The forecast track shows this storm arriving in Middle Tennessee and Southern Kentucky by Thursday.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — Tropical Storm Francine is increasing in momentum and strength in the Gulf of Mexico, and will become a hurricane on Tuesday. The forecast track shows this storm arriving in Middle Tennessee and Southern Kentucky by Thursday morning.
The 7 a.m. update from the National Hurricane Center said Tropical Storm Francine had wind of 65 mph and gusts at 75 mph. The next full update, including track changes, is at 10 a.m.
Hurricane warnings are in effect for the Louisiana coastline, and tropical storm warnings stretch back over Southeast Texas and inland into Louisiana.
The storm track shows Francine becoming a hurricane by Tuesday, making landfall between Lake Charles and New Orleans on Wednesday afternoon. Then, lifting northward to our region by Thursday morning into Friday.
When this storm arrives to our area, heavy rain and wind gusts will be the primary impacts. Another impact is tornadoes. Like what we experienced with Beryl in July, weak tornadoes are possible within the outer bands of a tropical system.
The wind gusts will increase with the rainfall on Thursday. Gusts could reach 40 to 50 mph across the southern and southwest counties of Middle Tennessee. Elsewhere, gusts of 25 to 45 mph are likely from Thursday into Friday.
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Starting Thursday morning, rain and storm chances are increasing in our region. There will be enhanced spin in the atmosphere, therefore we will need to watch for isolated tornadoes, especially on Thursday and Friday. By Saturday, off and on rain and storms will continue. The severe weather risk remains, but will lower as the surface low decreases. However, rain amounts will continue to add up.
Rain chances persist through the weekend and perhaps well into next week! Both models are forecasting a lot of beneficial rain. Most areas could see up to 3 inches of rain with more than 5 inches possible in other spots. However, due to the drought conditions, we are concerned about potential flooding too. **Note, the model data is swaying back and forth on rain totals. We will know more as the storm gets closer to our region.**
We will be keeping a close eye on this system all week.
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