Hurricane Helene has strengthened during the past 24 hours and is now classified as a category 2 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 100 mph. It should continue to intensify today as it closes in on Florida’s Gulf coast with the likelihood of reaching category 3 hurricane status featuring sustained winds of 111 mph or higher. Landfall is expected early tonight along Florida’s “Big Bend” Gulf coastal region – likely as a “major” – with a significant storm surge; especially, just to the right of the landfalling location where levels can reach 15-20 feet. With some acceleration expected later today, Helene will not have much time to weaken after landfall and, as such, it is likely to reach into southern Georgia as a hurricane during the wee hours of the morning. The lasting strength of Helene and its expected track into the Tennessee Valley assures significant impact inland to include the state of Georgia, and an especially vulnerable region is the southern Appalachian Mountains where upsloping winds can result in massive rainfall amounts of 1-2 feet and serious flash flooding.
By mid-day on Friday, the tropical system will become increasingly influenced by very strong “blocking” high pressure to the north and an upper-level trough of low pressure located in the southern Mississippi Valley. The tropical low will “rotate around” this upper-level trough of low pressure for a brief time in a pattern known to meteorologists as the “Fujiwhara effect” before it ultimately dissipates and gets absorbed by the upper-level low.
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The remainder of the week will be dry across Colorado with high pressure in control over the Rocky Mountain States. Temperatures will peak later today in the upper 80’s and then only reach the low-to-mid 80’s on Friday. The weekend is setting up to be quite nice for the end of September with comfortably warm conditions.
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All eyes today on the Gulf of Mexico where Hurricane Helene will intensify as it pushes to in a north-to-northeast direction putting it on a collision course with Florida’s Gulf coast. Hurricane Helene should make landfall early tonight in the “Big Bend” region of Florida’s Gulf coast likely as a category 3 “major” storm; however, climbing to a category 4 designation is on the table.
After landfall, Hurricane Helene will initially push in a northward direction bringing its hurricane-force winds and heavy rainfall to the state of Georgia. Ultimately, the remnants of Hurricane Helene will be forced to turn north and west and towards the Middle Mississippi Valley region due to very strong “blocking” high pressure to the north over Canada. Excessive rainfall amounts can spread throughout much of the southern Appalachians as upsloping winds will enhance upward motion and likely result in some tremendous amounts of rainfall.
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All eyes today on the Gulf of Mexico where Hurricane Helene will intensify as it pushes to in a north-to-northeast direction putting it on a collision course with Florida’s Gulf coast. Hurricane Helene should make landfall early tonight in the “Big Bend” region of Florida’s Gulf coast likely as a category 3 “major” storm; however, climbing to a category 4 designation is on the table.
After landfall, Hurricane Helene will initially push in a northward direction bringing its hurricane-force winds and heavy rainfall to the state of Georgia. Ultimately, the remnants of Hurricane Helene will be forced to turn north and west and towards the Middle Mississippi Valley region due to very strong “blocking” high pressure to the north over Canada. Excessive rainfall amounts can spread throughout much of the southern Appalachians as upsloping winds will enhance upward motion and likely result in some tremendous amounts of rainfall.
In the Mid-Atlantic, there is a good chance of showers today with isolated thunderstorms as a warm frontal system pushes through the region…some of the rain can come down hard at times. After that, there is a good chance that some of the tropical moisture field associated with Hurricane Helene will make it this far north for the Friday/Saturday time period. As a result, showers will be a threat as we end the work week and begin the upcoming weekend.
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All eyes today on the Gulf of Mexico where Hurricane Helene will intensify as it pushes to in a north-to-northeast direction putting it on a collision course with Florida’s Gulf coast. Hurricane Helene should make landfall early tonight in the “Big Bend” region of Florida’s Gulf coast likely as a category 3 “major” storm; however, climbing to a category 4 designation is on the table.
After landfall, Hurricane Helene will initially push in a northward direction bringing its hurricane-force winds and heavy rainfall to the state of Georgia. Ultimately, the remnants of Hurricane Helene will be forced to turn north and west and towards the Middle Mississippi Valley region due to very strong “blocking” high pressure to the north over Canada. Excessive rainfall amounts can spread throughout much of the southern Appalachians as upsloping winds will enhance upward motion and likely result in some tremendous amounts of rainfall.
In the Mid-Atlantic, there is a good chance of showers today with isolated thunderstorms as a warm frontal system pushes through the region…some of the rain can come down hard at times. After that, there is a good chance that some of the tropical moisture field associated with Hurricane Helene will make it this far north for the Friday/Saturday time period. As a result, showers will be a threat as we end the work week and begin the upcoming weekend.
