HURRICANE IAN has hit Cuba and should make landfall in Florida on Wednesday (Shutterstock).

Hurricane season is in full force. On the heels of Hurricane Fiona, Hurricane Ian is lashing Cuba with gale force winds that have knocked out electrical power to the entire nation. At least two deaths have been reported.

According to the Associated Press, the winds raced as fast as 125 miles an hour and many even speed up as it enters the Gulf of Mexico and nears Florida, perhaps in the area of Tampa.

The New York Times reports the eye of the storm will make landing in the “Sunshine State” on Wednesday afternoon.

About  2.5 million people are under evacuation orders.

McConnell backs Electoral College Act

MITCH McCONNELL (Shutterstock).

Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky), the Senate Minority leader announced on Tuesday that he “strongly” supports a bill intended to clarify the process of counting Electoral College votes in order to prevent another event like the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol by supporters of then-president Donald Trump.

United Press International reports that McConnell will back the bipartisan legislation being promoted by Sen. Joe Manchin (D-West Virginia) and Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) that would make it clear that the role of the vice president in presiding over the counting of votes is “ministerial,” meaning he or she may not interfere with the election results.

Also in the news … Gov. Gavin Newsom on Tuesday signed 13 bills aimed at establishing many of abortion and reproductive  health guarantees once protected by the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court . . .

Sports: Angels win, Dodgers lose

On Tuesday night, the two Southern California baseball teams found themselves on opposite sides of late one-run decisions.

The Los Angeles Angels (68-86) scored a run in the bottom of the eighth and defeated the Oakland A’s in Anaheim by the score of 4-3. The Los Angeles Dodgers (106-48) gave up a run in the bottom of the 10th inning and lost 5-3 to the Padres in San Diego.

In the Angels’ win, Luis Rengifo singled in Matt Theiss for what proved to be the clinching run. In the Dodgers loss, a bases-loaded walk brought in Jose Azocar with the decider.

Weather: Cooling off, finally

After days in the 90s, we in the West Orange County area can count on a slide in daytime highs. The forecast for Wednesday calls for high of 89 under sunny skies with an overnight low of 69. Thursday should see slightly cooler times, with a daytime high of 87 (65) turning to a high of 81 (63) on Friday, with patchy fog in the morning and sun in the afternoon.