Here's when Hurricane Francine will strengthen, make landfall and dissipate

Hurricane Francine is barreling toward the southern Louisiana coastline, where meteorologists expect the storm to make landfall late Wednesday afternoon or early evening .

Francine became a Category 1 hurricane overnight , and the storm is expected to continue strengthening up until it makes landfall, likely reaching Category 2 wind speeds.

Hurricane Francine’s impacts on the Florida Gulf Coast have gradually increased to include heavy rain, storm surge, coastal flooding, high surf, deadly rip currents, tornadoes and gusty winds, according to the National Hurricane Center.

Meanwhile, some Louisiana communities have already started evacuating and preparing flood gates as Francine will life-threatening storm surge and damaging winds to areas in the warning areas.

Here is a look at Hurricane Francine’s timeline based on the 10 a.m. NHC advisory.

Hurricane Francine timeline — 10 a.m. Wednesday

Hurricane Francine is about 150 miles southwest of Morgan City, Louisiana, and 210 miles southwest of New Orleans, Louisiana. Its maximum sustained wind speeds have remained at 90 mph since the previous update, and it’s moving northeast at 13 mph.

Hurricane Francine timeline — Wednesday afternoon

Current estimates say Hurricane Francine will make landfall late Wednesday afternoon or early Wednesday evening. Francine is expected to rapidly weaken after landfall.

AccuWeather warns that tornadoes are likely in southeastern Louisiana, southern Mississippi and southern Alabama.

Hurricane Francine timeline — Wednesday night

The center of Hurricane Francine is expected to cross southeastern Louisiana Wednesday night before it begins moving northward across Mississippi on Thursday. Once Francine makes its way inland, wind speeds are expected to essentially be cut in half to about 45 mph.

Hurricane Francine timeline — Thursday morning

Francine will continue to weaken as it begins to move its way north across Mississippi. The threat of tornadoes will expand to a larger area on Thursday, according to AccuWeather.

“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 beginning Wednesday and possibly continuing into Friday,” AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Alex Sosnowski said.

Impacted areas with the largest population centers include Mobile, Birmingham, Montgomery and Huntsville, Alabama; Pensacola, Florida, Tallahassee, Florida and Tupelo, Mississippi.

Hurricane Francine timeline — Thursday evening

By Thursday evening, Hurricane Francine will have already become post-tropical. At this point, it will be traveling straight north and near the northwestern tip of Mississippi that borders Arkansas and Kentucky.

Hurricane Francine Timeline — Friday morning

A post-tropical Francine will be even weaker, with wind speeds predicted to be around 25 mph as it passes into northeastern Arkansas.

Hurricane Francine timeline — Friday evening

Francine is expected to fizzle out in northeast Arkansas around Friday evening.

Hurricane Francine path and spaghetti models

This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: Here's when Hurricane Francine will strengthen, make landfall and dissipate