Hurricane Francine makes landfall in southern Louisiana as a Category 2 storm

Flooding rainfall, damaging winds and tornadoes will continue as former Category 2 Hurricane Francine moves northward over the southern United States into Friday.

Hurricane Francine made landfall in southern Louisiana in the Parish of Terrebonne, about 30 miles south-southwest of Morgan City, as a Category 2 (Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale) storm at 5:00 p.m. CDT. Maximum sustained winds were estimated to be near 100 mph along with dangerous storm surge and flooding rainfall.

Francine became a hurricane on Tuesday evening with maximum sustained winds of 75 mph. It quickly ramped up, becoming a Category 1 hurricane on Wednesday morning. After spending much of the day hovering near 90 mph on Wednesday, the hurricane strengthened a bit more to 100 mph just prior to landfall in Louisiana early Wednesday evening.

Peak wind gusts of Category 2 intensity (96-110 mph) were reported at several stories above the surface over the Gulf of Mexico on Wednesday afternoon, a sign the hurricane was gaining some strength.

The latest on Francine

As of 7 a.m. CDT on Thursday, Francine was located about 30 miles to the south of Jackson, Mississippi, and had lost more wind intensity after spending time as a tropical storm Wednesday night. Francine will transition from a tropical depression to a tropical rainstorm as it moves inland over the Southern states from Thursday to Friday.

Francine is a 2 on the AccuWeather RealImpact™ Scale for Hurricanes, which gauges the risks to lives and property, damage to infrastructure and economic loss due to wind damage and flooding from rainfall and storm surge. The Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale only accounts for the sustained winds of a hurricane.

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Since Francine is transitioning to a tropical rainstorm, the center of the storm is losing importance as far as a weather-maker. More significant effects will be the outward spread of rain north and east of the center and severe thunderstorms, including possible tornadoes to the east and south of the center. The impacts of these conditions will continue.

Worst of Francine's impacts shifting north and east

As storm surge flooding subsides, flooding from heavy rainfall and damage from strong wind gusts and severe thunderstorms will continue to be a problem moving forward into Friday.

Even as Francine continues to lose wind energy, some strong gusts can be transported from the mid-levels of the atmosphere to the surface. Gusts of 40-60 mph are forecast to continue into Thursday night over parts of eastern Louisiana, all of Mississippi, western and central Alabama, eastern Arkansas, southwestern Tennessee and part of the Florida Panhandle.

The maximum observed wind gust on land occurred at Dulac, Louisiana, Wednesday evening. However, much stronger gusts were reported on petroleum platforms over the central Gulf during the day Wednesday, as previously stated.

The majority of power outages have already occurred in Louisiana and southern Mississippi, but strong winds were affecting areas farther to the north and east as Francine advances and will lead to power outages in these areas moving forward.

Where tornadoes occur, damage can be more severe and pose a greater risk to lives and property.

The highest risk of inland tornadoes will be north and east of the storm center.

Because some dry air has become entrained into Francine's circulation, it may increase the number and intensity of severe thunderstorms, which could boost the number of tornadoes through Thursday and possibly continue into early Friday.

The most far-reaching impact from Francine will be heavy rainfall, which can trigger everything from small stream and low-lying area flooding to significant rises on some of the south-central United States region's secondary rivers and bayous.

A broad area where 4-8 inches of rain will likely fall will be centered on the Mississippi Delta region, with 8-12 inches of rain and an AccuWeather Local StormMax™ rainfall of 24 inches forecast in southern Louisiana.

Rainfall from Francine was still being tallied on Thursday. However, the New Orleans area has received between 7 and 9 inches. Much of that rain, 3-5 inches, fell in three hours during Wednesday evening as the core of Francine passed nearby.

Rain, water-level rise needed on Mississippi River for barge transport operations

"Water levels on the Mississippi River have plummeted in recent weeks and were at near-historic lows once again for the third year in a row," AccuWeather Chief On-Air Meteorologist Bernie Rayno said.

Areas of significant drought have been expanding over the Mississippi Basin.

The rain and reasonable water-level rise on the Mississippi River are much needed for tug and barge transport to operate efficiently. The waterway is invaluable for the low-cost transport of grains and other commodities.

Since the amount of rain will tail off quickly over the Ohio River Valley and no rain from Francine will reach the upper Mississippi Valley, not enough of a water level rise, or one that lasts very long, is likely to occur on the mid-Mississippi stem. The Ohio River contributes more than the main stem of the Mississippi River at the Ohio-Mississippi River confluence.

The slow movement of Francine while it is inland will boost rainfall amounts over the south-central region.

However, Francine's northward movement into much of the Midwest may be blocked by high pressure. As a result, the northward extent of the system's moisture, as a tropical rainstorm, will likely diminish.

Could a spinoff tropical storm develop?

As Francine loses wind intensity over the interior Central states, a new tropical concern may spin up just off the Carolina coast this weekend.

That feature has the potential to evolve into a tropical storm this weekend and drift inland over the Southeastern states early next week, packing torrential rain, severe thunderstorms and strong winds.

The next name on the list of Atlantic tropical storms is Gordon.

Francine to affect petroleum operations in Gulf

It has been a few years since the petroleum industry in the central Gulf of Mexico has had to weather a hurricane, and Francine will cause disruptions.

The Category 2 storm will likely have some negative effect on operations, which could be reflected in higher prices at the pump for a time.

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