Hurricane Helene's Impacts Will Be Felt Far Outside The Cone

Hurricane Helene isn't just a strong storm, it's a big one - and its size and strength are only expected to grow. This means the wind, rain and damage will extend far outside the forecast cone.

“The National Hurricane Center’s forecast cone was never meant to capture all of a hurricane’s impacts," explains weather.com meteorologist Jon Erdman. “It simply shows where there’s a two-thirds chance of the center of the storm tracking.”

(​MORE: Hurricane Helene Forecast | Maps Tracker)

This storm could carry a tropical storm-force wind field hundreds of miles wide, so it’s more important than ever to focus on the impacts of Helene, not the cone.

Because the storm is so big, it will act like a bowling ball barreling onshore, carrying quite a bit of momentum inland. The storm will be able to maintain its intensity as it travels inland, and could still be a hurricane as it crosses into southern Georgia.

Wind threat: The National Hurricane Center is forecasting Helene’s tropical storm-force winds to extend as much as 200 miles from the center of the storm. This means that if Helene makes landfall in the Big Bend area of Florida, the tropical storm-force winds could extend across much of the state, including places far south. As it pushes inland, so will the winds.

“Another important factor is that this large hurricane will begin to move faster both before and after landfall,” said Erdman. “That means its high winds will punch farther inland than a slow-moving hurricane would.”

Hurricane-force winds could extend into middle Georgia Thursday night and at least some tropical storm-force gusts through much of Georgia, including Atlanta, and parts of South Carolina into Friday.

Flood threat: Flooding concerns also will extend well beyond the forecast cone.

“Adding to this danger is something called a ‘predecessor' rain event, an area of heavy rain in the southern Appalachians expected well ahead of the arrival of Helene from late Wednesday into Thursday,” explained Erdman.

The Weather Prediction Center has already highlighted a rare “high” risk of flooding for parts of the Appalachian Mountains in anticipation of Wednesday’s rain. This includes parts of western North Carolina, north Georgia and Upstate South Carolina; a region that is very prone to flooding. Once the predecessor rain moves out, Helene will barge right in, creating a perfect storm when it comes to flooding potential.

There’s also a flood risk across much of the Southeast, from western Tennessee to the Atlantic Coast, where as much as a foot of rain could fall.

“Helene is a textbook example of why hurricanes aren’t just coastal events,” said Erdman.

Storm surge: Storm surge will also be a huge concern along the coast, outside the forecast cone. Storm surge as high as 20 feet could occur in Florida’s Big Bend, and storm surge could be as much as 5 to 8 feet in Tampa Bay. Storm surge is forecast across the entire west coast of Florida.

While the highest storm surge for Helene will be along and to the east of where the storm makes landfall, significant water rise is still likely outside the cone.