Better weather after Francine

LET'S GO AHEAD AND TURN THINGS OVER NOW TO JIM SMILA JIM. WELL, I'M GOING TO SHOW YOU SOMETHING THAT I THINK A LOT OF PEOPLE ARE GOING TO LIKE TO SEE AS WE LOOK AHEAD. LOOK FORWARD TO THIS AFTERNOON. THERE GOES FRANCINE. I WENT BACK 18 HOURS SO YOU COULD KIND OF SEE THE PROGRESSION AS IT MADE ITS WAY THROUGH LOUISIANA. NOW IT'S MOVING TO THE NORTH, JUST A TROPICAL DEPRESSION. AND I'LL SHOW YOU THE LATEST STATISTICS IN A MOMENT. BUT THIS IS THE VISIBLE SATELLITE VIEW. THIS IS BASICALLY A PICTURE FROM OUTER SPACE. GIVES YOU A REAL GOOD DEFINITION ABOUT WHAT THE STORM LOOKS LIKE, BUT MORE IMPORTANTLY, WHAT'S GOING ON HERE IN THE SOUTHERN PORTION OF LOUISIANA, THE CLOUDS THAT ARE IN PLACE, THE LOW CLOUDS. LOOK AT THIS. THEY'RE PROBABLY GOING TO BE BREAKING UP AS WE GO THROUGH THE AFTERNOON. SO SOME SUNSHINE COMING THROUGH FOR A LOT OF PEOPLE. HERE'S THE LATEST ADVISORY ON TROPICAL DEPRESSION FRANCINE FROM THE NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER. WINDS AT 35MPH. IT'S MOVING TO THE NORTH AT 14, LOSING ITS TROPICAL CHARACTERISTICS. HAVING SAID THAT, IT'S STILL GOING TO BE A RAINMAKER FOR AT LEAST THE NEXT COUPLE OF DAYS. OUR TEMPERATURES HAVEN'T BEEN RISING ALL THAT QUICKLY. WE'RE STILL IN THE MID TO UPPER 70S IN MOST SPOTS, ALTHOUGH HAMMOND, 73, RIGHT NOW 78, THE CURRENT TEMPERATURE IN GULFPORT, THE FEELS LIKE READING ONLY A DEGREE OR TWO WARMER THAN THE ACTUAL TEMPERATURE. THE HUMIDITY IS NOT OPPRESSIVE. FOR THOSE OF YOU WITHOUT AIR CONDITIONING, SLIGHTLY LOWER HUMIDITY AND A BIT OF A BREEZE, THOSE TWO THINGS MAYBE HOPEFULLY MAKING YOU FEEL A LITTLE MORE COMFORTABLE. RIGHT NOW. IT'S A SOUTHWESTERLY WIND. STARTING TOMORROW, IT WILL BECOME MORE NORTHWESTERLY AND AS THAT HAPPENS, THE ATMOSPHERE IS GOING TO START TO GET DRIER. THAT'S TWICE I WENT TO THE SEVEN DAY FORECAST EARLY AND I APOLOGIZE FOR THAT. BUT HUMIDITY NOT A BIG FACTOR FOR US. AS A MATTER OF FACT, THE HUMIDITY IS GOING TO BE GETTING A BIT LOWER FOR US AS WE LOOK TOWARD FRIDAY AND SATURDAY. HERE'S METEOROLOGIST RAVEN RICHARD WITH OUR TEAM COVERAGE. ALL RIGHT. SO LOOKING AT LAKE PONTCHARTRAIN AGAIN HERE'S A LOOK AT THE WAVES THOUGH. WATER HAS BEEN WHIPPING. AND WE'RE ACTUALLY STAYING OVER IN THAT AREA BECAUSE WE'VE GOT SOME FLOOD ISSUES THAT WILL BE HAPPENING FOR YOU OR THAT HAVE ALREADY BEEN HAPPENING. SO WE'LL JUST TAKE YOU TO THIS RIGHT NOW LOOKING AT A COASTAL FLOOD ADVISORY, THIS WILL BE ON THE NORTH SHORE ALONG LAKE PONTCHARTRAIN. THIS GOES UNTIL 4 P.M. SO VERY LIKELY WE CAN CONTINUE TO SEE WATER RISING. SO JUST A HEADS UP, IF YOU LIVE AROUND THOSE AREAS AND WE'VE ALREADY GOTTEN A LOT OF RAIN, WE'LL GET TO THOSE RAIN TOTALS. BUT FIRST, HERE'S WHAT'S ON THE RADAR. NOTHING AT ALL. THAT IS A GOOD SIGHT TO SEE. WE DID HAVE A LOT OF RAIN THAT CAME THROUGH AND WE ARE DONE WITH THAT. HERE'S WHAT'S UP AHEAD. NEXT COUPLE OF HOURS FOR US. YOU CAN SEE THAT SYSTEM GOING UP TO THE NORTH FOR US. NOT REALLY A WHOLE LOT. WE MAY SEE A SMALL SHOWER OR TWO TRY TO BRUSH THROUGH, BUT FOR THE MOST PART WE ARE DONE ALL THE AREAS HIGHLIGHTED IN