ATLANTA — Helene strengthened to a category 1 hurricane Wednesday morning. Helene is producing sustained winds of 80 mph with stronger gusts as it moves north-northwest at 10 mph.
Hurricane Helene is forecast to quickly intensify as it emerges into the Gulf of Mexico, becoming a major hurricane before landfall late Thursday along Florida's Big Bend region, not far from Apalachicola. In anticipation of the storm's impacts, Georgia's governor issued a State of Emergency to free up resources.
11Alive has issued a Weather Impact Alert for Wednesday night for pre-Helene tropical downpours, then for Thursday and Friday in north Georgia due to impacts from Helene.
Download the 11Alive News mobile app and turn on alerts to get the latest updates on the storm's track from our team. Stream extended forecasts and live radar on the 11Alive+ streaming app, available on Roku, Amazon Fire and Apple TV.
Helene latest track
Helene is forecast to move into the Gulf as a tropical storm, then strengthen to a Category 3 Hurricane before making landfall along the Big Bend of Florida late Thursday.
Helene will weaken as it moves northward through the state of Georgia, but it will still have huge impacts on the area. It is expected to maintain tropical storm strength passing through north Georgia.
Helene spaghetti models:
Model runs have been trending the center of circulation slightly west. It's still too early to be 100% confident in this track, and any further shifts could have big impacts to the forecast in north Georgia.
Watches and warnings:
Hurricane Warnings and Tropical Storm Warnings extend inland into south Georgia, and Tropical Storm Watches have been extended north to include the Atlanta metro.
Hurricane Warnings have been issued through the Florida coast from Anclote River to Mexico Beach and extend inland into south Georgia.
Tropical Storm Warnings are in effect for nearly all of the state of Florida as well as portions of Georgia, Alabama, and South Carolina.
Georgia Impacts
We have issued an 11Alive Weather Impact Alert from late Wednesday through Friday for impacts expected in north Georgia.
You can read more about them here: 11Alive Weather Impact Alert Issued.
Interactive Helene Radar
Click here for the interactive radar tracking Helene.