The National Hurricane Center announced that Hurricane Helene has formed in the southern Gulf of Mexico.
Its center was located 500 miles south-southwest of Tampa, Florida, at 11 a.m. ET with maximum sustained winds of 80 mph. Tropical storm-force winds (39–73 mph) extending 275 miles out from its center.
Landfall is still expected in or around Apalachee Bay as a strong Category 3 Hurricane on Sept. 26 with maximum sustained winds of 126 mph and gusts up to 155 mph.
Tropical storm force winds are expected to extend more than 275 miles out from its center, which could put nearly all of the Florida peninsula under tropical storm conditions.
A hurricane warning has been declared from the Anclote River, just north of Tampa Bay, to Mexico Beach, Florida, and a Hurricane Watch for Tampa Bay south to Englewood near Naples….