MERIDIAN, Miss. (WTOK) – Tropical Storm Helene has now formed in the Caribbean Sea, bringing us our 8th named storm of the 2024 Atlantic Hurricane Season. Because it is heading into the Gulf of Mexico with conditions working in its favor (warm gulf waters, low wind shear and an abundance of moist air), it is expected to strengthen into a hurricane by Wednesday evening and continue to rapidly intensify before making landfall in the Florida panhandle Thursday evening as a Category 3 hurricane.