The NBC2 First Alert Hurricane Tracking team is monitoring the movement of Tropical Storm Francine in the southwestern Gulf of Mexico.
As of 11 a.m. Monday, Francine has winds of 50 mph and a forward motion of 5 mph toward the north-northwest.
As of late Monday morning, Francine's center is being pegged approximately 245 miles south-southeast of the mouth of the Rio Grande River between southern Texas and northern Mexico.
The western coast of Mexico will be the first land areas to feel impacts from this system. Because of the Francine's movement, tropical storm watches are active along the Mexican coastline and into southern Texas for now.
It's likely that watches and alerts will extend northward into the United States given how the storm is expected to move.
The forecast cone released by the National Hurricane Center with this storm points to the storm strengthening into a hurricane and making a landfall in the United States by the middle of the week.
As of now nearly the entire southern coast of the state of Louisiana is within the forecast cone by late Wednesday evening.
Because of the location and movement of the storm, Southwest Florida is not expected to see any direct impacts on our weather.
Elsewhere in the tropics there are two other areas to watch that are being highlighted by the National Hurricane Center.
Though both of these waves are moving westward, it's too early to tell where they will eventually track.
Early forecast model guidance though shows that through the middle of this week the first of these two waves will continue in a west-northwest path.
The stretch of September we're now in marks the climatological peak of hurricane season. Though there are no immediate threats to our local community, we'll have a lot to watch in the coming days as Francine forms in the Gulf of Mexico and the two waves being watched move across the ocean.
Follow the NBC2 weather team on social media
- Chief Meteorologist Allyson Rae on Facebook and X
- Meteorologist Jason Dunning on Facebook and X
- Meteorologist Rob Duns on Facebook and X
- Meteorologist Lauren Hope on Facebook and X
Watch our forecasts on TV or online
- Here's where to find our latest video forecast
- You can also watch a livestream of our latest newscast here
DOWNLOAD
the free
NBC2 News app
for your latest news and weather alerts.