Hurricane Francine, the sixth named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season, made landfall in Louisiana on Wednesday afternoon (Sept. 11) as a Class 2 storm.
The very best sustained winds at landfall within the southern Louisiana Parish of Terrebonne approached 100 miles per hour (155 kilometers per hour) with reviews of upper wind gusts.
Francine additionally introduced a life-threatening storm surge to the shoreline, and heavy rain triggered flooding throughout components of the Gulf Coast. 1000’s of individuals had been advised to evacuate forward of the storm and a whole bunch of 1000’s of individuals had been with out energy in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama as of Thursday morning (Sept. 12)
Air Mass imagery by way of @NOAA’s #GOESEast 🛰️ exhibits #Francine, now a despair, shifting inland over the southeastern U.S. this morning. Heavy rainfall is spreading throughout Mississippi, Alabama, and the Florida panhandle. Newest advisories: https://t.co/wJGBXDcfEu pic.twitter.com/x0Eo6veFRZSeptember 12, 2024
The Nationwide Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)’s GOES-East satellite tv for pc has been documenting the development of the storm because it started to develop within the central tropical Atlantic on the finish of August.
Francine strengthened right into a tropical storm within the Gulf of Mexico on Sept. 9 after which a day later, on the climatological peak of hurricane season (Sept. 10), turned the fourth hurricane of the Atlantic Season.
Associated: Satellites watch Tropical Storm Francine threaten Gulf Coast (video)
Sep 11: Hurricane Francine rainbands proceed to unfold inland into southern Louisiana. Francine is shifting towards the NE and is anticipated to make landfall in Louisiana inside the warning space later this afternoon or this night. Very harmful wave heights to 33 ft ongoing. pic.twitter.com/m9EOTRiVt0September 11, 2024
Forecasters proceed to make use of two of the devices on the satellite tv for pc to get the very best image of the storm, the Superior Baseline Imager (ABI) and Geostationary Lightning Mapper (GLM). There are three various kinds of channels — seen, near-infrared, and infrared — that make up 16 complete variations on the ABI.
By using the completely different wavelengths, forecasters can hold a watchful eye on hurricanes from area across the clock and acquire knowledge to study extra concerning the storms’ construction and depth in near-real time. The GLM can even present clues to the continual adjustments in a hurricane’s depth and composition based mostly on the quantity of lightning strikes at a given second or over a interval of time.
Sept 10 – @NOAA WP-3D Orion #NOAA43 “Miss Piggy” is flying into TS #Francine to evaluate if it is intensifying right into a hurricane. Information collected will refine depth forecasts and help hurricane analysis. Go to https://t.co/3phpgKMZaS for the most recent updates. #FlyNOAA pic.twitter.com/MVQfn5LX31September 10, 2024
NOAA’s Hurricane Hunter plane additionally depends on info supplied by satellites for his or her missions to gather knowledge on a storm. The knowledge obtained on flights each into and round storms assist forecasters have a greater understanding of how intense storms are and supply different essential info on their circumstances and trajectories.
Francine will proceed to weaken now because it continues inland however will nonetheless pose threats of extra flash and concrete flooding Thursday (Sept. 12) throughout the Gulf Coast from Louisiana to the Florida Panhandle after which from the Decrease Tennessee and Mississippi Valleys by Friday morning (Sept. 13). There may even be a risk of tornadoes as properly embedded inside the bands of the storm.
You’ll be able to proceed to seek out updates and particulars on any alerts for Francine on NOAA’s Nationwide Hurricane Middle web site and thru trusted native media shops.
