09/11 Ryan’s “Hurricane Francine” Wednesday Morning Forecast

Francine became a hurricane last night and will continue so strengthen for the next several ours ahead of landfall to our west in Central LA.

Francine became a hurricane last night after struggling with shear and dry air throughout yesterday afternoon, but organized a bit more overnight and will continue to strengthen for the next several hours. It is now expected to reach Category 2 status before landfall once again after yesterday’s struggles saw its overall intensity lowered. Despite the expected 100+ mph winds at landfall in Central LA later this afternoon, I expect South MS will only see Tropical Storm level impacts. I know that doesn’t sound like much, but with the rain, storm surge, and gusting winds I expect we’ll see areas of flooding, particularly along our western coast.

While I expect flooding will be our biggest issue across the area, we can’t rule out a generally short-lived, “spin-up” tornado. These can occur within the rainbands as they curve around the low and interact with the turbulence introduced by landfall. Due to that risk, while I don’t foresee the need for wall-to-wall constant coverage through the entire day, WXXV meteorologists will be in watching for these areas should they develop and updating this page, social media, and potentially cut-in to programming throughout landfall should anything concerning develop. Stay tuned for the latest.