After making landfall in southern Louisiana as a Category 2 hurricane and subsequently weakening to a tropical storm, Francine was downgraded to a tropical depression on Thursday morning.
The National Weather Service in Jackson confirmed the downgrade around 7 a.m. as the storm moved over south-central Mississippi.
“It really kind of snuck into the Louisiana coast as a Category 2 strength,” meteorologist Eric Carpenter explained. “It then encountered what we call a lot of wind shear that helped to weaken. As it’s moved inward, it’s weakened considerably. In fact, it’s down to a depression status, which is below tropical storm strength as it approached Jackson.”
As Francine moves up the Interstate 55 corridor, the now tropical depression will bring heavy rain with it. Carpenter added that four to six additional inches of rain can be expected mainly over the northeast portion of Mississippi.
NWS continues to issue flash flood watches and warnings throughout the state. Keep up with the latest forecast here.
