The Florida Panhandle will experience the brunt of Tropical Storm Helene, which is expected to become a major hurricane by the time it makes landfall, but South Georgia and even metro Atlanta will feel the impacts.
The storm is expected to make landfall Thursday evening in the areas between Panama City Beach and Cedar Key as a hurricane with winds potentially reaching 120 mph, the National Hurricane Center projects. Models show Helene reaching major hurricane intensity, meaning a Category 3 or higher, while over the eastern Gulf of Mexico, according to the National Weather Service.
By Friday morning, the storm will have reached metro Atlanta, but heavy rain will start as early as Wednesday morning in northwest Georgia.
Forecast path for Helene
On Wednesday morning, the storm is swirling between Cancún and the western tip of Cuba and is moving northwest at just 9 mph. Helene is expected to intensify to near hurricane strength later Wednesday morning as it passes by the northeastern coast of the Yucatan Peninsula, where a hurricane warning is in effect…