Hurricane Francine moves north after drenching the Gulf Coast

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — Hurricane Francine made landfall on Wednesday evening as a Category 2 storm near Terrebonne Parish, Louisiana.

It’s the sixth hurricane to come onshore in Louisiana since 2019.

Heavy rainfall and damaging winds accompanied the storm, along with storm surge recorded near 5 feet. Precipitation amounts varied between 4 and 7 inches for much of the area affected by Francine, with isolated greater measurements creating hazardous flooding.

The strongest winds occurred at coastal locations that received the brunt of Francine, but even further inland such as on the Baton Rouge campus of Louisiana State University at Tiger Stadium, gusts were still able to top 50 mph.

The remnants of Francine are sliding farther north and will bring some high-level clouds to West Michigan as we head into the upcoming weekend. That will help to trim down the heat just a bit, but highs are likely to hold steady in the 80s with no major shakeup in sight.

The drought monitor remained largely unchanged in the new update on Thursday, with a few zones of abnormally dry (yellow) conditions denoted north and south. West Michigan won’t be the beneficiary of any rain associated with Francine.

In fact, rain chances will be minimal through at least next Wednesday.

Stay with News 8 for the latest forecast.

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