Hurricane Helene is barreling its way through Florida on Thursday and is expected to effect the Fayetteville area on Friday, according to the National Weather Service.
The National Hurricane Center issued an advisory on Wednesday for the hurricane, which is expected to make landfall over Florida on Thursday.
If the system strengthens, the hurricane’s effects have a probable path including Eastern North Carolina, according to the National Hurricane Center.
What does the potential tropical storm mean for Fayetteville?
Raleigh-based NWS meteorologist Nick Luchetti said the forecast track has the storm making landfall in the Big Bend area of Florida on Thursday afternoon and will head up toward southwest Georgia by 1 a.m. Friday.
“Friday and it will start to move up into the Appalachians, northern Georgia, like up into the Smokies,” Luchetti said. “It’ll curve to the west into the Tennessee Valley up through about 1 p.m. Friday.”
Luchetti said during the day and overnight Thursday should remain relatively quiet in Fayetteville. He said the main concern would be the weather at daybreak through the early afternoon Friday.