Hurricane Helene strengthens to Category 1, heads toward Florida with devastating winds and massive rainfall

Arab Weather - The latest outputs of the weather maps specialized in tracking the movement of tropical cyclones in "Arab Weather" indicate that tropical storm Helen has developed into a first-degree hurricane, and current weather data indicates that the hurricane is now located near latitude 23.1 north and longitude 86.6 west. It is moving north at a speed of 9 miles per hour (15 km/h), as it is expected to move north at a faster speed during the next 36 hours.

Weather forecasters at Arab Weather said that according to the expected path, Hurricane Helen will move across the eastern Gulf of Mexico today, Thursday, and cross the Florida Big Bend coast on Thursday evening. After reaching land, the hurricane is expected to head northwest to slow down over the Tennessee Valley on Friday and Saturday.

With maximum sustained winds of about 85 mph (140 km/h) and gusts exceeding that, Hurricane Helene is expected to develop into a Category 3 and possibly a Category 4 hurricane when it reaches Florida's Big Bend coast Thursday evening, with damaging winds that will help the storm move inland across the southeastern United States and over the high terrain of the southern Appalachians.

Hurricane Helene is expected to bring massive rainfall amounts that could exceed 300 mm over parts of the southeastern United States and into the southern Appalachians. The rainfall is likely to lead to catastrophic and life-threatening flooding, major river flooding, and numerous landslides are expected in steep terrain across the southern Appalachians.

The concerned authorities warned of the destructive wind speeds accompanying Hurricane Helen and the high waves along the southern coast of America, which are likely to reach 10 meters in height and may exceed that in some areas, threatening coastal residents with the flooding of their areas.

The following are the latest weather observations we have received in Arab Weather for Hurricane Helen:

• Location: 23.1 N 86.6 W
• Maximum sustained winds: 140 km/h
• Movement: North at 15 km/h
• Minimum atmospheric pressure: 972 millibars