It’s go time. ✈️ #Francine

The National Hurricane Center now expects Francine to make landfall as a Category 2 hurricane in southern Louisiana. Here’s our latest:

Hello from first class! (Another complimentary upgrade… that’s like 9 this year! 😃) On my way to New Orleans, where I have a truck waiting for me. Then it’s down to Houma. (The MyRadar Weather app includes aviation charts, and yep… looking like a bump flight down.)

Air pressure is down into the 980s, and we’re seeing the wind field pick up a bit to the east of the center. Aircraft reconnaissance has also found that the center is about 6° warmer at flight level than surrounding air… so #Francine is strengthening.

Notice the chart on the bottom — the fact that there’s a 6 degree warmup in Francine’s center is indicative of the “chimney” effect of tropical cyclones. Heat energy flows toward the middle of the storm and rises. That’s why hurricanes are called “warm core” systems.

If anyone else in Houma, Louisiana is in a waffle-y mood, I’m going to Waffle House at 7 p.m. CT. Come with weather antics or questions!

I am on the ground in Louisiana and en route to Houma tracking #Francine for MyRadar Weather. Latest infrared satellite imagery depicted two convective bursts as thunderstorms spout near the core. Still some issues with dry air entrainment inhibiting faster intensification.

Air pressure is falling, which means #Francine is strengthening. With each successive pass, the Hurricane Hunters are finding slightly lower air pressures. That means Francine is lifting more air up and away, causing a stronger vacuum effect to pull in stronger winds.

Breaking: #Francine is now a Category 1 #hurricane. A Hurricane Hunters plane has found a sharp drop in air pressure and an uptick in winds east of the center. The storm is poised to strengthen, perhaps significantly, over the next 18 hours before plateauing near landfall.

Worth noting that Francine also has continued convective bursts, or thunderstorm flareups, over its organizing core/eye. That means thunderstorms/latent heat are lifting air up and away from the vortex, allowing a greater air deficit and inward vacuum effect (stronger winds).

This may also be the start of a period of more swift strengthening, assuming Francine can fend off dry air.

Weather meeting a success! Tyler Spalding ALSO: the Waffle House in Houma IS closing tomorrow morning at 10 a.m. MyRadar Weather