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Hurricane Rafael A Category 3 hurricane, it hit Cuba on Wednesday afternoon before losing some strength as it passed over the island and entered the Gulf of Mexico.

The storm is moving away from western Cuba as a Category 2 hurricane and conditions on the island were expected to improve overnight with winds, rain and storm surge easing.

The hurricane, which led to the collapse of the island's power grid, is the fifth major hurricane of the year in the Atlantic and the strongest to end the year since 2020.

As Rafael moved over Cuba, it weakened slightly and became a Category 2 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 105 mph (169 km/h).

Rapid intensification is becoming more common as the atmosphere and oceans warm due to fossil fuel pollution; Rafael is the ninth storm to rapidly strengthen in the Atlantic basin this year.

Rafael is expected to turn westward on Thursday and slow, likely meandering along the southern Gulf of Mexico through the weekend. This storm is currently unlikely to impact the northern Gulf of Mexico as the hurricane center only warns that the southern and southwestern Gulf of Mexico should stay tuned for Rafael. At the end of the forecast models, there is still some uncertainty about where the storm will end up, which continues to be observed.

A more confident forecast will be possible as the storm rages over the waters of the southeastern Gulf of Mexico on Thursday.

Rafael dealt a devastating blow to Cuba when it became the first Category 3 hurricane to hit Cuba since Ian in 2022.

Thousands of people in the western province of Artemisa had been evacuated from coastal areas, officials said on state television before the landing. Rafael's core landed east of Playa Majana in the province.

The national power grid collapsed because of strong winds as Rafael approached the island, government officials said.

“We had several load failures of the system in the western zone, which caused fluctuations in the frequency of the system and led to a complete collapse,” Félix Estrada Rodríguez, the head of the national headquarters of the Electric Union, told state television. Officials will wait until the hurricane's impact subsides in the western part of the island to begin restoring service.

Cuban Civil Defense has put the western and central provinces on alert and asked people there to restrict their freedom of movement. Havana's normally busy streets were largely empty Wednesday afternoon.

This is the second hurricane to hit Cuba in recent weeks. Hurricane Oscar devastated Cuba in late October, killing at least seven people. The country's power grid has collapsed several times, including during the Oscars success in October.

According to NOAA, Rafael is the strongest hurricane to hit the northwestern Caribbean in November since 2009.

It is expected to be only the fifth hurricane to hit the Gulf of Mexico in November since 1966, according to hurricane expert Michael Lowry.

Rafael could still become the sixth named storm to hit the U.S. this season, but areas at risk are gradually being narrowed down.

Storm-damaging upper-elevation winds are expected to severely deteriorate Rafael as the storm approaches the U.S. coast, regardless of where it is located. Forecasts suggest Rafael will return to tropical storm status by the weekend.

Chevron said it would move all personnel ashore and halt production on rigs in the Gulf of Mexico ahead of Rafael's approach. Shell and BP have pulled some non-essential employees from several drilling platforms, according to press releases from both companies.

CNN's Robert Shackelford, Taylor Ward, Brandon Miller, Steve Almasy, José Álvarez, Patrick Oppmann, Michael Rios, Dave Alsup and Hanna Park contributed to this report.