Editor's note: Click here for Friday's Treasure Coast update.
As Hurricane Helene — a Category 4 storm — built strength in the Gulf of Mexico and went ashore about 11:30 p.m. in Perry in the Big Bend region, the Treasure Coast is still feeling some light winds, with stronger gusts and isolated rainfall Thursday night.
Wind speeds have remained consistent at about 20-30 mph sustained with wind gusts 40 to 50 mph, according to the National Weather Service. Rainfall on the Treasure Coast was lower than initially expected Thursday, according to NWS Meteorologist Brendan Schaper.
Here's TCPalm's live coverage of how Hurricane Helene affects the Treasure Coast with updates throughout Thursday.
Hurricane Helene tracker
Warnings and watches on the Treasure Coast Thursday night
National Weather Service in Melbourne meteorologists said tropical storm-force wind gusts are occurring across east central Florida, which includes the Treasure Coast. Conditions should improve into the night.
- Tropical storm warning is in effect across the Treasure Coast until further notice.
- EXPIRED: Tornado watch, from Daytona Beach to Hobe Sound, expired at 8 p.m.
"We're still experiencing tropical storm conditions so it probably will not be until later tonight or early in the morning that we would cancel (the warning)," NWS Melbourne Meteorologist Jessie Schaper told TCPalm Thursday evening.
Unlike some other warnings or watches, tropical storm warnings don't have set end times. They continue until they are canceled when conditions improve enough. Conditions are expected to begin improving on the Treasure Coast once the eye of the storm passes north of our latitude, expected between 8 and 9 p.m..
Treasure Coast rainfall for Thursday during Hurricane Helene
Averages across all three counties have been between one-quarter and one-half inch over the last 12 hours, according to NWS Melbourne Meteorologist Brendan Schaper. The forecast into the night is between 1/10 and 1/4 inch, and some rain should be expected Friday afternoon from the last of the outer bands, averaging close to 1 inch.
The highest rainfall was about 1 inch from one band that hit the eastern part of the Treasure Coast from Fort Pierce to Stuart near the lagoon and islands.
Widespread FPL, FPUA power outages
Power outages have been fluctuating Thursday as Hurricane Helene prepared to make landfall in Florida's Big Bend while simultaneously bringing tropical storm impacts to this area. As of 7 p.m., 1,400 customers were without power.
Local agency tapped to head to Hurricane Helene site
Martin County Fire Rescue is mobilizing a strike team to go to an undetermined location to assist once the storm passes.
No additional information was readily available.
Classes to resume Friday on the Treasure Coast
Martin, Indian River and St. Lucie county schools will resume classes Friday, district officials announced. Indian River State College, which also canceled Thursday classes, will reopen Friday, officials said in a news release.
Treasure Coast residents watch Helene conditions
Life wasn’t exactly business as usual Thursday morning for residents across the Treasure Coast, especially with many businesses closed in addition to schools and state parks.
Sophia and Johnny Pfister had just arrived to Chastain Beach in Stuart to walk their dog, Emily, when the weather changed. “Oh, she's so scared,” said Sophia Pfister, referring to the shivering dog. She said her work was closed today, but nothing else was out of the ordinary for her. “We just want to see what it looks like,” she said, “and of course we come out here when it’s like this.”
Kathryn Hendron, 53, of and her friend Maryann Bermingham, 55, both longtime Jensen Beach residents, welcomed the breezy weather during their jog through Indian RiverSide Park. “At least we have some air blowing through,” Hendron said. “Usually it’s warm and hot, and we're sweating and having a hard time going through the day, but it’s beautiful.”
Osceola Street Café in downtown Stuart planned to stay open, but it wouldn’t serve customers outside because of the weather conditions, said employee Jennifer Milone. “We’re not going to open up the umbrellas because when the winds get over 20 or 30 miles an hour,” Milone said, “they’ve been known to fly over.”
Javier Franco, 60, a Vero Beach area resident since 1999, was out enjoying the breezy conditions along Conn Beach Boardwalk. Franco said he was an entomologist who studies bees and was documenting bee reactions to severe weather by recording their behavior during different weather conditions.
Robert Martinez of Fort Pierce was fishing on the South Jetty of the Fort Pierce Inlet despite rough waves crashing around him on both sides of the jagged rocks. “I am fishing for tarpon,” Martinez said. “They love this weather and are gathering out there.”
Wayne Pilkerton, 63, of Port St. Lucie, walked out onto the sand at Dollman Park Beachside to check out the conditions. St. Lucie County Ocean Rescue lifeguards weren’t on duty, and officials recommended avoiding the beaches because of high chances for heavy surf and rip currents. “Doesn't look like a beach day,” Pilkerton said, noting he was surprised no surfers were in the water.
Traffic was steady through downtown Jensen Beach at 3:30 p.m. Thursday. Most businesses were open, though some had their "closed" signs up.
It was business as usual at C. Harbour Produce, a covered but fully outdoor shop on N.E. Pineapple Ave. The only sign of the storm was a few errant palm fronds out front. Plans are to close at 5:30 p.m., just like any other day. While owner Henry Barbour said it's been a bit slower than normal, customers have continued to trickle in throughout the day.
"It's been a bit slow," said Barbour. "We didn't get the rain that we were supposed to."
Wind gusts almost 60 mph on Treasure Coast
At 6 p.m. 40-50 mph wind gusts were reported in some areas of the Treasure Coast, with sustained winds averaging 20-30 mph across the area. The Treasure Coast took the top speeds for wind gusts as of noon Thursday across east Central Florida, according to the National Weather Service. Winds were forecast to continue to increase throughout the day.
