Hurricane Rafael remained a "powerful compact hurricane" as it slowly churned in the central Gulf of Mexico, U.S. forecasters said Friday.  Where is the storm and what is its path? According to the latest update from the National Hurricane Center,

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.