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All eyes today on the Gulf of Mexico where Hurricane Helene will intensify as it pushes to in a north-to-northeast direction putting it on a collision course with Florida’s Gulf coast. Hurricane Helene should make landfall early tonight in the “Big Bend” region of Florida’s Gulf coast likely as a category 3 “major” storm; however, climbing to a category 4 designation is on the table.
After landfall, Hurricane Helene will initially push in a northward direction bringing its hurricane-force winds and heavy rainfall to the state of Georgia. Ultimately, the remnants of Hurricane Helene will be forced to turn north and west and towards the Middle Mississippi Valley region due to very strong “blocking” high pressure to the north over Canada. Excessive rainfall amounts can spread throughout much of the southern Appalachians as upsloping winds will enhance upward motion and likely result in some tremendous amounts of rainfall.
In the Mid-Atlantic, there is a good chance of showers today with isolated thunderstorms as a warm frontal system pushes through the region…some of the rain can come down hard at times. After that, there is a good chance that some of the tropical moisture field associated with Hurricane Helene will make it this far north for the Friday/Saturday time period. As a result, showers will be a threat as we end the work week and begin the upcoming weekend.
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Tropical Storm Helene has strengthened during the past 24 hours and is on the verge of attaining “category 1” hurricane status with sustained winds of 74-95 mph. All indications are that Helene will undergo rapid intensification during the next 24 hours or so given the combination of favorable environmental conditions such as low vertical wind shear and ample moisture, and its movement over very warm water with high oceanic heat content. This expected intensification of Helene will likely result in attainment of “major” hurricane classification on Thursday as a category 3 storm system with sustained winds of 111 mph – 129 mph. Helene should begin to accelerate tomorrow in a north-to-northeast direction likely resulting in a landfall early tomorrow night along Florida’s “Big Bend” Gulf coastal region. As is typical of northward moving tropical storms, the storm surge should be most impactful to the right of the landfall location potentially affecting coastal sections down to areas just north of Tampa Bay. In addition, there will be the threat of tornadoes to the right of the storm’s track including portions of northern and eastern Florida, Georgia and South Carolina.
After landfall, the remnants of the hurricane will move along at a pretty good clip in a general northward direction through the state of Georgia where there is likely to be significant impact including hurricane-force wind gusts and excessive rainfall amounts. In fact, excessive rainfall may extend to throughout much of the southern Appalachians where strong upsloping winds will enhance upward motion and increase overall amounts. By mid-day on Friday, the tropical system will become increasingly influenced by very strong “blocking” high pressure to the north and an upper-level trough of low pressure located in the southern Mississippi Valley. The tropical low will “rotate around” this upper-level trough of low pressure for a brief time in a pattern known to meteorologists as the “Fujiwhara effect” before it ultimately dissipates and gets absorbed by the upper-level low.
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The remainder of the week will be dry across Colorado with high pressure in control over the Rocky Mountain States. Temperatures will peak later today in the upper 80’s and then climb to near 90 degrees on Thursday...potentially record breakers in some spots. The weekend is setting up to be quite nice for the end of September with comfortably warm conditions.
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It stays on the cool side of normal today as high pressure centered over southeastern Canada continues to influence the weather in the Mid-Atlantic region. Low pressure will pass by to our north during the next 24 hours and it’ll help to advance a warm front into our area. As a result, there will be occasional showers today, tonight and on Thursday and a thunderstorm or two can be mixed into the picture.
Elsewhere, Tropical Storm Helene continues to intensify early today as it moves towards the southern Gulf of Mexico. It’ll clip the coast of the Yucatan Peninsula later today and likely reach category 1 hurricane status. As it continues to move over the very warm waters of the eastern Gulf of Mexico on Wednesday night and Thursday, it should climb to “major” hurricane status of at least category 3 classification. Landfall as a “major” hurricane is likely by late Thursday along Florida’s “Big Bend” Gulf coastal region and “Helene” will then continue on a north-northeast track resulting in with big impacts to the state of Georgia as well as Florida.
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It stays on the cool side of normal today as high pressure centered over southeastern Canada continues to influence the weather in the Mid-Atlantic region. Low pressure will pass by to our north during the next 24 hours and it’ll help to advance a warm front into our area. As a result, there will be occasional showers today, tonight and on Thursday and a thunderstorm or two can be mixed into the picture.
Elsewhere, Tropical Storm Helene continues to intensify early today as it moves towards the southern Gulf of Mexico. It’ll clip the coast of the Yucatan Peninsula later today and likely reach category 1 hurricane status. As it continues to move over the very warm waters of the eastern Gulf of Mexico on Wednesday night and Thursday, it should climb to “major” hurricane status of at least category 3 classification. Landfall as a “major” hurricane is likely by late Thursday along Florida’s “Big Bend” Gulf coastal region and “Helene” will then continue on a north-northeast track resulting in with big impacts to the state of Georgia as well as Florida.
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