SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — Tropical Storm Rafael sets in the Caribbean on Monday and will bring heavy rain to Jamaica and the Cayman Islands before Forecasters said it would turn into a hurricane and probably hit Cuba.

Heavy rain is also expected to come to Florida and parts of the southeastern United States later in the week, according to the US National Hurricane Center in Miami.

A tropical storm warning was in effect for Jamaica and a hurricane watch was in effect for the Cayman Islands and parts of Cuba, including Pinar del Rio, Artemisa, La Habana, Mayabeque, Matanzas and Youth Island. A tropical storm alert has been issued for Villa Clara, Cienfuegos, Sancti Spiritus, Ciego de Avila, Camaguey and Las Tunas in Cuba.

A tropical storm watch has also been issued for the lower and central Florida Keys and Dry Tortugas from Key West to west of the Channel 5 Bridge.

The storm was located approximately 150 miles (245 kilometers) south of Kingston, Jamaica. The center said it had maximum sustained winds of 45 mph (75 km/h) moving north-northwest at 9 mph (15 km/h).

The storm was expected to move near Jamaica late Monday, be near or over the Cayman Islands as a hurricane late Tuesday, and approach Cuba on Wednesday.

Most forecasts indicate the storm will peak as a Category 1 hurricane, “but conditions over the next few days will facilitate strengthening, so we will need to monitor how quickly it organizes, and a stronger hurricane cannot be ruled out,” Michael Lowry wrote. hurricane expert and storm surge expert in an analysis Monday.

On Monday morning, the Cayman Islands government offered sandbags to people and announced that schools would close on Tuesday.

“Residents are requested to take urgent measures to protect themselves and their property,” the government said in a statement. he said.

Schools in Jamaica were also scheduled to close on Tuesday, and government offices were scheduled to close on Monday afternoon.

About 37,000 people remain under evacuation orders in Guantanamo Bay in Cuba’s far east due to bad weather, Cuban officials said Monday night.

The latest development comes on the heels of Tropical Storm Oscar, which dumped heavy rains on Cuba in October, killing eight people and causing a widespread power outage across the island as the national energy system collapsed.

Meanwhile, the Jamaica Observer newspaper reported a major landslide in a rural area north of the capital of Kingston on Sunday, which officials attributed to continuing rains ahead of the possible storm. No injuries were reported but several communities remained isolated.

Heavy rainfall is expected to affect the Western Caribbean with a total of 3 to 6 inches (7 to 15 centimeters) and locally up to 9 inches (23 cm) in parts of Jamaica and Cuba. Flooding and landslides are possible.

Rafael is the 17th named storm of the season.

Across the Atlantic Ocean, Tropical Storm Patty has dissipated.