Francine, No Longer A Hurricane, Still Spinning Off Flooding, Twisters

True to form The Weather Channel's Jim Cantore
reports from near the eye of Hurricane Francine
on Wednesday in this screen grab 
from the Weather Channel. 

 Then Hurricane Francine did what forecaster said it would do last evening, pummeling hurricane-prone Louisiana with another blow.   

Though this one won't go down in history as among the worst, its 100 mph winds, storm surges and blinding rain, smashing through an area not fully recovered from even stronger hurricanes in 2020 and 2021.

So far, fingers crossed, I haven't heard of any deaths from this storm in Louisiana. But damage reports are just emerging. At least 390,000 homes and businesses were without power in Louisiana, reported the Associated Press, with another 46,000 in Mississippi.

Video emerging on social media show mobile homes blown apart, trees snapped, roods damaged, power lines down and a lot of flooding. 

New Orleans streets were flooded after the city was battered by 7.33 inches of rain and wind gusts as high as 78 mph. 

Francine has moved well inland, and as of 7 a.m. today was a tropical depression over central Mississippi with top winds of just 35 mph. 

As you can tell, winds are no longer a factor with Francine. But its remnants are spreading heavy rain and a real flood risk over parts of the Southeast. The byproducts of Francine might also spin up a few tornadoes today in the Florida Panhandle and Alabama. 

The remnants of Francine are trapped over the Southeast by strong high pressure over New England snd southeast Canada. That will prevent us here in Vermont from seeing any effects from the former hurricane. 

Another disturbance way out there in the eastern Atlantic Ocean is likely to become Tropical Storm Gordon later today. It's far away and expected to develop only slowly.  It's days away from any threats to land, and we are not quite sure where wannabe Gordon will go as it develops. 

A storm might also form in the coming days off the Southeast coast and possibly become a subtropical or tropical storm next week. If it forms, it could head into the Carolinas. Also, again, if this system does become something, the same high pressure that is keeping Francine at bay would also keep this thing well south of Vermont, so it wouldn't bother us.