Helene was a long-lived Cape Verde-type hurricane that formed in the extreme southeastern part of the North Atlantic Ocean , peaking as a Category 3 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale as it traveled across the central Atlantic . Helene was a long-lived Cape Verde-type hurricane that formed in the extreme southeastern part of the North Atlantic Ocean , peaking as a Category 3 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson hurricane scale as it traversed the central Atlantic .