Hurricane Rafael pushed into the Gulf of Mexico on Wednesday night after plowing across western Cuba as a Category 3 hurricane with winds so powerful it knocked out the entire country's power grid.

The hurricane is in rarified air for storms in November, but will be in much different shape as it approaches the US.

Rafael made landfall as a Category 3 hurricane Wednesday afternoon in western Cuba before weakening, the National Hurricane Center said.In a 10 p.m. update, the center said Rafael was moving away from western Cuba as it headed to the southeastern Gulf of Mexico,