The hurricane center cautioned there is "larger-than-normal uncertainty regarding Rafael's intensity later in the forecast ...

Forecast models are aligned on Rafael’s path over the next two to three days, but uncertainty grows significantly beyond that timeframe.

Forecasters expected the storm to later weaken over Cuba before emerging in the southeastern Gulf of Mexico as a hurricane.

Cuba was left reeling Thursday after a fierce Category 3 hurricane ripped across the island and knocked out the country's power grid.