Tropical Storm Francine forecast to strengthen into hurricane 'soon' as it aims for U.S. Gulf Coast
A strengthening Tropical Storm Francine is expected to become a hurricane long before it reaches the Louisiana coast Wednesday, federal forecasters said on Monday.
On Monday evening, the storm was in the Gulf of Mexico, about 145 miles south-southeast of the mouth of the Rio Grande with maximum sustained winds of 65 mph and higher gusts, according to the National Hurricane Center.
It was moving north-northwest at 7 mph as it will brush the adjacent shores of Mexico and Texas through Tuesday, the center said in a public advisory Monday evening. It is forecast to take a right turn toward the northeast before approaching Texas' Gulf Coast east of Galveston and Louisiana's coastline on Wednesday, it said.
Track Tropical Storm Francine’s path, forecast and hurricane status
The hurricane center's latest forecast cone has the storm making landfall in Louisiana between the Texas border and New Orleans about 1 p.m. Wednesday.
Lousiana Gov. Jeff Landry declared a state of emergency as part of the state's preparations. "This State of Emergency will allow parishes statewide to have the resources to help protect the life, safety, and welfare of the citizens of Louisiana," he said on social media platform X on Monday.
Mayor-President Monique B. Boulet of Lafayette, Louisiana, said Monday that local public schools would be closed as a precaution on Wednesday and Thursday.
The storm will strengthen and accelerate overnight, federal forecasters said. "Francine expected to become a hurricane soon," a National Hurricane Center said in the headline to its latest advisory.
The advisory adds new notices to the forecast for Texas and Mexico, including a tropical storm warning in effect for the southernmost section of Texas coastline, from Port Mansfield to the mouth of the Rio Grande, and, from the Mexican government, a tropical storm warning in effect for mouth of the Rio Grande south to La Pesca.
A hurricane watch remains in effect for almost the entire Louisiana coast from Cameron to Grand Isle.
The storm is expected to bring 4 to 12 inches of rain and trigger flash flooding along the far coast of northeast Mexico, southern Texas, southern Louisiana and southern Mississippi into Thursday morning, the hurricane center said.
"The combination of a dangerous storm surge and the tide will cause normally dry areas near the coast to be flooded by rising waters moving inland from the shoreline," the hurricane center said, adding that the deepest water will occur along the coast and be accompanied by "large and dangerous waves."
Louisiana's coast from Cameron to Port Fourchon could get 5 to 10 feet of storm surge. The area from Cameron to High Island on the eastern coast of Texas could also see 3 to 5 feet of storm surge.
A storm surge watch is in effect for High Island, Texas, to the Mississippi and Alabama border, and Louisiana's Vermilion Bay, Lake Maurepas and Lake Pontchartrain.
Thus far this 2024 Atlantic storm season, which started in June and ends Nov. 30, there have been five named storms, three of which became hurricanes.
August’s tropical cyclone activity “was a little below normal” in terms of the number of named storms, the hurricane center said. Debby made landfall in the Big Bend region of Florida as a Category 1 hurricane before moving offshore and making landfall again as a tropical storm in South Carolina in early August, while Ernesto became a Category 1 hurricane when it moved over Bermuda in mid-August.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration had predicted above-normal hurricane activity in the Atlantic basin this year, forecasting a range of 17 to 25 total named storms — which is defined by having winds of 39 mph or higher — with eight to 13 forecast to become hurricanes. The above-normal activity was forecast because of near-record warm ocean temperatures in the Atlantic, La Ni?a conditions in the Pacific, reduced Atlantic trade winds and less wind shear.
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
