Remnants of Francine soak South keeping flash flooding threat through weekend

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — It’s been three days since Hurricane Francine made landfall in Louisiana, but its remnants are still stubbornly swirling over parts of the Deep South, dropping several inches of rain and triggering ongoing flash flooding threats.Widespread 24-36 hour rainfall totals reached 2-4 inches across central and northern Alabama, with some rain gauges in northern Alabama reporting up to 6 inches or more. A gauge in Danville, Alabama has reported 11.11 inches through Saturday morning over the past week. With the slow-moving Francine remnants still drifting through the region, an additional 1-3 inches is likely through Saturday, with isolated areas receiving 4 inches of new rain.Flood Watches cover over 6 million people on Saturday, spanning from northeastern Mississippi and southern Tennessee through a wide swath of Alabama and into western Georgia.NOAA’s Weather Prediction Center has much of that region in a Level 2 out of 4 risk for flash flooding, with some areas already seeing Flash Flood Warnings late Saturday morning.Francine’s remnants are expected to slowly weaken through the day Saturday but have enough lingering rainfall Sunday, especially with the several inches that have already fallen, to maintain a level 2 risk across parts of the South.The rainy weather will lighten but keep skies gray across the South into early next week, when attention will turn to another system looming off the Carolina coast that could undergo tropical development.