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ORLANDO, Fla. – Helene strengthened into a Category 1 hurricane on Wednesday and is expected to strengthen further – potentially becoming a major Category 3 hurricane – before making landfall over Florida on Thursday. Helene is likely to bring life-threatening storm surge, damaging winds, torrential rain, and flooding to parts of the Sunshine State.
Helene is the eighth named storm of the 2024 Atlantic hurricane season. If landfall happens over Florida’s Big Bend region, it would mark the third hurricane in the last two years to make landfall there (Hurricane Ian in 2022, Hurricane Idalia in 2023).
Here’s the latest on Hurricane Helene’s anticipated path, cone, timeline, landfall, and impacts towards Florida.
Hurricane Helene was 85 miles from Cozumel, Mexico, and 500 miles from Tampa, Florida, according to NHC’s 11 a.m. Wednesday update. The storm is traveling NNW at 10 mph with maximum sustained winds of 80 mph, making it a Category 1 hurricane.
The pressure is 979 mb.
Timeline: When is Hurricane Helene expected to reach Florida?
Hurricane Helene is expected to strengthen further in the Gulf of Mexico, becoming a major hurricane (Cat. 3+) before making landfall over Florida’s Big Bend region on Thursday night.
The latest track (cone) from the NHC is below. After making landfall, Helene is expected to weaken, however, due to the storm’s size, speed, and strength, strong, damaging winds are possible for much of the inland southeastern United States.
Central Florida – Orlando and the surrounding cities – will begin to feel the impacts from Hurricane Helene on Wednesday, including tropical storm-forced winds, wind gusts, heavy rain, and the potential for tornado warnings.
When will the worst weather from Hurricane Helene be in Central Florida?
The worst weather will be felt on Thursday evening, where much of Central Florida will experience tropical storm-forced winds, strong wind gusts, and heavy rain, up to 4″ possible in some spots. There will also be the chance for a tornado or two to develop.
Here is a county-by-county breakdown of what to expect.
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