Hurricane Helene makes landfall as Category 4 hurricane

PANAMA CITY, Fla. (WMBB) — Hurricane Helene is now a Category 4 Hurricane. Helene is expected to rapidly intensify and make landfall Thursday night in the Big Bend region, bringing “catastrophic” storm surge and wind to parts of Florida, according to the National Hurricane Center.

HURRICANE HELENE 10 PM UPDATE:

At 10:00 PM CDT, the center of Hurricane Helene was located near latitude 29.9 North, longitude 83.9 West. Helene is moving toward the north-northeast near 24 mph (39 km/h). A turn toward the north is expected overnight, taking the center over Georgia. The center of the hurricane should make landfall very soon in the Big Bend region of Florida. After landfall, Helene is expected to turn northwestward and slow down over the Tennessee Valley on Friday and Saturday.

Maximum sustained winds are near 140 mph (220 km/h) with higher gusts. Helene is an extremely dangerous category 4 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale. Weakening is expected after Helene moves inland, but the fast forward speed will allow strong, damaging winds, especially in gusts, to penetrate well inland across the southeastern United States, including over the higher terrain of the southern Appalachians.

Hurricane-force winds extend outward up to 60 miles (95 km) from the center and tropical-storm-force winds extend outward up to 310 miles (500 km). A sustained wind of 64 mph (103 km/h) with a gust to 84 mph (135 km/h) was recently reported at Cedar Key, Florida. A gust of 83 mph (134 km/h) was recently reported at Steinhatchee, Florida.

The estimated minimum central pressure based on Hurricane Hunter aircraft observations is 938 mb (27.70 inches).

A NOAA National Ocean Service tide gauge located on Cedar Key recently reported a water level of 7.33 feet above mean higher high water.

— from the National Hurricane Center

Watches and warnings

A Storm Surge Warning is in effect for…

• Mexico Beach eastward and southward to Flamingo
• Tampa Bay
• Charlotte Harbor

A Hurricane Warning is in effect for…

• Anclote River to Mexico Beach

A Hurricane Watch is in effect for…

• Englewood to Anclote River, including Tampa Bay

A Tropical Storm Warning is in effect for…

• Florida Keys, including the Dry Tortugas
• Flamingo to Anclote River, including Tampa Bay
• West of Mexico Beach to the Okaloosa/Walton County Line
• Flamingo northward to Little River Inlet
• Lake Okeechobee
• Cuban provinces of Artemisa, Pinar del Rio, and the Isle of Youth

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