- Vero Beach: 59 mph
- Fort Pierce: 48 mph (Treasure Coast International Airport)
- Jupiter: 45 mph (Martin County)
- Cape Canaveral: 43 mph (Space Force Station)
- Daytona Beach: 41 mph (Daytona Beach International Airport)
- Okahumpka: 41 mph (Lake County)
- Kissimmee: 39 mph
- Melbourne: 38 mph (Melbourne Orlando International Airport)
- Orlando: 37 mph (Orlando International Airport & Orlando Executive Airport)
Tree falls on mobile home
In Stuart, wind from Hurricane Helene's squalls knocked down a part of a tree Thursday morning, and it fell on a mobile home on Southeast Cortez Street. The roof collapsed, but no one was injured seriously.
Six people live in the house, but only three were home at the time of the incident. One child in the house was trapped briefly in a bedroom because the tree was blocking the exit. One person's shoulder got scratched on the way out of the house, and another person was hit in the head with a branch.
In Vero Beach, city maintenance crews gathered fallen tree limbs and palm fronds at Charles Park after an outer band of heavy rain and wind blew through the area. In Port St. Lucie, two power poles were reported down in the 800 block of Southwest Hamberland Avenue with police officers and firefighters on the scene. Still, no tornadoes were reported on the Treasure Coast as of Thursday morning.
Tornado warnings expire, rain begins
A tornado watch continued through 8 p.m. Most of the state is under a tropical storm warning.
Tornado warnings for the Treasure Coast were issued earlier Thursday. A tornado warning was issued about 8:30 a.m. until 8:45 a.m., specifically southwestern St. Lucie County and north-central Martin County.
There also is a high surf advisory and a high risk for rip currents. Because the storm arrived at the same time as high tide Thursday afternoon, water can run up to the dune line and cause minor beach erosion. High tide was expected between 3 and 5 p.m.
The expected rain has dropped from 4 inches, as of 4:30 p.m. Wednesday, to 1-3 inches, as of Thursday morning. But the chances for tropical storm-force winds have increased from 10-20% to 15-25%. Sustained winds of 20-30 mph are the same, with likely with gusts up to 40-50 mph.
'Another afternoon tropical storm'
Residents awoke early Thursday to windy conditions but no rain yet.
Luis Silva, 50, of Stuart was sitting at a table outside Dunkin’ and getting coffee just after 6 a.m., not worried about the storm. He said he was on his way to work in Port St. Lucie at a Walgreens. "No concerns," Silva said. "Another afternoon tropical storm whatever rains that we have every day."
Expect windy Thursday from Helene
Tropical storm-force winds arrived on the Treasure Coast about 10 a.m. Thursday and continued into the evening the night. Tropical storm winds are classified as between 39 mph and 73 mph.
National Weather Service meteorologist Brendan Schaper warned residents to keep tuned to weather alerts in the event a tornado is forecasted. He said the region’s coastal areas will experience higher wind gusts than inland areas throughout Thursday.
"Some of the forecast wind speeds, or wind gusts as we go into the day on Thursday could reach as high as 50 mph, maybe even a couple of gusts closer to 60," he said early Thursday.
The Treasure Coast has been under a tropical storm warning since Tuesday night, meaning tropical storm conditions are likely within the next 36 hours.
Helene peaked at Category 4 hurricane
As of Wednesday night, Helene's path remained unchanged.
Flooding and high winds won’t be limited to the Gulf Coast and are expected to travel hundreds of miles inland, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Hurricane Helenegrew from a disturbance toan unusually large hurricane with startling speedand showed signs of peaking asa Category 4 hurricanewith maximum sustained winds of 130-156 mph before landfall,AccuWeather meteorologistssaid.
Are schools closing because because of Helene?
Here's what schools on the Treasure Coast are doing Thursday and Friday
What are our 3 Treasure Coast counties doing to prepare?
St. Lucie County ; Indian River County ; Martin County
Indian River County closes beaches, other facilities Thursday
Here's county-run facilities that will be closed Thursday
What's open and closed through Friday on the Treasure Coast?
Here's what's open and closed on the Treasure Coast
What about Breeze Airways flying in and out of Vero Beach?
Breeze Airways adds Vero Beach to list of airports it's monitoring
Are any major airlines canceling flights around the country?
Airlines begin canceling flights, offering rebooking
Lake O water releases on hold
The Army Corps of Engineers is not releasing any water from Lake Okeechobee or the C-44 Reservoir/STA into the St. Lucie River ahead of Helene, a spokesperson told TCPalm Wednesday.
Rainfall runoff from previous storms that drenched western Martin County homes and farms has been flowing through the St. Lucie Lock & Dam at a daily average rate of nearly 331 million gallons, “which is normal for this time of year,” she said.
The agency extended the boat lock hours from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. for as long as possible, but will close them before Helene makes landfall.
Web cams show Treasure Coast beaches conditions
Fort Pierce Inlet
Jensen Beach
Jupiter
Sebastian Inlet
(This story will be updated with more information, photos, video.)
TCPalm reporters Corey Arwood, Laurie K. Blandford, Keith Burbank, Olivia Franklin, Will Greenlee, Melissa E. Holsman, Jack Lemnus, Gianna Montesano, Wicker Perlis, Nick Slater, Colleen Wixon, and visual journalists Eric Hasert, Kaila Jones and Crystal Vander Weit contributed to this report.