PURPLE. LOOKING AT ABOUT 5 TO 8 PLUS INCHES OF RAIN JUST FROM THE STORM THAT MOVED THROUGH. MORE SPECIFICALLY, WE'LL TAKE YOU TO THE NORTH SHORE ALONG LAKE PONTCHARTRAIN AGAIN. SO IF YOU'RE JUST NOW JOINING US, I KNOW I SOUND LIKE A BROKEN RECORD, BUT IF YOU'RE JUST NOW JOINING US, YOU PROBABLY HAVEN'T SEEN ANY OF THIS. OR MAYBE YOU JUST GOT YOUR POWER BACK. BUT HERE'S SOME OF THOSE RAIN TOTALS WE'VE SEEN ON THE NORTH SHORE. LOOKING AT MANDEVILLE, MADISONVILLE, ALMOST EIGHT INCHES OF RAIN. SLIDELL ALMOST SIX INCHES. LACOMBE ALMOST SEVEN INCHES. AND THEN HEADING DOWN TO THE SOUTH SHORE. STILL KEEPING IT ALONG LAKE PONTCHARTRAIN. LOOKING AT KENNER ABOUT EIGHT INCHES EIGHT PLUS INCHES. WE'VE SEEN A LOT OF REPORTS COMING OUT FROM THERE, FROM OUR REPORTERS. THEY'VE BEEN DOING SOME VERY GOOD HARD WORK TODAY, AND THEN OTHER PLACES LOOKING AT SOUTH VACHERIE, LOOKING AT SEVEN INCHES AND EVEN SEVEN INCHES BY BUFF. THIS FOR THE PAST 24 HOURS. SO A LOT OF RAIN HAS FALLEN IN JUST A SHORT AMOUNT OF TIME. AND, YOU KNOW, PAST SEVEN DAYS WE'VE SEEN A LOT OF RAIN AREAS IN THE WHITE LOOKING AT ABOUT 10 TO 15IN OF RAIN IN TOTAL. THAT'S WHY WE DID HAVE SOME OF THOSE TREES FALL GROUND HAS BEEN VERY SATURATED. SO THAT WAS LIKELY TO HAPPEN, ESPECIALLY WITH OUR STRONG WINDS. BUT I WANT TO SHOW YOU THIS IF YOU'RE LOOKING FOR SOMOME GOOD NEWS, HERE'S RAIN TOTALS OR RAIN PROJECTIONS OVER THE NEXT FIVE DAYS. IT REALLY DOESN'T LOOK LIKE A WHOLE LOT AT ALL. SO GOOD BREAK IS IN STORE FOR US. THE WINDS GETTING A WHOLE LOT BETTER IF YOU WERE WITH US VERY, VERY EARLY THIS MORNING, THESE NUMBERS WERE A WHOLE LOT DIFFERENT. NOW THINGS ARE LOOKING BETTER. SO WINDS ARE STARTING TO REDUCE SOME. WE DID HAVE THAT TROPICAL STORM WARNING IN EFFECT EARLIER THIS MORNING THAT DROPPED ONCE OUR WINDS STARTED LOOKING A WHOLE LOT BETTER FOR US. OF COURSE THE TROPICAL SYSTEM IS GOING UP TO THE NORTH, STILL TROPICAL TO TROPICAL DEPRESSION POWER OUTAGES. THIS HAS BEEN A MAIN STORY FOR US ALL DAY TODAY, AND THIS WAS VERY LIKELY TO HAPPEN THIS COOL FEATURE MAP SHOWS US WHERE THE POWER OUTAGES ARE JUST KIND OF WHAT WHAT WE'RE LOOKING AT. THE AREAS IN YELLOW, ABOUT 10 TO 25,000 AREAS IN THE ORANGE, ABOUT 50 TO 75,000. I ACTUALLY LOST POWER LAST NIGHT AS WELL. SO WE HAD THE WINDOWS OPEN. AT LEAST IT FEELS DECENT OUTSIDE. THAT'S THE GOOD PART. AT LEAST IT'S NOT RAINING ANYMORE. SO WE ARE ABLE TO GET SOME FRESH AIR IN THERE. BUT ELSEWHERE, THOUGH, YOU'RE ABOUT TO HEAD OUT FOR THE REST OF THE DAY. HERE'S WHAT YOUR TEMPERATURES ARE. I DID GET A TEMPERATURE CHECK ABOUT AN HOUR AGO. OUTSIDE IT WAS IT WAS OKAY FOR YOU. AND SO HERE'S SOME BETTER NEWS AS WE HEAD INTO THE WDSU FIRST WARNING SEVEN DAY FORECAST. WELL, YOU'RE LOOKING AT SOME SUNSHINE UP AHEAD. SO ONCE WE'RE DONE WITH ALL THE BREEZINESS FOR TODAY, FOLKS CAN KIND OF GET OUT, MAYBE CLEAN UP AND ASSESS THE DAMAGE, SEE WHAT'S GOING ON. WE'RE LOOKING AT SOME 80S LEADING INTO THE NEXT SEVERAL DAYS. THE WEEKEND LOOKS NICE. WE'RE TALKING ABOUT SOME MID TO UPPER 80S VERY NEAR AVERAGE FOR US. AND AT LEAST SUNSHINE. NO MORE RAIN TO DEAL WITH. SO ALL