Hurricane Helene could slam into the Florida panhandle

UPDATED September 27,2024 at 4:42 a.m. Hurricane Helene tracked further to the east than predicted in this article. It hit Florida at around 10:00 p.m. on Thursday night at a powerful Category 4 storm. The eye of the storm made landfall in Taylor County (to the east of where it was anticipated to hit. The Hurricane is tracking now towards Macon, Georgia. This more easterly track means that Alabama will not be heavily impacted by Helene.

September 25,2025 Hurricane Helene developed rapidly in the Gulf of Mexico over the course of the day. The National Hurricane Center is now forecasting that it will be a major Category 3 hurricane when it slams into Florida between Panama City Beach and Tallahassee.

The NHC is predicting that the storm will undergoing "rapid intensification" as it travels through the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico before making landfall.

The current forecast has it reaching major hurricane strength with 125 mph sustained winds and 155 mph gusts by the time that it makes landfall around 8:00 p.m. Thursday night. The best guess currently is that the eye of the storm will make landfall in the Florida "big bend" just west of Panama City Beach.

Persons on the coast of the Florida panhandle need to evacuate immediately due to the possible storm surge.

The current projected track has it plowing through the Florida panhandle and proceeding North through west Georgia and east Alabama. Houston County Alabama and counties bordering Georgia could be severely affected by Helene depending on the track, the speed of the storm, the strength of the winds, and the amount of rainfall. Tornadoes are a possibility.

While it appears that the Alabama Gulf Coast appears to have been spared from a direct impact by Helene dangerous riptides are a potential threat along the Gulf Coast through Thursday so residents are advised to avoid getting in the water.

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