Helene becomes a hurricane as it heads toward Florida coast

Flooding from Hurricane Debby in Steinhatchee, Fla., on Monday, Aug. 5, 2024. Many of the forecast models show Helene, now a hurricane, making landfall late today near Florida’s Big Bend Coast, a sparsely populated stretch of coastline that has seen two powerful storms in the last year. (Dustin Chambers/The New York Times)

By Judson Jones

Helene continued to power north in the Caribbean Sea, strengthening into a hurricane Wednesday morning, on a path that forecasters expect will bring heavy amounts of rain to Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula and western Cuba before it begins to move toward Florida’s Gulf Coast.

Though the forecast is still taking shape, the storm could intensify as high as a Category 3 before making landfall late Thursday, and forecasters warned Helene’s anticipated large size could make its impacts felt across an extensive area.

Here’s what else you need to know:

— Many of the forecast models show the storm making landfall late Thursday near Florida’s Big Bend Coast, a sparsely populated stretch of coastline that has seen two powerful storms in the last year: Hurricane Idalia in August 2023 and Hurricane Debby last month.

— At least 13 Florida counties have issued some level of evacuation orders as of Tuesday, and Gov. Ron DeSantis has 61 of Florida’s 67 counties under a state of emergency. “There’s still a lot of uncertainty here,” he said, urging Floridians to make storm preparations immediately. On Tuesday afternoon, a slew of new storm surge and hurricane watches and warnings were issued for the Gulf Coast of Florida, meaning those conditions are expected in the next 36 to 48 hours.

— Before it gets to the Gulf of Mexico, Helene will pass between Cuba and Mexico early Wednesday, bringing up to 4-8 inches of rain over western Cuba and 4-6 inches to the eastern part of the Yucatán, where a hurricane warning was in effect.

— This year had been forecast to be an exceptionally active season, but was mostly characterized by an extended lull for much of August and September. Things have picked up in recent weeks, though.