Tropical Storm Rafael may be swirling in open waters hundreds of miles away from the Gulf Coast shores this weekend, but moisture from the late-season storm will help trigger a dangerous flash flood threat across parts of the South on Saturday,

From hundreds of miles away, Hurricane Rafael has brought a deluge of rain to the Hilton Head Island area and across the Southeast. The cyclone plowed through Cuba as a Category 3 storm Wednesday night before spilling westbound into the Gulf of Mexico and weakening slightly.

Powerful Hurricane Rafael continues to remain a powerful hurricane in the Gulf of Mexico and while the current forecast does not have the storm hitting the U.S., it will bring life-threatening conditions to the Gulf Coast.

As much as 8-10 inches of rain are expected across central and southern Louisiana Saturday as a front taps into moisture streaming north out of the Gulf of Mexico from Tropical Storm Rafael, triggering a life-threatening flash flood risk.

Rafael was moving west across the Gulf of Mexico Friday morning as the first major hurricane in the Gulf of Mexico in November for almost 40 years, bringing the threat of life-threatening conditions to the southern United States coastline.

Powerful Hurricane Rafael has strengthened in the Gulf of Mexico after slamming into Cuba as a major hurricane on Wednesday and continues to crawl westward slowly.