Hurricane (Typhoon) — Lower St. Mary Parish, Louisiana

2024-09-11 to 2024-09-12 · Lower St. Mary Parish, Louisiana

Event narrative

Tropical storm conditions began along the coast around noon and ended around midnight as Hurricane Francine made landfall near the Saint Mary and Terrebonne Parish line. Significant tree damage led to widespread power outages around Morgan City. The city was out of power for approximately 2 to 4 days. Some structural damage occurred in Morgan City from trees falling on structures. The water level at North Eugene Island reached 2.78 feet above MHHW. Heavy rain also produced pockets of flooding.

Wider weather episode

Francine originated from a tropical wave that emerged off the West coast of Africa on August 28th. The wave traversed the tropical Atlantic Ocean with minimal organization, reaching the Leeward Islands by September 1st. The tropical wave reached the Yucatn Peninsula by September 6th, emerged into the Bay of Campeche by September 7th, with a broad surface low pressure noted by September 8th. By daybreak on September 9th, an Air-Force reconnaissance aircraft found a closed surface circulation, with the system notably better organized on satellite imagery. At 10 AM CDT, the system was upgraded to Tropical Storm Francine by 10 AM CDT about 250 miles southeast of Brownsville, Texas.

By daybreak on September 10th, an approaching mid to upper-level trough over Texas and Mexico began to cause Tropical Storm Francine to move northeast at 5 to 10 mph. By the early evening hours, both NOAA and Air-Force reconnaissance aircraft found sustained hurricane force winds at the surface, with Francine being upgraded to a hurricane by 7 PM CDT with sustained winds of 75 mph. Hurricane Francine made landfall near the mouth of the Atchafalaya River near the St. Mary & Terrebonne Parish line about 30 miles south-southwest of Morgan City, Louisiana at 5 PM CDT September 11th with maximum sustained winds of 100 mph.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1217894. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.