Helene was heading toward the island of Cozumel off Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula as of the National Hurricane Center's 10 p.m. CDT advisory, with sustained winds increasing to 60 mph. The storm is projected to dump heavy rain and trigger possible mudslides across western Cuba while passing between the island and the Yucatan on Tuesday night.

“Helene’s wind field will be so large that even passing 325 miles west of Miami on Thursday is not enough to keep the entire #Florida peninsula from being placed under a Tropical Storm Warning,” John Morales, hurricane specialist at NBC5, posted on Twitter Wednesday morning.