Breakfast Brief: All eyes on Helene

Helene is heading for a Big Bend landfall today as a major hurricane. Meanwhile, flooding rains reach northward along the East Coast. Additionally, summer-like heat is building in the Southwest and Plains.

Helene will be making landfall in the Big Bend of Florida this evening. Outer squalls of rain have been felt across the Florida Peninsula all night and conditions will continue to deteriorate. Life-threatening storm surge will be one of the main impacts from Helene, and 15-20 feet are forecast from Carrabelle, Fla., to the Suwannee River, Fla.

For the third day in a row, the WeatherRadar shows much of the East Coast will deal with more rainfall, but this time, more is forecast for the southern Appalachians as Helene interacts with a storm system across the lower Mississippi Valley. A high risk for flash flooding - a level 4 out of 4 - has been issued. More than 7 inches could pile up by Friday morning in the southern Appalachians of North and South Carolina.

Our TemperatureRadar shows summer-like heat across the Southwest and High Plains today and records could be broken. Rapid City, S.D., has a forecast to reach the upper 90s today, with much of the northern High Plains being 15 to 25 degrees warmer than usual for this time of year.

The rest of the U.S. is quiet today. See the latest forecast on the WeatherRadar.

Hurricane Helene is undergoing rapid intensification today and is expected to make landfall in Florida's Big Bend this evening. This hurricane is large and likely in the 90th percentile when it comes to hurricane size. This means more than just the Big Bend is feeling the impacts from Helene. Damaging gusts, life-threatening storm surge and flooding as well as severe weather including tornadoes are in the forecast across the entirety of the Florida Peninsula and most of its panhandle. We're covering it on the app all day today.

Hurricane season in the Atlantic doesn't end until Nov. 30. Are your hurricane alerts on? Check here.