Hurricane Helene Path Shows Every State Expected to Be Impacted

As Hurricane Helene approaches Florida, several other states are warning residents about the expected impact related to the storm’s path.
After gaining the attention of meteorologists last week, Helene formed as a tropical storm on Tuesday morning and is expected to make landfall in Florida’s Big Bend region on Thursday. As of Wednesday morning, Helene had maximum sustained wind speeds of 80 mph and was classified as a Category 1 hurricane.
A slew of Florida counties have issued evacuation warnings, with the National Hurricane Center (NHC) urging people to take the orders seriously. The storm is expected to make landfall as a major hurricane.
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According to the most recent NHC update, the storm’s center is expected to move through Florida on Thursday and then continue to push inland. The center will move through Georgia and Alabama on Friday, Tennessee and Kentucky by Friday night and southern Illinois and Indiana on Saturday morning, although it will be much weaker at that point.
However, the storm will likely unleash widespread impact on those states in the hours or days leading up to the center’s progression. Helene’s widespread impact also is expected to hit South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia and West Virginia throughout the week.
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In the most recent update, the NHC warned that Helene would bring “life-threatening storm surge, damaging winds, and flooding to a large portion of Florida and the southeastern United States.”
The update said the storm will be fast-moving, prompting National Weather Service (NWS) meteorologists to issue a slew of warnings for nearby states as impact from the storm, such as tropical storm-force winds and heavy rain with flooding potential, move inland.
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Warnings related to the storm, including hurricane warnings, tropical storm warnings, flash flood warnings, flood watches and hazardous weather outlooks, have already been issued for many states in the southern and southeastern U.S., including West Virginia, Tennessee, Kentucky, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama and Florida. Impacts will begin in South Carolina as soon as Thursday night before quickly moving northward.
NWS meteorologist Doug Outlaw told Newsweek that the primary impact in North Carolina will be heavy rain and strong wind. Helene will have most likely weakened to a tropical storm by the time it hits the Eastern Seaboard.
Helene marks the eighth named storm in the 2024 Atlantic hurricane season. Earlier this year, weather experts warned of the high possibility of an above-average season, citing the climate pattern of El Niño and abnormally warm ocean surface temperatures. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s updated forecast published last month anticipates 17 to 24 named storms.