Hurricane Helene is set to make landfall Thursday evening on Florida's northwestern coast before moving on to impact parts of Georgia, the Carolinas, and Tennessee with heavy rain, flash floods, and gusty winds. While the hurricane is expected to weaken as it moves inland, the National Weather Service warns that its fast forward speed could still bring strong, damaging winds well inland across the southeastern United States, including the southern Appalachian Mountains.
The forecasted reach of Hurricane Helene has raised questions about the Fujiwhara Effect, a rare weather event where tropical cyclones within a certain distance of each other interact and rotate around a common midpoint. While Helene is not technically undergoing the Fujiwhara Effect, it is responding to the effects of a low-pressure weather system to its northwest, which is steering it towards Tennessee, northern Georgia, and lower Appalachia.
The interactions between Helene and the pressure systems are leading to severe weather warnings miles away from the Florida coastline, with the potential for catastrophic and life-threatening flash flooding and significant landslides in the southern Appalachians. Governors of several states in the southeastern U.S. have declared emergencies in preparation for the storm.
The National Weather Service forecasts storm surges of up to 20 feet in northwestern Florida, and Helene has already caused flooding and power outages in Mexico and Cuba as it passed through the region. The storm was upgraded to a Category 2 hurricane on Thursday morning and is expected to be a major hurricane when it makes landfall.
While the impact of Hurricane Helene is still uncertain, officials are warning residents in the affected areas to prepare for potential power outages, dangerous flooding, and gusty winds that could down trees and power lines. The situation remains fluid as the storm continues to move inland and interact with the surrounding weather systems.