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Rafael strengthens to Category 2 hurricane, Florida Keys under tropical storm warning

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Rafael strengthens to Category 2 hurricane, Florida Keys under tropical storm warning


Hurricane Rafael has strengthened into a Category 2 storm as it heads toward Cuba, where landfall is expected Wednesday before moving into the Gulf of Mexico.

As of 7 a.m. Wednesday, Rafael was located at 21.0N and 81.6W with maximum sustained winds of 100 miles an hour, moving northwest at 14 miles an hour.

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According to the National Hurricane Center, Rafael will pass through western Cuba on Wednesday as a Category 2 storm.

The National Hurricane Center says Hurricane Rafael will make landfall in Cuba on Wednesday before moving into the Gulf of Mexico.

The NHC says the storm will also bring heavy rain to portions of the western Caribbean, including Jamaica and the Cayman Islands, through early Thursday.

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Where will Rafael go once it reaches the Gulf?

Models have shifted west, indicating that Rafael will turn far away from Florida’s Gulf coast in the coming days.

A tropical storm warning is in effect, however, for the Florida Keys, where some storm impacts are expected Wednesday and early Thursday.

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Models are divided on whether Rafael will head north toward the U.S. Gulf coast, or turn south toward Mexico.

Models are divided on whether Rafael will head north toward the U.S. Gulf coast, or turn south toward Mexico.

As the storm moves through the Gulf, it’s expected to weaken because of cooler water temperatures and increased wind shear.

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FOX 13 Meteorologist Jim Weber says it remains to be seen whether Rafael will make landfall in the U.S., or turn south toward Mexico.

“We may see some big adjustments to the forecast track as we go through the day,” Weber said.

Weber says the Tampa Bay area will see cloudy skies and scattered showers Wednesday and Thursday, with most of Florida’s storm impacts staying to the south.

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No. 10 Florida State softball comes up short on the road at Florida

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No. 10 Florida State softball comes up short on the road at Florida


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  • The Florida Gators defeated the Florida State Seminoles 4-3 in a midweek softball game.
  • Florida State initially led 2-0 before Florida tied the game and later took the lead.
  • The Seminoles tied the game again in the fifth inning, but the Gators scored the winning run in the bottom half.
  • No. 8 Florida defeated No. 10 Florida State 4-3 in a midweek softball game.
  • FSU initially took a 2-0 lead but could not overcome Florida’s subsequent scoring rallies.
  • The Seminoles will next play a road series against Boston College starting May 1.

No. 8 Florida handed No. 10 Florida State a narrow midweek loss, edging the Seminoles 4-3 Tuesday night at Katie Seashole Pressly Stadium.

It was FSU’s first loss at Gainesville in five years.

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FSU (43-8, 18-3 ACC) matched UF hit for hit for much of the game but could not overcome a pair of early deficit swings, falling to the Gators (46-8, 16-5 SEC) for the second time this season.

The Seminoles scored three runs on seven hits and drew three walks. Ashtyn Danley and Kennedy Harp each went 2-for-3, and five different FSU players recorded hits.

FSU struck first in the second inning. Singles by Bella Ruggiero and Harp, along with a walk to Shelby McKenzie, loaded the bases. Hayley Griggs followed with a soft single to left to plate Ruggiero, and Isa Torres added a sacrifice fly to score McKenzie and give the Seminoles a 2-0 lead.

Florida answered with two runs on two hits in the bottom of the third to tie the game, then pushed ahead 3-2 in the fourth on an RBI single.

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The Seminoles responded in the fifth, again loading the bases. Anna Hinde lifted a sacrifice fly to deep right, allowing Torres to tag and score to tie the game at 3.

Florida regained the lead in the bottom half of the inning with a solo run and held the Seminoles scoreless the rest of the way to secure the 4-3 victory.

Bella Dimitrijevic started for FSU and worked three innings, allowing two earned runs on three hits with one strikeout in her 13th start of the season. Marlee Gaskell (2-1) relieved in the fourth, pitching 2 1/3 innings and striking out three while surrendering five hits. Makenna Reid entered in the sixth and recorded two flyouts to keep the Seminoles within a run.

Florida State will resume ACC play with a road series at Boston College beginning Friday, May 1, in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts.

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How to watch FSU softball vs. Boston College

  • Date: Friday, May 1
  • Time: 4 p.m. EST
  • Where: Harrington Athletics Village, Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts
  • TV/Stream: ACC extra

Peter Holland Jr. covers Florida State athletics and Big Bend Preps for the Tallahassee Democrat. If you like to pitch a story on a high school athlete, don’t hesitate to get in touch with him via email at PHolland@Gannett.com or on X @_Da_pistol.



