Thursday 10 AM Tropical Update: Hurricane Helene continues to strengthen

Helene is now a cat 2. The inner core is improving; it's sitting over the loop current, and wind shear isn't too bad. Expect more strengthening today with landfall this evening in the Big Bend.

The big question remains: how much can it grow? The storm is large, with tropical storm-force winds extending over 345 miles away from the center. The center has remained broad as well. If the core of the storm can contract some, we will likely see the storm rapidly intensify Thursday afternoon. Either way, the storm will likely be a category 3 at landfall, but a category 4 is still not impossible.