Helene’s central pressure has dropped under 980 mbar this morning, indicating a strengthening storm. Model Guidance has been fairly consistent in steering the storm toward the big bend region with a few outlier models taking the storm a little further west the Wakulla or Franklin counties

However, it is important that Florida residents not focus on the center track of the storm. The areas I mentioned in the big bend and slightly west in the eastern panhandle, will get the worst of this storm.

However, because of the symmetrical formation of the storm there is bad weather for about 200 miles east of the center, which is why the NHC has put the entire East Coast of Florida under a tropical storm warning .

Additionally, I’ll reiterate what I’ve been saying on social media for a few days which is my greatest concern about this storm outside of the area directly impacted by landfall is the Tampa Bay area and potential storm surge there. So if you’re in Hillsborough or Pinellas, please take the proper precautions now.

While the storm track is heading towards one of the least populated areas of the state, the impacts as the below map indicates will be far and wide throughout his state with well over 20 million people impacted potentially in Florida alone. And as noted above I’m particularly concerned about the Tampa Bay area.