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FBI asking for help locating missing truck driver after suspected car hauler hijacking in Florida

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FBI asking for help locating missing truck driver after suspected car hauler hijacking in Florida


BREVARD COUNTY, Fla. – The FBI is investigating the suspicious disappearance of truck driver Alejandro Jacomino Gonzalez and is asking for the public’s assistance in locating him.

On April 16, investigators say Gonzalez picked up multiple vehicles from the Port of Brunswick, in Georgia. He departed the Brunswick port headed South for Miami, Florida, the drop off location for the vehicles.

Timeline of disappearance

At approximately 1:21 a.m., the FBI says Gonzalez arrived at a truck stop in Brevard County, Florida, where he rested for several hours. At 7:49 a.m., GPS from the truck driven by Gonzalez indicates the truck drove South one exit and then turned North towards Jacksonville. Soon after, Gonzalez became unreachable and the truck was reported missing.

On April 17, the truck was located in Port Wentworth, Georgia, however Gonzalez was not located in the truck. Additionally, several vehicles were missing from the hauler. Since the discovery of the truck, three vehicles have been located in Florida. Others are still missing, along with Gonzalez.

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The FBI is seeking photos and video footage from any people located in or around the Brevard County Rest Area in Grant-Valkaria, Florida, between the hours of 1 a.m. and 8 a.m., on Friday, April 17, specifically focusing on the southern portion of the rest area near the ramp that enters back onto I-95 South.

The public is encouraged to share those photos and videos here.

Copyright 2026 by WJXT News4JAX – All rights reserved.



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Invasive Burmese pythons may have met their match – opossums

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Invasive Burmese pythons may have met their match – opossums


Wildlife researchers have found an unconventional way to help control invasive Burmese pythons in the Florida Everglades – by using one of the snakes’ favorite prey.

Opossums are a key food source for Burmese pythons, which are top predators in the Everglades and have established a permanent breeding population in South Florida, severely harming the ecosystem by wiping out native animals, according to the Conservancy of Southwest Florida.

In 2022, researchers discovered the new technique accidentally while studying the movements and behaviors of small mammals. The team had fitted GPS collars to opossums and raccoons on Florida’s southern coast and discovered an added side effect: They could also track the enormous snakes after they swallowed the tagged animals whole, LiveScience reported.

“We need everything that we can find to remove as many pythons as possible,” Michael Cove, one of the researchers and curator of mammals at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences, told The South Florida Sun-Sentinel in 2023.

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With that in mind, Cove, A.J. Sanjar and other researchers expanded the effort to track and euthanize invasive pythons as part of Florida’s conservation work. Here’s how they do it.

How the GPS-collared opossums are tracked

Researchers hope to have at least 40 GPS-collared opossums in their conservation program by later this summer. It’s almost a given that some of these furry creatures will meet their doom in the coils of an invasive python diet in the food chain, the South Florida Sun Sentinel reported.

Although the use of live prey as bait has drawn criticism, the scientists insist that they are researching natural behavior and that the collars do not limit the mammals’ range or raise their risk, but rather use predatory patterns as a means of detection.

“We’re not putting these animals out there and in harm’s way,” Crocodile Lake National Wildlife Refuge manager Jeremy Dixon told the South Florida Sun Sentinel on April 19. “Harm’s way is there. We’re just documenting what’s happening.”

Where Burmese pythons have been reported in Florida

Burmese pythons in the Sunshine State have reduced the population of raccoons by 99%, opossums by 98% and bobcats by 88%, causing a massive ecological collapse in Florida’s Everglades.

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A U.S. Geological Survey report shows that Burmese pythons are expanding their range so quickly that it can be marked in miles per year in some areas.

Here’s where they’re most prevalent in Florida:

About the invasive Burmese python

Originally from Southeast Asia, the Burmese python has been introduced to South Florida either through accidental escape or intentional release of captive animals.

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In 1979, the first observation of a Burmese python in the wild in South Florida was recorded in Everglades National Park. The heaviest python ever caught in Florida was an 18-foot, 215-pound snake. It was caught by a biologist with the Conservancy of Southwest Florida in Naples in 2022.

How big do pythons get?

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission keeps track of the length and weight of Burmese pythons after sightings are reported. The longest Burmese python ever captured in Florida, in July 2023, measured more than 19 feet.

Since their arrival in Florida, the snakes have brought harmful, non-native parasites and reduced medium-sized mammal numbers by more than 90%, changing the ecosystem, according to the Florida Museum of Natural History.

Source: North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences, South Florida Sun Sentinel, Popular Science, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, Naples Daily News and USA TODAY research



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