Breakfast Brief: All eyes on Helene

As Helene continues to develop, preparations are underway along Florida's west coast and the northern Gulf. A front will also spark showers and storms from the Gulf to the Northeast.

Helene is forecast to become a major hurricane before landfall in the Big Bend region of Florida on Thursday. However, the anticipated size of this storm means that impacts will be felt well away from the storm's center. Helene's outer bands will lash south Florida today with heavy rain and wind gusts over 30 mph in cities like Miami and Cape Coral, Fla. A few tornadoes are also possible in the Sunshine State today. Please turn on your Weather & Radar app alerts and scroll down to our tropical update for more information.

The WeatherRadar shows a wet day for much of the eastern third of the country. Flash flooding is a concern from Florida to Kentucky. Cities like Atlanta, Birmingham, Ala., and Knoxville, Tenn., may see flooding today, so please keep an eye on the RainRadar and avoid driving across water-laden roads.

The TemperatureRadar shows cooler-than-average temperatures extending from central Texas to the Tennessee Valley today, where highs will stay in the 70s and 80s. Cooler weather is also in place across the Northeast, where highs are expected to remain in the 60s and 70s. Temperatures will be more than 20 degrees above average in the northern Plains. Highs will even reach the 90s in spots like Billings, Mont. A front moving in off the Pacific will bring showers and cooler temperatures to the Pacific Northwest today.

Helene is forecast to strengthen into a large and dangerous hurricane before making landfall on Florida's Gulf Coast Thursday night. It will then bring wind and rain well inland into the Southeast U.S. Some parts of Florida's west coast could see up to 15 feet of storm surge, especially between the Big Bend and the Charlotte Harbor. Southwest Florida could deal with 6 feet of storm surge in some spots. Much of the Florida Peninsula could experience tropical storm-force winds at some point between today and tomorrow. More than half a foot of rain is expected across the Panhandle and north Florida. Stay with us throughout the day for more updates.

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