.

According to the NHC, the swells generated by Rafael are expected to spread over most of the Gulf of Mexico in the coming days.

“These swells are likely to cause life-threatening surf and rip current conditions,” the advisory said.

Rafael is the 17th named storm and 11th hurricane of the 2024 season, which runs from June 1 to November 30. Those numbers exceed the average seasonal totals of 14 named storms and seven hurricanes.