Worst of Helene likely to come overnight in Savannah; 3 inches of rain already has fallen

Forecasters expressed concern Thursday that the most significant impacts from the remnants of Hurricane Helene as it passes through the Savannah area and South Carolina Lowcountry likely will be felt after dark.

“Nighttime tornadoes can be particularly hazardous as people are sleeping, don't get the warning, or don't hear the warning, and you can't see, so there's a psychological effect to these as well,” warned Ron Morales, a meteorologist in the Charleston office of the National Weather Service .

In addition to potential tornadoes, wind gusts as high as 60 mph are possible in and around Savannah, and across the state line in Beaufort County.

“In coastal areas of Georgia and South Carolina, as you get that open exposure of wind coming from the water toward the land, there's no friction, or much less friction, and the wind speeds are quite high,” Morales explained.

The highest winds are expected at around 2 a.m. Friday.

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The center of the storm is projected to track northward through the western half of Georgia, but Helene’s size will make it a factor far to the east, including the Georgia and South Carolina coasts.

As of noon, Helene was 475 miles off the coast of Tampa, Florida, but its rain bands had already dropped more than 3 inches of rain in Savannah between 5 a.m. and 1 p.m., according to the weather service.

“The rain shield is way out ahead/northeast of the center of Helene,” Morales said in an email. “So, your area is now under the gun for more widespread heavy rainfall, basically now through late tonight.”

A forecast from the National Hurricane Center shows the hurricane approaching landfall Thursday night as a Category 3 storm with winds near 115 mph. AccuWeather forecasters were predicting Helene would reach Category 4 strength − winds of 131 to 155 mph − in the Gulf and maintain that intensity into landfall.

The entire states of Florida, Georgia and South Carolina were under hurricane or tropical storm warnings Thursday.

Winds in the southeast sections of Georgia and South Carolina are expected to begin picking up Thursday afternoon and increase overnight before gradually easing Friday. Peak sustained winds of up to 40 mph and the 60 mph gusts are forecast for 2 a.m. Friday.

Relatively calm conditions are likely by Friday evening.

Rain is expected to taper off early Friday morning, making way for sunshine through the weekend.

John Deem covers climate change and the environment in coastal Georgia. He can be reached at 912-652-0213 or jdeem@gannett.com.

John Deem covers climate change and the environment in coastal Georgia. He can be reached at 912-652-0213 or jdeem@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: Worst of Helene likely to come overnight in Savannah; 3 inches of rain already has fallen