ORLANDO, Fla. – Helene strengthened into a hurricane Wednesday morning and is expected to rapidly intensify into a major hurricane before making landfall somewhere in the Big Bend area of Florida, according to the National Hurricane Center.
Helene, which formed Tuesday in the Caribbean, is expected to move over deep, warm waters, fueling its intensification.
Helene is forecast to rapidly intensify, almost doubling in strength in less than 36 hours. Helene is still expected to grow into a major Category 4 hurricane as it makes landfall between Panama City and Cedar Key Thursday evening.
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As of the 4 a.m. update, Helene had maximum sustained winds of 90 mph and was moving north at 12 mph. It is about 330 miles southwest of Tampa.
The latest forecast shows Helene reaching Category 2 status early Thursday morning and hours later reaching Category 3 status. Helene is expected to reach Category 4 before landfall.
Here is what determines each category for a hurricane:
- Category 1 -- 74 to 95 mph sustained winds
- Category 2 -- 96 to 110 mph sustained winds
- Category 3 -- 111 to 129 mph sustained winds
- Category 4 -- 130 to 156 mph sustained winds
- Category 5 -- 157 mph or higher sustained winds
The center of Helene will move across the eastern Gulf of Mexico by Thursday before reaching the Big Bend coast of Florida late Thursday.
Not only is Helene forecast to quickly strengthen, but it’s also expected to grow in size with tropical storm winds extending more than 275 miles out from its center. Tropical storm force wind gusts (30-65 mph) will be possible for the majority of Central Florida by Thursday.
[RELATED: Here’s when a tropical storm becomes a hurricane]
Although the center of Helene will be focused along the Big Bend, due to the size, Central Florida is expected to still feel the outer fringe of the system starting late Wednesday afternoon with the worst through Thursday evening.
The storm is anticipated to be unusually large and fast-moving, meaning storm surges, wind and rain will likely extend far from the storm’s center, the hurricane center said. States as far inland as Tennessee, Kentucky and Indiana could see rainfall.
Watches and warnings have been issued for parts of Florida ahead of the projected major hurricane.
Gov. Ron DeSantis on Monday declared a state of emergency for 61 counties, including all of Central Florida.
Several cities in Central Florida announced they will be opening up sandbag locations. Click here to see the list.
Since 2000, eight major hurricanes have made landfall in Florida, according to Philip Klotzbach, a Colorado State University hurricane researcher.
In the Atlantic
Meanwhile, in the Atlantic, a tropical wave west of the Cabo Verde Islands is expected to develop this week and could become a tropical depression as it moves west, west-northwest across the Atlantic.
It has a 50% chance of development in the next 48 hours and an 80% chance of development in the next seven days.
Another non-tropical area in the Atlantic, about several hundred miles northeast of Bermuda, has a low chance of development and is expected to stay over open waters.
Hurricane season runs through November.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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