NHC: Francine strengthening possible, but not expected

Hurricane Francine strengthened overnight, showing signs that it could reach Category 2 strength before it makes landfall later in the day on Wednesday.

According to the National Hurricane Service's 10 a.m. update, Francine's maximum sustained winds remain at 90 miles per hour. Minimum barometric pressure is holding at 976 millibars after falling overnight. However, hurricane hunters found that the eye of the storm is large, elliptical, and open to the south.

"Satellite imagery does show that the cloud pattern is becoming elongated from northeast to southwest due to the increasing effects of southwesterly shear," NHC forecasters said in their latest forecast discussion.

As of 10 a.m. Wednesday, the storm is located at 28.0°N and 92.7°W, about 210 miles southwest of New Orleans and moving northeast at 13 miles per hour. NHC forecasters continue to expect landfall to happen between 4 p.m. and 7 p.m. on the St. Mary Parish coast near Burns Point--due south of Franklin and southwest of Morgan City.

The National Hurricane Center says the chances of Francine reaching Category 2 status before hitting land.

"The structure of Francine could allow for some additional short-term strengthening this morning over the very warm Gulf waters, and this
is reflected in the updated NHC forecast," meteorologists said in their 4 a.m. forecast discussion. "Southwesterly shear is expected to increase over the hurricane later today, and interaction with an upper trough should cause drier air to wrap around the southern portion of Francine as it nears the coast. Thus, the hurricane is not expected to continue strengthening through landfall, but will continue to pose a significant risk of life-threatening storm surge and damaging winds to locations in the warning areas. Once inland, Francine is expected to rapidly weaken, quickly lose tropical characteristics, and transition to an extratropical cyclone over northern Mississippi."

Hurricane warnings remain in effect from Vermilion/Cameron Line to Grand Isle. Tropical storm warnings remain in effect from Grand Isle to Alabama/Florida line, including metro New Orleans.