See path of Hurricane Francine as it slammed Louisiana, shifted east over New Orleans

Hurricane Francine slammed into south Louisiana on Wednesday, and in its final hours before landfall took a slight zig east that made a big difference in what parts of the Baton Rouge and New Orleans metro areas felt the brunt of the storm.

Here’s an illustration of how Francine approached the coast and where it travelled — and what happened — when it did.

Based on forecasts from the National Hurricane Center for the track of the storm, Francine was projected to make landfall somewhere along a broad swath of coastline from the western edge of Vermillion Bay to the coastal areas south of Houma.

It ended up coming in west of Houma as a Category 2 hurricane — just slightly more to the east than its forecast track as of Sept. 10.

Notably, as it approached the coast, Francine’s eyewall appeared to expand, based on satellite imagery of the storm, which meant that a broader segment of the New Orleans metro area ended up feeling the storm’s most intense rain and winds.

After making landfall, Francine then turned nearly due north across the western edge of Lake Pontchartrain, bringing heavy rains to residents on the northshore.

By approximately 1 a.m. Thursday, the center of Francine, then a tropical storm, had passed northwest of New Orleans, according to the NHC. 

Francine was downgraded to a depression as it moved across Mississippi. The system is set to move across the state and into Tennessee before dissipating.