Tropical Storm Francine was named this morning and is already outdoing the strengthening forecast.
The radar loop above shows that Francine is already developing an eye wall feature and a much more organized core. This will undoubtedly set the stage for further strengthening today.
The current NHC forecast brings Francine into Louisiana around Lafayette as a strong category 1 hurricane. However, given the most recent trends, I do believe that forecast intensity will be increased with the next advisory at 4pm.