Note: You can track the arrival of Hurricane Helene in the player above.
Hurricane Helene has been upgraded to an “extremely dangerous” Category 4 storm before its expected landfall in Florida, packing ferocious winds and life-threatening storm surges along the coast.
According to the latest updates from the National Hurricane Center, the panhandle of Florida is already being buffeted by tropical storm-force winds, and could see even more dangerous sustained winds as the storm moves onshore Thursday night.
The latest observations indicated sustained winds of at least 130 miles per hour near the eye of the storm, which is expected to make landfall Thursday evening in the “Big Bend” area of Florida’s coast.
Storm surges of up to 15-to-20 feet are expected anywhere between Apalachicola and the Suwannee River, with devastating surges also possible in other parts of the peninsula.
Even after the storm makes landfall, it is expected to impact Georgia as a full-bore hurricane, pounding the state with heavy rains and gusty winds into the overnight hours.
The National Weather Service is warning of “catastrophic flooding” possible as the storm moves northward, especially in western North Carolina, where a foot or more of rain could fall in some areas, according to officials.
That rain is expected to continue pushing northward throughout the day on Friday, ultimately bringing heavy downpours to parts of Tennessee and even western Kentucky, where 4-to-6 inches of rain could end up falling as the low-pressure system stalls out.
That heavy rain could even expand into southern Illinois and southern Indiana, according to forecast models, but another threat could emerge in the form of ferocious wind gusts, which could approach 60 miles per hour in parts of both states.
Nearer the Chicago area, wind gusts of 50 miles per hour or more are possible in Kankakee County in Illinois, as well as Jasper and Newton counties in Indiana, leading to the issuance of a wind advisory by the National Weather Service.
Those winds are expected to pick up Friday afternoon and continue for most of the day, with the advisory expiring after midnight Saturday.
Some rain is also possible with the storm as the low-pressure system remains parked over western Kentucky, with that disturbance eventually pushing out to the east over the course of the weekend.
Stay tuned to the NBC 5 Storm Team for all the latest news and information related to Helene and its impacts on the Chicago area.