Francine downgrades to tropical storm, loses speed as it moves from Louisiana to Mississippi
BATON ROUGE, La. (BRPROUD) — As of 10 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 11, Hurricane Francine was reduced to a tropical storm as it was moving through parts of Louisiana. It has maximum sustained winds of 70 mph, moving northeast at 16 mph.
The newest National Hurricane Center update shows that the minimum pressure is 982 MB. Hurricane Francine hit the coast as a Category 2 but was reduced to a Category 1 as wind speeds decreased. At the 10 p.m. hour, the storm was downgraded to a tropical storm.
Hurricane-force winds were estimated to hit the coast around 2 p.m. and move northeast through the Baton Rouge area and into Mississippi overnight.
According to the National Hurricane Center, a hurricane hunter aircraft continued investigating Francine during the day. Experts warned that life-threatening storm surges and hurricane-force winds would start Wednesday afternoon.
Watches and Warnings
A Tropical Storm Warning was in effect for a large section of south Louisiana. Parishes in the Greater Baton Rouge area under the tropical storm warning included Pointe Coupee, West Feliciana, East Feliciana, St. Helena, and Livingston. Wilkinson and Amite counties in Mississippi are also included.
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The Hurricane Warning area was extended to include more of south Louisiana. Parishes in the Greater Baton Rouge area included in the warning area were Assumption, Ascension, East Baton Rouge, Iberville and West Baton Rouge.
A Hurricane Watch was in effect for Livingston Parish.
A Tornado Watch was issued for portions of Southeast Louisiana until 11 p.m. Quick-spin-up tornadoes were possible with rain bands as they moved in from Francine. Remember, a tornado watch means the environment is favorable for tornadoes. Make sure to have multiple ways to receive warnings.
A Flash Flood Watch is also in effect for all of south Louisiana and the southwest Mississippi counties until 7 a.m. Thursday. On average, the area was expected to see 4-8 inches of rain with locally higher amounts in training rain bands. With already saturated grounds from last week’s rain, this increases the risk of flooding and downed trees.
Weather conditions will start improving as this storm pulls away from south Louisiana into Thursday morning. It should be entering into central Mississippi by Thursday afternoon. A few showers will be possible on Thursday, but drier weather will return at the end of the week.
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