Braves vs. Mets weather updates: Latest news on Hurricane Helene's impact on MLB playoff standings, schedule

As the MLB regular season nears an end, the AL and NL wild-card races are emerging as the biggest storylines to follow. Both could be impacted by Hurricane Helene.

While it's the Florida panhandle that is expected to receive the brunt of Helene, a double shot of unrelated storms followed by rain from the hurricane could wreak havoc on Truist Park in Atlanta just as the Braves are trying to surge into the postseason.

With matchups against two other wild-card contenders, including a critical series against the Mets, the Braves have a scheduling mess on their hands.

Here are the latest weather updates as Hurricane Helene moves toward the southeast United States.

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Latest news, updates on Hurricane Helene's impact on MLB playoff standings, schedule

The final two games of the series between the Mets and Braves were postponed on Wednesday afternoon, with a doubleheader planned for Monday. The doubleheader will only be played if necessary, but it's likely that one or both games will be necessary for at least one team.

Hurricane Helene, which is currently a Category 1 storm but is expected to strengthen to at least Category 3 before it makes landfall, is set to impact the Atlanta area as a tropical storm overnight Thursday into Friday.

That put Thursday's game between the Mets and Braves at serious risk, but MLB couldn't simply arrange a doubleheader on Wednesday because unrelated storms are passing through Atlanta throughout the day.

Roughly 2-3 inches of rain are expected to fall during the day Wednesday in Atlanta, according to The Weather Channel, with more than a 75 percent chance of rain after 3 p.m. ET. That made the idea of playing Wednesday untenable and put the league in a tough scheduling position.

The Braves and Mets still had hope of playing Wednesday's game as of the afternoon, according to MLB.com's Anthony DiComo. However, forecasts give the Atlanta area a 100 percent chance of rain at 7 p.m. ET and an 81 percent chance at 10 p.m. ET; as of Wednesday afternoon, it was already raining.

Rain from Hurricane Helene isn't expected to taper off until the middle of the day Friday, so the next order of business will be making sure the Braves can start their series against the Royals later that night.

Hurricane Helene path tracker

Hurricane Helene is currently a Category 1 storm, but it's expected to strengthen into a major hurricane (Category 3 or stronger) before making landfall on the Florida panhandle near Tallahassee on Thursday night. The projected path, from the National Weather Service, can be found here .

The cone static image from the National Weather Service can be seen below.

Here is what the storm looked like on satellite images as of early Wednesday morning. The map also shows a line of clouds moving toward Atlanta — those are the storms expected to hit the area on Wednesday, before Helene arrives closer to the weekend.

Helene is expected to weaken considerably before reaching Atlanta, but it's the storm's massive footprint of rain that could cause major scheduling problems for the final week of the Braves' season.

MORE: U pdated Mets playoff picture

Braves-Mets playoff picture

National League wild-card standings

• WC1: Padres, 91-66 (.580), +4.5 GB
• WC2: Mets, 87-70 (.554), +0.5
• WC3: Diamondbacks, 87-71 (.551)
• —
• Braves, 86-71 (.548) 0.5 GB

Any hope of the series between the Braves and Mets losing meaning was erased on Tuesday when Atlanta managed a 5-1 win over New York. The victory pulled the Braves (86-71) within a game of the Mets (87-70) and a half-game of the Diamondbacks (87-71) in the NL wild-card picture as the three teams compete for two spots.

Given two of those three teams still have two games to play against one another, there is likely no getting around having to play out the series — even if it has to be after Sunday's slate finishes up.

Braves schedule

The Braves will now move on to face the Royals, who are also fighting for a wild-card spot in the American League. Kansas City has some cushion with a two-game lead, while Atlanta must keep up the pace with Arizona and New York.

Fortunately, rain is currently expected to move out of the area by the middle of the day on Friday. Intense rain Wednesday and Thursday could cause flooding in the area and impact field conditions Friday regardless of how well Truist Park prepares for the storm, but the outlook for the Braves-Royals series is much better than Atlanta's now-postponed series with the Mets.

MORE: Updated Braves playoff picture

Mets schedule

The Mets will now head to Milwaukee and they will be glad to see an indoor stadium with no risk of postponements. The Brewers have already clinched the NL Central and may not have a chance of earning a bye by the time the weekend series arrives, so it could be a soft landing spot for the Mets as Milwaukee prepares for the postseason.

At this point, the burning question surrounds the stakes of the Mets' return trip to Atlanta for Monday's game(s).