NOAA satellites have been closely tracking Tropical Storm Francine since it formed in the southwestern Gulf of Mexico over the weekend. Initially designated as Potential Tropical Cyclone Six on Sept. 8, 2024, it strengthened into a tropical storm the following day, continuing to intensify as it moved north toward Louisiana.
Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry urged residents to "not to panic, but be prepared" and follow evacuation orders. In response, people across the region have been filling sandbags, stocking up on essentials, and fueling their vehicles.
By late Tuesday morning, Sept. 10, Francine remained a tropical storm with maximum sustained winds of 65 mph (100 kph), according to the National Hurricane Center. However, fueled by the Gulf’s exceptionally warm waters—about 87 degrees Fahrenheit (31 degrees Celsius)—Francine intensified into a Category 1 hurricane by 7 p.m. CDT, and by the morning of Wednesday, Sept. 11, the storm had sustained winds of 90 mph. The Gulf’s ocean heat content is currently at record-high levels.
Around 4 p.m. CDT that same day, Francine strengthened further to a Category 2 hurricane, with maximum sustained winds of 100 mph. The storm made landfall roughly an hour later in southern Louisiana in the Parish of Terrebonne, about 30 miles south-southwest of Morgan City, inundating the coastal areas with flash flooding that made many roads impassable and caused power outages that left hundreds of thousands of customers in the dark. As of Thursday morning, over 388,000 utility customers in Louisiana, 52,000 in Mississippi, and 10,000 in Alabama were without power, according to PowerOutage.us.
New Orleans saw 6-8 inches of rainfall, triggering flash flood emergencies and severe street flooding in surrounding parishes like St. James and Jefferson. Although most drainage pumps in the city were operational, authorities urged residents to stay off flooded roads. In Lafourche Parish, 26 people were rescued from floodwaters, while downed trees and property damage were reported across several parishes.
After moving inland, Francine weakened to a tropical storm by 10 p.m. EDT Wednesday night and was downgraded to a depression by Thursday morning, Sept. 12. A tornado watch was issued for parts of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and the Florida Panhandle. Dangerous surf conditions were also reported along the northern Gulf Coast. By 10 a.m. CDT, the depression was centered over central Mississippi.
Francine is the sixth named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season, the first hurricane to make landfall in Louisiana since 2021, and the third to make landfall in the U.S. this year.
NOAA satellites provide vital information for forecasting hurricanes and monitoring the location, movement and intensity of storms. The GOES-16 and GOES-18 geostationary satellites continuously view the entire Atlantic and eastern/central Pacific hurricane basins to provide real-time tracking and monitoring of tropical cyclones as well as the environmental conditions that cause them to form.
By imaging a storm as often as every 30 seconds, these satellites help forecasters more easily discern the movement of cloud features and provide greater confidence in estimating the center of the storm. GOES-16 and GOES-18 also provide a detailed look at the storm properties of a hurricane, including cloud top cooling, central pressure, and convective structures as well as specific features of a hurricane’s eye, wind estimates, and lightning activity. This information is critical to estimating a storm’s intensity.
The Joint Polar Satellite System’s (JPSS) polar-orbiting satellites, the NOAA/NASA Suomi-NPP, NOAA-20, and NOAA-21, capture data over each spot on Earth twice a day. They measure the state of the atmosphere by taking precise measurements of sea surface temperatures and atmospheric temperature and moisture, which are critical to securing storm forecasts several days in advance. JPSS instruments provide data that are particularly useful in helping forecasters predict a hurricane’s path 3 to 7 days out.