Arkansas Storm Team Blog: Helene to bring rain & wind to Arkansas Friday

All eyes are on the Tropics this week as Helene tracks farther north in the Caribbean Sea. Helene reached tropical storm status Tuesday, hurricane status Wednesday and is expected to intensify to a major hurricane Thursday.

Hurricane conditions, flooding and life-threatening storm surge will impact the west coast of Florida and the Florida Panhandle Thursday. Helene could make landfall along the Florida Panhandle later Thursday as a Category 3 (111-129mph) or Category 4 (130 – 156mph) hurricane.

Almost all of Florida is under tropical alerts, along with parts of Georgia, eastern Alabama, South Carolina & western North Carolina. A Hurricane Warning remains in effect along Florida Panhandle & Big Bend including: Tallahassee & Cedar Key up to southwest Georgia from Valdosta to Macon.

Helene will weaken after making landfall Thursday, but will still bring rain & wind as it tracks farther north. The heaviest and most widespread rain for Arkansas is expected Friday.

Some spots across the Southeast could get over half a foot of rain. Locally, parts of Arkansas are expecting 2-3″+ of rainfall from Helene.

It will be breezy Thursday ahead of Helene’s arrival in Arkansas, with the strongest wind expected Friday. Gusts will be out of the northwest, possibly over 20mph at times.

Spaghetti models show a general path northward through the Gulf of Mexico, the Florida Panhandle and into Georgia. Helene could then track farther northwest and wrap around a low pressure system over the Mid-South.

This sort of dance between the two lows wrapping around a common point is called the Fujiwhara Effect. The stronger low could absorb the weaker one, or they could continue their dance, spinning around each other. In this instance, moisture from Helene will wrap around the system over Arkansas and eventually, track farther northeast. Rain should clear out of our area later Saturday, with sunshine returning Sunday.

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