Tropical Weather-Atlantic

Tropical Weather-Atlantic for Wednesday, September 11, 2024

_____

Francine tracking toward Louisiana

Hurricane Francine will continue to strengthen through Wednesday, eventually reaching Category 2 strength before making landfall Wednesday evening. Heavy rain will spread across coastal Louisiana

through Wednesday. The combination of strong winds and heavy rain can bring down trees and power lines, especially over the already saturated areas of the Gulf Coast. Life-threatening storm surge of

6-10 feet, with locally up to 15 feet, will occur near where the storm makes landfall. Isolated tornadoes are expected along the central Gulf Coast. Dangerous flooding will stretch into the

mid-Mississippi and lower Ohio valleys late this week. Due to impacts from flooding rainfall, strong winds, isolated tornadoes and a life-threatening storm surge, Francine is a 2 on the AccuWeather

RealImpact™ Scale for Hurricanes in the United States.

As Francine gains wind intensity over the Gulf of Mexico, wind gusts of 40-60 mph will stretch northward across the northern Gulf Coast through Wednesday, eventually reaching the Mississippi

Valley later this week. In far south-central Louisiana, wind gusts of 100-120 mph can occur near where the center of the storm moves onshore, with an AccuWeather Local StormMax™ of 130 mph.

These winds can cause structural damage, flying debris and downed trees and power lines, especially close to the coast. There is a risk for widespread and even long-lasting power outages.

Heavy rain from Francine will continue to spread northward across Louisiana and the lower Mississippi Valley on Wednesday, extending into the central Mississippi and Ohio valleys throughout the

rest of the week as Francine progresses northward. Rainfall totals of 1-2 inches are expected through much of the northern Gulf Coast and Ohio Valley. An area of 2-4 inches will extend through the

panhandle of Florida, Alabama, Mississippi and southern Missouri. The heaviest rainfall of 8-16 inches is expected near where the storm makes landfall in south-central Louisiana, with an AccuWeather

Local StormMax™ of 24 inches. This rain can cause significant flooding, closing roads for days and leading to extensive structural damage. The rain can also lead to river flooding into the

weekend.

Three additional areas of concern are being monitored by AccuWeather hurricane experts across the Atlantic basin. A wave over the open Atlantic has a low chance for development Wednesday. A

tropical wave just west of Cape Verde will have a high chance for development through the end of this week. Finally, AccuWeather hurricane experts continue to monitor an area off the coast of the

Carolinas for a medium chance of tropical development this weekend into early next week.

_____

Copyright 2024 AccuWeather