Hurricane Helene is forecast to make landfall in the Florida Big Bend Thursday night as a major hurricane, the National Hurricane Center said Thursday morning.
As of the 11 a.m. ET advisory from the NHC, the storm was located about 255 miles southwest of Tampa, Florida with maximum sustained winds near 105 mph. The storm is currently moving north-northeast at near 14 mph, the NHC said.
The storm will bring marine and coastal impacts to Alabama through Thursday, including ‘dangerously high surf, potentially minor coastal flooding, and deadly rip currents,’ in addition to strong winds and high waves, the National Weather Service in Mobile said Thursday morning.
The National Weather Service in Birmingham said in its Thursday forecast there is no tornado threat for central Alabama, although wind gusts may reach 35 to 40 mph late Thursday through Friday for locations along and east of I-65, which could lead to downed trees and power outages.
NWS forecasters also said heavy rainfall could lead to flooding Thursday afternoon through Friday, mainly east of I-65.
According to the AccuWeather, the weather forecast for Tuscaloosa on Saturday calls for a mostly cloudy and humid day with about a 25% probability of precipitation and just a 1% chance of thunderstorms. The Saturday evening temperature is expected to be around 63℉ with wind gusts as high as 10 mph.
Hurricane Helene could impact other college football games
The Florida Gators have their bye week this week, but the Miami Hurricanes are scheduled to host Virginia Tech on Friday evening. Florida
Florida State football left the state a day earlier than normal for its road game against SMU Mustangs in Dallas on Saturday as a precaution ahead of Helene. The Seminoles are flying to Dallas out of Jacksonville, as noted by FSU’s head equipment manager Jason Baisden.
And, Florida A&M University’s home game against Alabama A&M originally set for this Saturday has been rescheduled for Friday Nov. 29, according to an online press release by FAMU Athletics.
Gabe Hauari is a national trending news reporter at USA TODAY. You can follow him on X @GabeHauari or email him at Gdhauari@gannett.com.
