It reformed into a tropical depression on September 19 south of Cuba, and crossed the western portion of the island the next day while on the verge of dissipation.

In South Carolina, Helene spawned a tornado that killed one person and injured six others; heavy rainfall in the state also led to a death when a driver hydroplaned into a tree.

Helene emerged from North Carolina as a tropical storm, and re-intensified to near-hurricane strength before being absorbed by a cold front on September 25.

An anticyclone to its north caused the depression to move generally to the west, and upper-level conditions were forecast to be favorable for intensification.

[3] However, the circulation moved away from the main area of convection[4] before a Hurricane Hunters flight indicated that the depression degenerated into a tropical wave on September 16.

Despite favorable conditions for redevelopment including low wind shear and warm ocean temperatures, the system remained a tropical wave as it moved across the Caribbean Sea.

[9] Increasing wind shear prevented Helene from attaining hurricane status, and the storm began weakening on September 22 as it approached the northern Gulf Coast.

This prompted NHC forecaster Lixion Avila to remark, "If I did not have a reconnaissance plane in the area, I would not know there was a tropical cyclone by just observing IR satellite imagery.

"[10] The storm made landfall near Fort Walton Beach, Florida at 1200 UTC on September 22 after weakening from its peak intensity to winds of 40 mph (64 km/h).

The storm accelerated to the northeast into the Westerlies,[11] and about six hours following its landfall, Helene weakened to tropical depression status after crossing into southeastern Alabama.

Strong convection developed over the center on September 24, and the following day Helene re-attained its peak intensity of 70 mph (110 km/h) while southeast of Nova Scotia.

As a tropical wave, Helene moved through the Lesser Antilles with strong winds; gusts on Guadeloupe reached 55 mph (89 km/h).

[1] Across the southern and eastern portion of the island, the system produced 6 to 12 in (150 to 300 mm) of rainfall, which resulted in flash flooding and mudslides.

[1] About 21 hours before Helene made landfall, the NHC issued a tropical storm warning from the border of Louisiana and Mississippi to the mouth of the Aucilla River along the Florida Panhandle.

[18] In Alabama, wind gusts reached 36 mph (58 km/h) at Brookley Air Force Base in Mobile; the same station recorded the highest rainfall in the state, with a total of 1.08 in (27 mm).

The rains caused flooding, notably in Franklin, Wakulla, and Leon counties, all of which closed schools and public buildings.

[16] The winds combined with the heavy rainfall caused trees to fall onto power lines, leaving about 5,000 people without electricity.

[21] As Helene moved through South Carolina, it spawned an F2 tornado in Martin that killed one person, injured six, and damaged 12 houses.

[25] Off the shore of North Carolina, a station at Diamond Shoal Light reported wind gusts of 70 mph (110 km/h) while Helene was re-intensifying into a tropical storm.

[27] On October 3, United States President Bill Clinton declared nine Florida counties as disaster areas, which allocated federal funding for debris removal, emergency services, and restoration of damaged public facilities.

The Red Cross also deployed two Mobile Feeding Vehicles to Wakulla County,[29] and a total of 700 meals were ultimately distributed.