Tropical Storm Francine is predicted to bring heavy rain and strong winds to Lafayette County by Thursday.

Tropical Storm Francine formed in the Gulf of Mexico on Monday and could strengthen into a Category 1 hurricane by Wednesday. It’s expected to head toward the Upper Texas coast or southwestern Louisiana.

A hurricane watch is now in effect for parts of the Louisiana coast, meaning hurricane conditions could develop within the next 48 hours.

Southern Texas, from Port Mansfield down to the Rio Grande River, is under a tropical storm watch, with winds expected along the coast by Tuesday evening. The watch also extends along the Mexican coast down to Barra del Tordo.

As of Monday morning, Francine was centered about 245 miles south-southeast of the Rio Grande’s mouth and around 480 miles south of Cameron, Louisiana. It had sustained winds of 50 mph, moving slowly at 5 mph in a north-northwest direction.

Francine is the sixth named storm of the 2024 Atlantic hurricane season, following Ernesto, which dissipated on August 20. The National Hurricane Center is also tracking two other systems. One in the central tropical Atlantic has a 60% chance of becoming a storm within the next 48 hours, and another, farther east, has a similar chance of development over the coming week.