ATLANTA — Here’s what you need to know:
- Gov. Kemp issued a State of Emergency that goes into effect immediately
- Tropical Storm Helene officially formed in the Caribbean Sea on Tuesday morning
- Forecast to be a major landfall on Florida’s Big Bend late Thursday
- Tropical storm conditions expected in metro Atlanta later Thursday into Friday morning
- Heavy rain, strong wind likely including tropical storm force wind gusts
- Trees down, power outages likely
- Brief, spin up tornado risk along and east of the track of Helene
Tropical Storm Helene has officially formed in the northwest Caribbean Sea. On its current path, metro Atlanta and north Georgia could feel major impacts.
The National Hurricane Center’s update says Helene officially strengthened into a named tropical storm before 11 a.m. Tuesday.
Severe Weather Team 2 Chief Meteorologist Brad Nitz says the storm is currently large and disorganized, but is expected to strengthen into a Category 1 hurricane in the Gulf of Mexico by Wednesday afternoon.