Hurricane Helene continued to intensify on Thursday afternoon, strengthening into a Category 3 storm, hours before the unusually large and rapidly intensifying storm was forecast to make landfall in Florida's Big Bend as a monster Category 4 storm.

Hurricane Helene intensified into a major Category 3 hurricane on Thursday with 120 mph sustained winds, with the National Hurricane Center predicting it will grow further bringing devastation to

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.