Although Hurricane Helene is expected to make landfall far northwest of Tampa Bay near Florida’s Big Bend, the storm will have a very large wind field and bring hurricane-force winds and catastrophic storm surge to Tampa, St. Petersburg, Clearwater and other locations along Florida’s Gulf coast. The entire coast of Florida is under at least a tropical storm warning, with areas closest to the possible landfall zone under a hurricane warning. The hurricane center said preparations for Helene should be complete by now and residents should bunker down or heed evacuation orders from local officials. The storm will pass west of the Tampa Bay region around midday Thursday and push in a storm surge that could possibly reach up to 9 feet above land. Forecasters said that the exact track of Helene could still shift east or west and life-threatening impacts will be felt hundreds of miles from the storm’s center. Here is the latest forecast track: Related Articles National News | Hurricane Helene enters Gulf, forecast to hit Florida as major hurricane with 20-foot storm surge National News | A huge Hurricane Helene is expected to hit Florida as a major storm and strike far inland National News | Louisiana residents brace as Tropical Storm Francine is expected to hit their coast as a hurricane National News | Ernesto gains strength as a hurricane over the open Atlantic National News | A deadly tornado, flooding rains and swollen rivers plague residents in the path of Debby