Thursday, September 12 forecast: Rain chances going up for some as Francine nears

Hurricane Francine made landfall yesterday evening as a category 2 hurricane with winds around 100 mph. Now weakened to a tropical storm, Francine will make her way north through Louisiana, Arkansas and eventually Missouri.

Most of today will remain dry so plans should go uninterrupted through this afternoon. Rain chances will increase this evening across Northeast Arkansas and Southeast Missouri with rain expanding northwest into North Central Arkansas and South Central Missouri Friday morning.

Francine will encounter a dry air mass as it moves into the Midwest. This dry air surrounding the storm to the north and west of the track will cause rain chances to fall off quickly from east to west with most areas west of Hwy. 65 not seeing any rain at all.

Showers will continue through Friday east of Hwy. 65 with some sun and drier weather to the west. Look for a mild day Friday, especially to the east where it will be a struggle to get into the 70s. Areas to the west will have more of a late summer feel with highs in the low to mid 80s.

Friday night football will be dry with just a slight risk for a stray shower in the Eastern Ozarks. Lingering shower chances will remain over the Eastern Ozarks through the weekend with areas to the west sunnier and warmer.

Look for it to turn downright hot, at least for September, next week. A trough in the West will keep the middle of the country unusually warm and humid. Lows and highs will have more of a summer feel with high temperatures in the upper 80s to low 90s throughout the week.

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