Over 340,000 without power in Louisiana

Following Hurricane Francine, more than 340,000 people in Louisiana are without electricity. In Alabama, 36,000 people are without electricity, while 36,000 customers in Mississippi are without it.

Francine, which hit New Orleans with record-breaking daily rainfall, is currently moving northward, threatening the South with strong rains, blustery gusts, and maybe tornadoes.

Tracking Francine

At 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Hurricane Francine finally strengthened into a hurricane. The cone is narrowing, and she will land in Louisiana. The most recent track is enough distant from southeast Texas to minimize our effects. Along our coastline, the tropical storm watch has been canceled.

A category 1 storm with winds of about 90 mph is predicted to make landfall on Wednesday afternoon between New Iberia and Houma.

Texas coastal impacts:

The storm surge that is predicted has changed. Freeport to Matagorda is clear, and no surge is anticipated for tomorrow. From Freeport to Sabine Pass, there is still a one-to-three-foot storm surge. Coastal flooding could result from this surge. The majority of flooded roads are low-lying ones, like as Highway 87 in Bolivar. In the event of floods, avoid driving through barricades if you reside near the coast.

Winds:

The winds are the major modification to the prediction. Because of Francine’s distance from the center, wind gusts and speeds are much lower than what was predicted for Tuesday. The greatest wind gusts on Wednesday morning are seen in the figure below. Yesterday, these gusts were more like 60 mph. Though the gusts might really be a little stronger, they wouldn’t be strong enough to topple trees or take down power.

Rest of the Week:

We’ll be dry by Wednesday night, but there’s a slim chance Francine will shower us on Wednesday. It gets hotter on Friday.

The rest of the tropics:

The Atlantic Ocean is home to several tropical waves in addition to the recently developed Tropical Depression Seven. TD 7 is currently WAY out in the eastern Atlantic and poses no threat to the United States. As the Atlantic is now starting to wake up a little bit for the second half of the season, we’ll keep an eye on the remaining tropical waves.

10-day Forecast:

There may be more chances for showers and brief downpours today due to Francine’s rain bands. It will likely be dry but hot for the remainder of the week and into the weekend! By Friday into the weekend, we’ll be back in the mid-90s.