As Hurricane Francine makes landfall as Category 2, new depression forms in the Atlantic

Hurricane Francine powered up into a Category 2 storm hours before the eye is expected to cross into Louisiana, the third storm to make U.S. landfall this season.

The National Hurricane Center’s forecast calls for Francine to bring 100 mph sustained winds, heavy rains and up to 10 feet of storm surge, prompting mandatory evacuations across the Louisiana coast.

Tuesday mid-morning, the hurricane center also began issuing forecast tracks and updates for a newly formed tropical depression — the seventh of the season.

The first cone shows the system strengthening into a tropical storm as soon as Wednesday evening and headed west-northwest across the Atlantic. Forecasters said that by the weekend, conditions could grow more hostile for the storm. By Wednesday evening, long-range models began to indicate a curve away from land toward the weekend.

The next name on the list is Gordon.

Overnight, the hurricane center also began tracking two new disturbances in the Atlantic, on top of the one it was already watching. None appear to be immediate threats to land.

The newest system, off the southeast coast, has only a 30% chance of formation in the next seven days. The hurricane center noted that “some subtropical or tropical development is possible during the early part of next week while the system meanders drifts to the north or northwest.”

The other two disturbances are in a conga line in the main development region, with low chances of development anytime soon. The eastern one is down to 30%, a slow decline over the last few days that could end up at zero by Friday, and the western one sits at a 10% chance of formation.

“The proximity of dry air near the system is expected to limit additional development over the next couple of days before environmental conditions become even less conducive by this weekend,” forecasters wrote.