See how Helene dwarfs other hurricanes that have hit the Gulf Coast

Hurricane Helene is one of the biggest storm systems to hit the U.S. See how it compares to other past hurricanes and tropical storms in the Gulf Coast.

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Hurricane Helene is one of the biggest storms on record to strike the Gulf Coast. A few hours before making landfall, Helene had winds of at least tropical storm force, a sustained 39 mph or greater, across some 420 miles.

According to an analysis by Colorado State University hurricane scientist Phil Klotzbach, Helene is larger than all but two gulf storms since 1988: Opal, a Category 3 storm that made landfall on the Florida Panhandle in October 1995, and Irma, a Category 4 storm that struck South Florida in September 2017. Like Helene is forecast to, Irma brought stormy conditions to parts of six Southeastern states.

A storm’s size is different from its strength, which is based on the maximum sustained wind speeds at its center. While intense storms like Helene, currently a Category 4 storm, often grow as they strengthen, many past storms that were far stronger than Helene were not nearly as large.

When a storm is so large, it means more people are exposed to its hazards, which extend hundreds of miles away from the point of landfall.

In the case of Helene, it’s not just Florida’s Big Bend region that faces potential disaster. There are risks of powerful and extreme storm surge along much of Florida’s coastline; deadly flash floods and landslides in the southern Appalachians; and tornadoes across Florida, Georgia and South Carolina.

Some storms become more compact if they are surrounded by drier air. But a moist environment, like the one surrounding Helene, allows rain bands to extend out.

Satellite imagery from CSU/CIRA & NOAA.

John Farrell contributed to this report.