JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Florida Governor Ron DeSantis declared a state of emergency for 41 counties in anticipation of a hurricane making landfall this week.
The National Hurricane Center issued its first advisory Monday morning for Potential Tropical Cyclone Nine, a tropical wave over the northwestern Caribbean.
Both the intensity and directional forecasts have this storm becoming a hurricane by early Wednesday morning. If things hold with this forecast, this storm would be named Helene.
Adjustments to the forecast may need to be made once it fully organizes around a center of circulation, but current models would suggest a Gulf Coast of Florida landfall Thursday evening.
On Monday afternoon, DeSantis declared a state of emergency for Alachua, Bay, Bradford, Calhoun, Charlotte, Citrus, Collier, Columbia, Dixie, Escambia, Franklin, Gadsden, Gilchrist, Gulf, Hamilton, Hernando, Hillsborough, Holmes, Jackson, Jefferson, Lafayette, Lee, Leon, Levy, Liberty, Madison, Manatee, Marion, Monroe, Okaloosa, Pasco, Pinellas, Santa Rosa, Sarasota, Sumter, Suwannee, Taylor, Union, Wakulla, Walton, and Washington counties.
The First Coast could begin feeling impacts from this system on Thursday, with some areas along the I-75 corridor getting hurricane force winds and flooding rains.
