Rain bands from Tropical Storm Helene will reach the Naples-Marco Island area Wednesday morning, and onshore, tailing winds will be elevated through Friday.
Meteorologist and hurricane experts are calling for Helene to develop into a hurricane Wednesday before making landfall in the Big Bend area late Thursday night.
Winds along the Collier County coast will rise to about 15 miles per hour Wednesday morning, with the wind blowing offshore.
Offshore winds will build to close to 20 miles per hour by noon, around the same time the first of the approaching rain bands reaches the coast.
The center of Tropical Storm Helene, which is expected to grow into a hurricane, will be directly west of Key West Thursday morning.
Heavy thunderstorms are expected along the Southwest Florida coast all day Thursday.
And although high tide in Bonita Springs is around 9:30 a.m. Thursday morning, storm surge impacts will be their greatest here between the afternoon and evening hours.
Winds along coastal Collier will approach tropical storm force (39 miles per hour) Thursday afternoon, when the winds will shift to an onshore flow.