Francine Forecast to Make Landfall in Louisiana as Hurricane
Alexis Thornton
Last weekHurricane watches and warnings are now in effect for parts of Louisiana as Tropical Storm Francine is forecast to become a hurricane before it makes landfall on the Gulf Coast. Here is what you need to know as Francine inches closer to the U.S.
Tropical Storm Francine Expected to Evolve Into a Hurricane Before U.S. Landfall
Tropical Storm Francine came to life late Monday morning after it picked up strength in the Bay of Campeche over the weekend. The feature is expected to move to the north and continue to feed on the exceptionally warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico. The end result will be multiple rounds of heavy rain, dangerous winds, downed trees, widespread power outages, and more in a corner of northeastern Mexico and across the southern U.S.
As of Tuesday mid-day, Francine was located off of the coastline of the Mexican state of Tamaulipas. The feature is spinning less than 400 miles from Cameron, Louisiana.
Maximum wind speeds were coming in at 65 mph, just 9 mph short of what it needs to be considered a Category 1 hurricane. Francine is moving to the north and the east is forecast to make landfall some time Wednesday afternoon to the west of New Orleans.
Wednesday is shaping up to be a potentially dangerous day in New Orleans with the worst of the conditions happening between 7 am and 9 pm local time. The Crescent City is bracing for wind gusts of up to 60 mph pairing with about a month's worth of rainfall. Lake Pontchartrain is expecting storm surge of up to 6 feet.
Forecasters have issued either tropical storm or hurricane warnings for over 7 million people, including about half of the state of Louisiana. For instance, a hurricane watch is in effect for the bulk of the coastline of Louisiana. The population centers of New Orleans, Lake Charles, and Baton Rouge, Louisiana are all under tropical storm watches while a tropical storm warning is now in effect for part of the South Texas coast and the upper Texas coast as well as the Louisiana coastline from Grand Isle through Lake Pontchartrain.
Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry declared a state of emergency in an effort to authorize funding and the distribution of resources ahead of the storm. All of the coastline of Texas is under either a tropical storm watch or warning.