Tropical Storm Rafael is expected to dissipate in the Gulf of Mexico before it reaches land but could generate life-threatening rip currents along the Gulf Coast through the weekend, forecasters with the National Hurricane Center in Miami said Sunday.

Rafael strengthened into a low-end hurricane Tuesday night as it approached the Cayman Islands in the central Caribbean Sea, the National Hurricane Center said. The rare November hurricane was expected to continue churning northwest toward western Cuba and enter the Gulf of Mexico this week,

Rafael, which was a tropical storm Sunday morning, is expected to "meander over the central Gulf of Mexico" Sunday night and move south-southwest Monday and Tuesday, according to the National Hurricane Center in Miami. While it did have maximum sustained ...