Hurricane Rafael update: Projected path, tracker and potential US impacts l LIVE

Powerful Hurricane Rafael has strengthened in the Gulf of Mexico after slamming into Cuba as a major hurricane on Wednesday and continues to crawl westward slowly.

HURRICANE RAFAEL UPDATE: LOCATION l PROJECTED PATH l US IMPACTS

Rafael is currently a Category 3 hurricane with some fluctuations in intensity possible on Friday, the National Hurricane Center said. By the evening, a steady weakening trend is forecast and should continue through the weekend.

Cuba and parts of the western Caribbean, however, have been the hardest hit by the storm, which brought damaging hurricane-force winds, flooding rain and a life-threatening storm surge.

All tropical alerts have been dropped, and conditions are expected to gradually improve across the region, but millions of people along the U.S. Gulf Coast will be closely monitoring the hurricane’s progress as it slowly churns over the Gulf of Mexico.

Where is Hurricane Rafael?

As of the latest advisory from the NHC, Rafael is about 245 miles north-northeast of Progreso, a port city on Mexico's Yucatán Peninsula.

It's moving west at 9 mph. Rafael has maximum sustained winds of 120 mph.

What's the forecast for Hurricane Rafael?

Forecast models favor a weakening pattern through the next several days as Rafael moves into a drier environment and encounters stronger wind shear over the weekend.

If Rafael survives into next week, the FOX Forecast Center said it could be because it has moved just far enough south in the western Gulf of Mexico to avoid those hostile conditions. In that case, the Mexican coast could be threatened.

Will there be any impact on the US?

Rafael is unlikely to pose any significant problem for the U.S. Gulf Coast, the FOX Forecast Center said.

At best, it will stay in the Gulf and bring no impact at all to the U.S. At worst, a rapidly weakening system will bring a period of heavy rain either this weekend or next week.