As Gordon moved eastward on the afternoon of 18th, a narrow ridge built in, forcing Helene westward. The eyewall collapsed quite a lot, and Helene weakened into a Category 2 hurricane, where it stayed for about 48 hours until September 20 because of a long eyewall replacement cycle and a stretched out cloud pattern. On the 20th, Helene turned back to the northwest and weakened a bit because wind shear got a bit bigger. That afternoon, the hurricane was downgraded to a Category 1 hurricane, which Helene stayed as until becoming extratropical.