Watching the sky change here. Outer bands have been coming through since early afternoon. Tropical-storm-force winds are already occurring across portions of west-central and southwestern Florida per...

Evacuated from Crystal River this morning. Watching the radar updates from a hotel in Ocala. The Chassahowitzka to Anclote River surge zone (8-12 ft) covers my park — so glad I left when I did. Thinki...

Tropical-storm-force winds already at Venice — NHC reports 51 mph sustained with a 66 mph gust near Venice Beach. Hurricane-force winds extend 60 miles from center. Conditions will deteriorate very ra...

Got my generator fueled, 72-hour kit packed, and pets crated. Headed inland to my sister's place in Gainesville. For anyone still riding it out: have shoes on at all times once winds pick up, stay awa...

Fire/rescue units in Taylor, Dixie, and Levy counties are staged and ready. Storm Surge Warning from Mexico Beach east and south to Flamingo is serious — that's up to 20 ft in Carrabelle to Suwannee R...

Final prep check-in from the Big Bend coast. Boards are up, supplies loaded in the truck. NHC has Helene at 125 mph with a 951 mb central pressure and moving NNE at 23 mph straight toward us. Hurrican...

Advisory 14 confirms additional strengthening is still expected before landfall — it 'will likely be an extremely dangerous category 4 hurricane at landfall.' The fast forward motion (23 mph) means th...

The NHC Discussion 14 is worth reading in full. Quoting the key part: "Helene has rapidly intensified today while nearing landfall in the Florida Big Bend. Doppler radar and aircraft data indicate tha...

Opening a dedicated tracking thread for advisory-by-advisory updates on Helene (AL092024). As of Advisory 14 (5 PM EDT Sep 26): location 27.9N 84.6W, about 130 miles W of Tampa. Max sustained winds 12...

From an emergency-management standpoint: when NHC says 'your opportunity to evacuate is almost over,' that's the moment to act. Rescue crews cannot operate in 20-ft surge. Once the water comes in you...

For reference, the advisory also lists Indian Pass to Apalachicola at 6-10 ft and Chassahowitzka to Anclote River at 8-12 ft. Even the Charlotte Harbor area is seeing 3-5 ft. This surge footprint is e...

Keaton Beach and Steinhatchee are both in the Suwannee River zone. 10-15 ft of surge in those communities will be devastating — the land is barely above sea level. The Tampa Bay zone (5-8 ft) is bad b...

Pulling out the advisory surge numbers to compare to Apalachee Bay geography. NHC Advisory 14 lists Carrabelle to Suwannee River at 15-20 ft, Apalachicola to Carrabelle at 10-15 ft, and Suwannee River...