The disturbance that became a cyclone north of the Cayman Islands is on the move. Hurricane Helene is now in the Gulf of Mexico and was expected to track generally northwards Wednesday evening, before taking a more northeasterly approach towards the ‘Big Bend’ area of Florida.
It is yet to be confirmed, but Helene may well break records for being the fastest system in history to go from a being a tropical disturbance to a major hurricane.
In response to questions from the news organisation USA Today, NHC Senior Hurricane Specialist John Cangialosi said the NHC forecast for a “70-knot increase in 72 hours was among the most aggressive forecasts” for a potential tropical cyclone to major hurricane status.
He added, “It’s either the highest or one of the highest.”
Strong factors in the expected ongoing intensification of Hurricane Helene include the moderate high level wind conditions (wind shear) and most importantly, the very warm sea surface temperatures in the Gulf of Mexico, which currently range from between 86 to 88 degrees Fahrenheit. Warm, deep-water is a vital ingredient for tropical cyclone development.
Despite Hurricane Helene moving away from the Cayman Islands, through the Yucatan Channel and into the Gulf of Mexico, Cayman continued to be lashed by heavy rains from the lingering outer bands of Hurricane Helene.
Cayman Islands National Weather Service Chief Forecaster Kerry Powery, appearing on government television on Wednesday, confirmed the Cayman Islands was still under an elevated level of alert. Despite discontinuing the tropical storm warning on Tuesday, the ‘all clear’ had not yet been issued for the Cayman Islands and would likely not be announced until sometime on Thursday.
Powery cited the ongoing flood warning, with as much as 4 inches of rain still possible for the Cayman Islands through Thursday night, along with saturated ground conditions and elevated tides, which are limiting effective drainage. He also said sea conditions remain rough on the south and western coastlines, so the marine warning remains in place at the present time.
While Helene was not a significant wind threat for the Cayman Islands, according to Powery, as of 2pm on Wednesday, the accumulated rainfall total associated with the storm had reached 10 inches.
Torrential rainfall across the islands led to flooding of several homes in George Town, and brought government school closures and shutdowns of airport operations in both Grand Cayman and Cayman Brac. It also resulted in standing water and challenging road conditions and precipitated work from home guidance to be issued for government workers.
Related Videos
I thought this was held by Beryl that went from a tropical storm to a CATEGORY 5 hurricane inside 2 days when it hit the Grenadines.