MOBILE, Ala. (WPMI) – TROPICS: Tropical Storm Rafael has strengthened to become a hurricane. It will move over the western side of Cuba before entering the Gulf during the second half of Wednesday. There’s still a decent amount of uncertainty of Rafael’s eventual path through the Gulf. Models are coming into better agreement that it will make more of a westerly turn before turning northwards Friday into the weekend. Regardless, Rafael is likely to weaken steadily as it moves north through the Gulf due to an increasingly hostile environment with increased wind shear and cooler sea-surface temperatures. Given the uncertainty, it’s still too early to pinpoint any local impacts here. If it does make it to the northern Gulf Coast, we could see higher rain chances Friday into the weekend. Stay tuned for updates.