Hurricane Rina was a small and slow-moving, but powerful tropical cyclone that caused minor impacts in the northwestern Caribbean Sea in late October 2011.

However, because the storm weakened significantly prior to landfall, only minor impact occurred in Mexico, mainly limited to flooding in some low-lying areas and downed trees and power lines.

Reaching the Atlantic at a relatively low latitude, the wave initially had little convection, before showers and thunderstorms briefly increased on October 12 as the system interacted with an upper-level trough.

Upon reaching the western Caribbean Sea, the wave began showing signs of development on October 19, but wind shear was too hostile for tropical cyclogenesis.

[3] Throughout the day on October 22, atmospheric pressures decreased and the circulation continuously became better defined, while convection increased significantly on the western side of the system and near the center.

[2] The depression initially moved northward into a weakness in a ridge, caused by a broad mid-level trough situated over the Southeastern United States.

[2] The National Hurricane Center (NHC) began issuing advisories at 21:00 UTC on October 23 and initially anticipated that atmospheric conditions would only be favorable enough over the following five days for the depression to reach moderate or strong tropical storm intensity.

Thereafter, easterly wind shear decreased significantly, allowing Rina to strengthen into a Category 1 hurricane late on October 24 while moving over warm sea surface temperatures.

[2] Rina continued to intensify as the day progressed, as winds increased and a small eye began to develop, due to the hurricane's location over very warm ocean waters and well established upper-level outflow.

Six hours later, Rina achieved its peak intensity with sustained winds of 115 mph (185 km/h) and a minimum barometric pressure of 966 mbar (hPa; 28.53 inHg) when located about 253 miles (407 km) east-southeast of Chetumal.

[2] At 0200 UTC on October 28, The storm made landfall near Paamul, about 12 miles (19 km) southwest of Playa del Carmen, with winds of 60 mph (95 km/h).

[2] Strong wind shear caused all convection near the center to dissipate,[2] and Rina degenerated into a remnant low in the Yucatan Channel by 1800 UTC that day.

[2] The remnant low moved toward the east-northeast and east within the low-level flow ahead of a cold front, and dissipated early the next day just southeast of the western tip of Cuba.

[2] In preparation for the storm, Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega ordered a navy vessel to evacuate residents from low-lying portions of the country; however, contact was lost with the ship for two days.

[8] Small boats and jet skis were hauled away from local marinas, while workers at nearby shopping centers began boarding up their windows.

[11] While Rina was weakening inland over the Yucatán Peninsula, mid and upper-level moisture began reaching South Florida as a cold front moved southward across the state.

[15] In western Palm Beach County, rainfall flooded some farmlands, causing a delay in harvesting sugar cane and halting vegetable planting.