Helene continued to steadily strengthen as it grazed the northeastern tip of Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula Wednesday morning. The storm is on the cusp of becoming Hurricane Helene and is projected to deliver a devastating blow to Florida's Gulf Coast tomorrow as a major hurricane.
Helene is forecast to be a remarkably large hurricane, with tropical storm winds extending nearly 430 miles across as it nears Florida tomorrow.
Only four named storms this century have been as large as Helene is forecast to be over the Gulf of Mexico: Irma (2017), Ike (2008), Ivan (2004), and Isidore (2002).
Forecasts have been strikingly consistent showing a major hurricane (Category 3 or stronger) landfall in Florida's Big Bend between Mexico Beach to the west and Cedar Key to the east. The official forecast takes the center of Hurricane Helene inland just south of the state capital at Tallahassee between St. Marks and St. George Island as a Category 3 hurricane Thursday night or very early Friday.
On its projected track, Helene is expected to deliver a life-threatening and potentially catastrophic storm surge to Florida's Big Bend, with up to 10 feet of coastal inundation forecast for coastal Franklin County - including places like St. George Island and Apalachicola eastward to Alligator Point - and up to 15 feet of extreme surge-induced flooding into lower Wakulla County southward to Citrus County - including coastal towns like St. Marks, Steinhatchee, and Cedar Key.
