He Hurricane Helene strengthened during the morning of this Thursday until almost reaching the category 3 on the Saffir-Simpson scale and as it continues its progress towards Floridareported the National Hurricane Center (NHC, in English) USA. According to the 1:00 p.m. bulletin, Helene presents maximum sustained winds of 175 kilometers per hour (category 3 is from 178 kilometers per hour).
The system is located 315 kilometers (195 miles) southwest of Tampa, on the west-central coast of Florida, and 365 kilometers (230 miles) south of Apalachicola, in the extreme northwest of this state and the latter location where the Sea level can rise up to 4.5 meters (15 feet) due to storm surge. Helene, the eighth named system in the current season of hurricanes in the Atlantic, threatens strong winds, storm surge and flooding to a wide Florida coastal strip facing the Gulf of Mexico.
The system moves quickly at 26 kilometers per hour (16 miles) with north-northeast direction and NHC meteorologists predict that tonight it will make landfall in northwest Florida, in the region known as Big Bend, as a major hurricane, that is, category 3, 4 or 5.
“It is expected a weakening after landfallbut Helene’s rapid forward speed will allow its strong and damaging winds, especially in gusts, to penetrate well inland across the southeastern United States,” the NHC warned. If it hits Florida, as expected, it will be the fourth hurricane to reach US lands this year, after Beryl, Debby and Francine.
Isaac: another tropical storm
While, Another tropical storm formed over the North Atlantic, Isaacand is located this Thursday 2,170 kilometers (1,345 miles) west of the Azores and 1,315 kilometers (820 miles) east-northeast of Bermuda. The system is moving towards the east, which takes it away from the Caribbean and the US coast, and has maximum sustained winds of 85 kilometers per hour (50 miles per hour).
Isaac is forecast to become or be close to becoming a hurricane late Friday or early Saturday. According to the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the Atlantic hurricane season, which officially began on June 1, could have “above” average activitywith between 8 and 13 hurricanes, of which between 4 and 7 would be of major category.
