When was the last time Columbus saw a hurricane like Helene? It rivals Michael & Opal

Editor’s note: This story is part of our ongoing Hurricane Helene coverage, a fast-moving developing story. For the latest information, please visit ledger-enquirer.com.

Forecasters have warned that Hurricane Helene’s will have an impact in Columbus that rivals previous historic storms such as Hurricane Michael, and may even outdo the magnitude of any prior hurricane that has reached this area.

On Oct. 4, 1995, Hurricane Opal brought 70 mph winds and knocked down 300-plus trees throughout Columbus and Fort Moore, according to the Ledger’s archive . Hurricane Irma in 2017 and Michael in 2018 are the other notable hurricanes that brought devastating damage to the region.

In a statement Thursday morning, the National Weather Service said Hurricane Helene will “exceed or rival the wind and rain of Opal, Irma, and Michael.”

Marlow of the National Weather Service sent this email to the Ledger-Enquirer:

“First and foremost: there isn’t a single storm that fits the anticipated magnitude of possible wind and rain hazards for Columbus from Helene. Its forward speed and the broadness of its wind field are rather anomalous, on top of the addition of the predecessor rain event that occurred yesterday.

If a more westward track is realized, measured winds in Columbus could exceed those in Irma, Michael — both of which had very different tracks than Helene.”

‘Large and powerful hurricane’

Hurricane Helene was spinning toward the Big Bend in Florida at time of publication, expected to make landfall as a Category 4 hurricane at 10 p.m. Thursday.

Still just a Category 2 Thursday morning, hurricane expert Alex DaSilva believes this storms swath will be larger than Hurricane Ian or Hurricane Michael, which was a Category 5.

“Helene is expected to rapidly grow into a very large and powerful hurricane,” he said. “It is possible that Helene could rapidly intensify into a Category 4 hurricane and maintain that strength at landfall with maximum sustained winds of 131 to 155 miles per hour.”

The warm Gulf sea surface temperatures and a dip in the jetstream have DaSilva concerned for how far inland the hurricane-like impacts will be.

Temperatures are about 4 degrees above normal, according to climate scientist Daniel Gilford.

Expected effects in Columbus

“These winds will be extending a lot further north than a typical tropical system,” he said during a AccuWeather press brief briefing Thursday morning. “(At) 8 p.m. tonight (Columbus) could start to experience wind gusts. We’re concerned about down trees, and power lines, and rain already saturated the soil. “

A hurricane-speed wind gust is at least 73 mph, which Columbus could experience overnight and into the early morning Friday.

Yesterday Columbus received between 1.5 and 2.5 inches of rain, according to National Weather Service forecaster Lindsay Marlow.

“Through the next 24 hours Columbus will get another 2 to 4 inches of rain,” she said. “The caveat being if the rain band moves through we could see amounts higher or lower depending on how the track shifts.”

Columbus is one of 28 Georgia counties under a hurricane warning. Another 72 counties are under a tropical storm warning, according to the National Weather Service.

The timing is bad, DaSilva said.

“It’s going to push through Georgia when it’s dark out.”