Oscar’s arrival to eastern Cuba Sunday has impacted millions of residents already facing days without power, as attempts to restore much of the nation’s electric grid continue to fail.

While the clock appeared to be ticking on the strengthening window for a tropical rainstorm north of Hispaniola, it quickly became better organized and Tropical Storm Oscar formed late Saturday morning. Oscar rapidly intensified, becoming a hurricane early Saturday afternoon. Oscar will bring the risk of flooding downpours, damaging wind gusts, mudslides and rockslides, AccuWeather meteorologists say.

This wide image of the Caribbean Sea was captured on Monday morning, Oct. 21, 2024. It shows Oscar, center, over southeastern Cuba. (AccuWeather Enhanced RealVue™ Satellite)

Oscar's period of strengthening ended as it interacted with the mountainous terrain of Cuba, losing wind intensity and its hurricane status Sunday night. Once it leaves Cuba as a tropical storm, it is expected to turn northeastward toward the Bahamas before eventually accelerating into the Atlantic.

Oscar will bring building seas, dangerous surf and increasing downpours for a time in eastern Cuba. Some gusty winds and heavy rain will also push into the southeastern Bahamas. AccuWeather Chief Meteorologist Jon Porter added, "Such hurricane impacts to Cuba is extremely concerning because of the ongoing power grid crisis in Cuba. Adding a hurricane hit on top of the existing power failure can make the hurricane impact far worse than what would occur in another hurricane impacting Cuba, further risking lives and resulting in challenges in preparing for, responding to, and recovering from the hurricane’s impacts."

The AccuWeather RealImpact™ Scale for Hurricanes for the northern Islands of the Caribbean is 2.

Enough rain can be squeezed out on the mountainous terrain and steep slopes that can potentially cause flash flooding, rockslides and mudslides.

Quick summary of the 2024 Atlantic hurricane season so far

The Atlantic hurricane season does not officially end until Nov. 30. Thus far, there have been 15 tropical depressions and tropical storms with nine hurricanes, including four major hurricanes (Category 3 or greater on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale).

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Category 5 Hurricane Beryl set early-season intensity and formation records with maximum sustained winds reaching 165 mph on July 2 over the eastern Caribbean.

Damage and fatalities from late-September Category 4 Hurricane Helene (140-mph maximum sustained winds) continue to be assessed. Still, the Gulf of Mexico hurricane is already one of the deadliest and most destructive in U.S. history.

At one point on Oct. 6, there were three simultaneous hurricanes: Kirk, Leslie and Milton.

Milton, in the Gulf of Mexico, was not only the strongest hurricane of the 2024 season so far but one of the strongest ever in the Atlantic basin, with maximum sustained winds reaching 180 mph on Oct 7.