Tropical Storm Francine Expected To Become A Hurricane Ahead Of Louisiana Strike

Sign up for the Morning Brief email newsletter to get weekday updates from The Weather Channel and our meteorologists. The Latest on Tropical Storm Francine Forecast to Strengthen into Hurricane Before Landfall in Louisiana Current Status Location: 415 miles south-southwest of Cameron, Louisiana Movement: Slowly north-northwest Maximum Sustained Winds: 65 mph at 4 a.m. CDT Watches and Warnings Hurricane Warning: Louisiana coast from Morgan City to Sabine Pass Storm Surge Warning: High Island, Texas to Mouth of the Mississippi River, Louisiana Tropical Storm Watches and Warnings: Western and northern Gulf Coast from northeastern Mexico to Alabama-Mississippi border Impacted Areas: Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, South Texas Forecast Track and Intensity Landfall: Wednesday along the Louisiana coast Intensity: Category 2 at landfall Forecast Path: North toward Lousiana coast, then inland Impacts Flooding Rainfall Rainfall Totals: 4-8 inches, locally up to 12 inches Affected Areas: Louisiana, Mississippi, South Alabama Flood Watches: New Orleans, Lake Charles, Baton Rouge, Biloxi Storm Surge Inundation: 5-10 feet in parts of southern Louisiana, including Vermilion Bay Peak Push of Water: Within a few hours either side of landfall later Wednesday Impacted Areas: Upper Texas and Louisiana coasts Damaging Winds Hurricane Conditions: Wednesday afternoon in southern Louisiana Tropical Storm Force Winds: South Texas coast, southern Louisiana, southern Mississippi, upper Texas coast Affected Areas: New Orleans, Baton Rouge Power Outages: Possible in affected areas, lasting several days Possible Tornadoes Tornado Threat: Southern Louisiana, southern Mississippi, southern Alabama, Florida Panhandle Background First Atlantic storm since Ernesto on August 20 Atlantic Basin without active tropical cyclones for first week of September since 1992 No storms formed in Atlantic Basin from August 13 to September 8 since 1968