Hurricane Helene set to strike the Big Bend region of Florida as a major hurricane

Hurricane Helene is now a Category 1 hurricane as it enters the Gulf of Mexico and heads for Florida. The storm is over 400 miles southwest of Tampa and is expected to make landfall in the Big Bend region by Thursday evening. It could produce up to 130 mph winds and 20 foot storm surge along the Florida coast.

The system has been sluggish so far but is anticipated to speed up and rapidly intensify as it crosses the Gulf. Rapid intensification happens when storm winds increase over 35 mph in less than 24 hours. Helene will likely explode from its current Category 1 status to a Category 4 major hurricane when it is bearing down on the Florida coast.

This system could impact our local weather as it interacts with low pressure over the central U.S. in a rare dance known as the Fujiwhara effect. This will sling the core of Helene far into the heartland as it eventually melds into a broad area of low pressure.