Note: You can follow the arrival of Hurricane Helene in the player above.
Hurricane Helene was upgraded to an “extremely dangerous” Category 4 storm ahead of its expected landfall in Florida, bringing high winds and life-threatening storm surges along the coast.
According to the latest updates from the National Hurricane Center, the Florida Panhandle is already being buffeted by tropical storm-force winds and could experience even more dangerous sustained winds as the storm moves toward the coast Thursday evening.
Latest observations indicated sustained winds of at least 130 miles per hour near the eye of the storm, which is expected to make landfall Thursday evening in the “Big Bend” region of the Florida coast.
Storm surges of up to 15 to 20 feet are expected anywhere between Apalachicola and the Suwannee River, with devastating surges also possible in other parts of the peninsula.
Even after the storm makes landfall, it is expected to impact Georgia as a full-scale hurricane, lashing the state with heavy rain and gusty winds overnight.
The National Weather Service warns of possible “catastrophic flooding” as the storm moves north, particularly in western North Carolina, where a foot or more of rain could fall in some areas, according to officials.
This rain is expected to continue moving north throughout the day Friday, eventually bringing heavy showers to parts of Tennessee and even western Kentucky, where 4 to 6 inches of rain could end up falling then that the low pressure system stops.
These heavy rains could even extend to southern Illinois and southern Indiana, according to forecast models, but another threat could emerge in the form of fierce wind gusts, reaching 60 miles per hour in parts of both states.
Closer to the Chicago area, wind gusts of 50 miles per hour or more are possible in Kankakee County in Illinois, as well as Jasper and Newton counties in Indiana, leading to the broadcast of a wind advisory from the National Weather Service.
These winds are expected to strengthen Friday afternoon and continue for most of the day, with the advisory expiring after midnight Saturday.
Rain is also possible with the storm as the low pressure system remains parked over western Kentucky, with this disturbance eventually spreading eastward over the weekend.
Stay tuned to the NBC 5 Storm team for all the latest news and information related to Helen and her impacts on the Chicago area.
