The Carolinas and the Southeast preparing for big impacts from Helene.

Hurricane Helene is rapidly intensifying in the Gulf of Mexico and is forecast to make landfall along the big bend of Florida. From there, impacts from the storm will move quickly over Georgia and into both North Carolina and South Carolina.

Excessive rain will cause flash flooding with the greatest risks across portions of the western North Carolina mountains, where the region is already being soaked by a predecessor rain event underway. With more than ten inches of rain possible, the risk of flash flooding in the mountains is extremely high.

The risk of flooding extends across much of the Carolinas, where a couple of inches of rain is also possible.

Even with Helene forecast to weaken to a tropical storm over Georgia and the Carolinas, gusty winds could still reach hurricane-force with some areas forecast to see 70 mph or greater wind gusts. This could easily topple trees and power lines. Power outages are anticipated with this storm.

Plus an ongoing tornado threat caused by the tropical system will extend across much of both North Carolina and South Carolina, with coastal SC expected to see the greatest risk of tornadoes Thursday night.

On this week's episode of the Carolina Weather Group podcast, meteorologists and experts from across the region to help you understand the localized impacts. We welcome WCNC's Brad Panovich, WFMY's Tim Buckley, WRDW's Riley Hale along with Duke Energy's Jeff Brooks. They join our panelists of James Brierton in Charlotte, Frank Strait in Columbia, Scotty Powell in Myrtle Beach, and Shea Gibson and Jared Smith both in Charleston.

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The Carolina Weather Group operates a weekly talk show of the same name. Broadcasting each week from the Carolinas, the show is dedicated to covering weather, science, technology, and more with newsmakers from the field of atmospheric science. With co-hosts across both North Carolina and South Carolina, the show may closely feature both NC weather and SC weather, but the topics are universally enjoyable for any weather fan. Join us as we talk about weather, the environment, the atmosphere, space travel, and all the technology that makes it possible.