Update: Hurricane Helene’s Track Towards Michigan Changes Significantly

[Editor's Note: A previous version of this story was originally published Monday September 24.]

The track of Hurricane Helene has changed considerably as to its path across the continent. The storm is, as of this publication (8:45PM 9/26), just hours away from an late evening/overnight landfall along the coast of Florida's panhandle in what's known as the Big Bend region near Apalachicola.

Early in the week the remnants of what's likely to be a Category 4 storm at landfall were predicted to reach the Michigan/Indiana line by midday on Saturday. That forecast cone has slowed and shifted away from Michigan.

The latest forecast cone shows the storm's center of rotation making a much sharper westerly turn over Kentucky and tracking across the Bluegrass State towards Paducah, Evansville, Indiana and Southern Illinois rather than a previously forecast track nearly due north from Louisville to Indianapolis and Southern Michigan.

Original Article on Helene's Track to Michigan

A tropical storm churning in the Gulf of Mexico and set to make landfall somewhere in the Big Bend region of Florida is a weather system Michigan should be keeping its eyes on.

Helene is a tropical storm as of this publication date (9PM 9/24) and is forecast to grow to hurricane strength before hitting Florida, according to YahooNews,

The storm, which is still taking shape, could become the strongest hurricane to hit the United States this season. It could also go down in history as one of the fastest-developing storms on record. The Weather Channel reports Helene is likely to be a hurricane in the Gulf of Mexico by Wednesday.

READ MORE: This Tiny Patch of Ice is All That's Left of Massive Ice Sheet that Covered all of Michigan in Prehistoric Times

The storm is forecast to hit land moving inland in a northeasterly direction then make a shift to the northwest. That shift as it downgrades to a tropical storm then post-tropical depression puts the system squarely in the sights of Michigan.

By the overnight hours of Saturday, the storm's center of circulation is forecast to be crossing the Ohio River around Louisville at the Kentucky/Indiana border. With that track, the storm moves north across the Hoosier state to Michigan.

By early Saturday morning, the storm center shifts to around Indianapolis with the 'forecast cone' to include the southern tier of Michigan by that time.

Certainly by the time any storm that begins life as a tropical system hits Michigan elements like intense wind have died down, but these storms can be potential soakers with plenty of moisture still in the clouds.

It may be a wet close to the weekend.