Helene is expected to make landfall on Florida's Big Bend this evening as a major category 4 hurricane, bringing the risk of catastrophic damage.

Hurricane Helene is rapidly "accelerating" toward Florida's Panhandle, according to a 4 p.m. ET update from the National Hurricane Center. Tropical storm conditions were recorded "across most of the West Coast of Florida," meteorologists said.

Helene, currently a Category 1 hurricane, is forecast to make landfall between 8 p.m. and 11 p.m. Thursday as a major Category 3 hurricane. Helene is a large storm, so it could bring life-threatening storm surge for the entire West Coast of the Florida Peninsula.