Helene makes landfall overnight and has the greatest impact in eastern Alabama

BIRMINGHAM, AL (WBRC) – FIRST WARNING UPDATE: Hurricane Helene made landfall as a major Category 4 storm. The system is moving quickly, so hurricane and tropical storm force winds will extend well inland to the Atlanta Metropolitan Area and even South Carolina.

LOCAL IMPACT: Most of the rain from Helene will impact areas along and east of I-65. To the west we could see some showers and wind, but it will be more spotty.

The First Alert Weather Day will occur this evening after 9pm with wind gusts over 55 km/h to the east. While Helene is the big story, I think the next big thing is the possibility of gusty winds tomorrow.

Energy from Helene will be drawn into a deepening upper low to the northwest. As this system moves eastward across the area tomorrow, winds will become gusty again, especially in the afternoon. In some places we saw wind gusts of up to 40 km/h. The heavier rain will move north early tomorrow, but scattered showers will move in from the west again tomorrow afternoon. Expect the possibility of scattered showers for Sideline.

THE WEEKEND: The weekend still looks mostly dry, with highs in the 70s. We could see an occasional shower or two, but overall some big improvements for Game Day and Sunday. Calmer and drier weather will start next week.

Be sure to download the WBRC First Alert Weather app on Android and Apple devices for the latest weather information.

Receive news alerts in the Apple App Store and Google Play Store or subscribe to our email newsletter here.