According to the National Hurricane Center, it is now located in the Gulf of Mexico, projected to move toward the US coast, and has a 70 percent chance of cyclone development.
According to the latest European forecast model, it will become a Category 1 hurricane and make landfall late this week, in the Big Bend region of Florida.
"In the past, major hurricanes, containing maximum sustained wind speeds of at least 111 mph, have developed in similar setups," said AccuWeather Meteorologist Alex Duffus.
Another system in the northwestern Caribbean Sea a few hundred miles southeast of Bermuda has not yet become organized.
Helene will be the name of the next tropical storm during the 2024 hurricane season, which runs through Saturday, Nov. 30.
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