*At a Glance**

- Areas outside Hurricane Helene's forecast cone should prepare for widespread impacts.
- Flooding, wind damage, and storm surge will extend far beyond the storm's forecast cone.
- Storm surge as high as 15 feet is possible outside the cone.

Hurricane Helene is not just powerful but also large, and its size and strength are expected to grow. As a result, its impacts—strong winds, heavy rain, and significant damage—will reach far beyond the forecast cone. 

"The National Hurricane Center’s forecast cone was never meant to capture all of a hurricane’s impacts," explains weather.com meteorologist Jon Erdman. "It simply shows where there’s a two-thirds chance of the center of the storm tracking."

This storm could produce a tropical storm-force wind field hundreds of miles wide. It's crucial to focus on Helene’s potential impacts, not just the cone.

Given the storm's massive size, it will hit the coast with significant force, maintaining strength as it pushes inland. Helene could remain a hurricane as it crosses into southern Georgia.

**Wind Threat:**  
The National Hurricane Center predicts Helene's tropical storm-force winds could extend as far as 200 miles from its center. If the storm makes landfall in Florida’s Big Bend, tropical storm-force winds could sweep across much of the state, including areas far to the south. These winds will move inland along with the storm.

"Another key factor is that this large hurricane will speed up before and after landfall," said Erdman. "This will allow its high winds to reach farther inland than a slower-moving storm."

Hurricane-force winds could extend into southern Georgia by Thursday night, with tropical storm-force gusts reaching much of Georgia, including Atlanta, and parts of South Carolina into Friday.

**Flood Threat:**  
Flooding concerns will also stretch well beyond the forecast cone. A "predecessor" rain event—heavy rainfall ahead of Helene—is expected in the southern Appalachians from late Wednesday into Thursday. 

The Weather Prediction Center has already issued a rare "high" risk of flooding for parts of the Appalachian Mountains, including western North Carolina, north Georgia, and Upstate South Carolina—regions prone to flooding. Once the predecessor rain clears, Helene will bring even more rainfall, increasing the flood potential.

Flood risks will also affect much of the Southeast, from western Tennessee to the Atlantic Coast, with up to a foot of rain possible.

"Helene is a perfect example of why hurricanes aren’t just coastal events," said Erdman.

**Storm Surge:**  
Storm surge will be a major concern along the coast, even outside the forecast cone. Surge levels could reach as high as 15 feet in Florida’s Big Bend area, with surge forecasts of 5 to 8 feet for Tampa Bay. The entire west coast of Florida is at risk for storm surge.

Although the highest storm surge will occur east of Helene's landfall, significant water rise is still expected outside the cone.