Tropical Storm Rafael, which is moving towards the Cayman Islands and the coast of Cuba, has strengthened into a hurricane, reports the National Hurricane Center (NHC) of the United States.
Earlier, the Russian diplomatic mission in Havana warned tourists about the approach of Tropical Cyclone Rafael, which will pass through the west of the country on Wednesday and threaten heavy rains and flooding.
As reported by the center at 7:20 p.m. local time (03:20 Moscow time), the maximum sustained wind speed is 120 kilometers per hour.
A tropical storm gets its name when the accompanying wind speed reaches 62 kilometers per hour. For a hurricane to be classified as Category 1 on the Saffir-Simpson scale, which evaluates the potential damage of a storm, its wind speed must exceed 120 kilometers per hour. If the wind speed exceeds 150 kilometers per hour, the hurricane category will go to second, at 180 to third and at 210 to fourth. The fifth category, the most dangerous, is assigned to hurricanes with winds of more than 250 kilometers per hour, RIA Novosti clarifies.
