Storm tracker: See projected path of Hurricane Francine toward Louisiana coast

Editor's Note: Francine has been downgraded to a tropical depression. Click here for the latest information on the storm.

Hurricane Francine is expected to reach landfall along central Louisiana coast causing life-threatening storm surges and powerful winds.

Francine, which reached hurricane status Tuesday, will likely bring up to a foot of rainfall somewhere between Lafayette and Houma, according to National Hurricane Center.

The system centered about 150 miles east of the mouth of the Rio Grande and 350 miles southwest of Morgan City, Louisiana around 7 p.m. CT Tuesday. With sustained wind speeds of 75 mph, the hurricane center said it headed northeast at around 10 mph.

The hurricane expected to bring heavy rainfall to Mississippi Wednesday as it moves northward as a tropical depression into the Mississippi Valley. It is expected to reach Memphis by Thursday night.

On Tuesday, dry air prevented the storm from arriving at the Gulf as a hurricane, according to AccuWeather hurricane expert Alex DaSilva. He added that high water temperatures in the Gulf served as "rocket fuel" for the system.

As a tropical depression, the system drop torrential rain in Mississippi, southern Alabama, and northward into the Mississippi Valley Wednesday along with a few possible tornadoes in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and the Florida Panhandle, according to the National Weather Service.

Tropical Storm Francine tracker

Tropical Storm Francine spaghetti models

Spaghetti model illustrations include an array of forecast tools and models, and not all are created equal. The Hurricane Center uses only the top four or five highest performing models to help make its forecasts.

Contributing: John Bacon and Dinah Voyles Pulver.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Hurricane Francine tracker: See latest projected path storm