Tuesday AM Freeze Update:

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Opinions are mine …

– rains of 1″ to 2″ across southern parishes … 0.5″ or less for northern parishes

– (light) flurries/sleet possible for northern parishes early Wednesday morning

– maybe(?) … patchy icing of bridges/elevated roads near/north of I-20 Wednesday  AM

But the big story is a return of frigid temps, with lows dropping into the teens for northern LA and windchills of 10° or below in spots. Expect prolonged freezes across the state’s northern half, with freezing temperatures extending all the way to the coast on Thursday and Friday mornings.

Monday Afternoon Report

My opinions here … the NWS houses Louisiana’s official weather expertise.

Another Arctic blast is coming, and precipitation is forecast before the coldest air arrives.

(Un-)Fortunately, no sneaux with this system.

The difference between this week and four weeks ago? The Arctic air mass arrives a little too late to create the white havoc. We might hear about flurries and/or light sleet early Wednesday morning in the northern parishes, but even if that does materialize, there aren’t going to be accumulations.

In the worst (and unlikely) case, we could see some patchy, thin icing early Wednesday morning in northern and central Louisiana, mainly on bridges and elevated roadways. And if — IF — that were to occur, Wednesday daytime temps would make short work of the ice by/before mid-day.

The coldest air arrives Thursday into Friday, with wind chills dropping into the 5° to 10° range for some parts of northern Louisiana and into the upper teens to low 20°s for many southern parishes.

Remind everyone to be extra careful with supplemental heat sources! Pipe wrapping temperatures are definitely across the northern parishes …, and freeze durations could also be a problem for pipes in much of south Louisiana.

The next warming trend starts slowly over the weekend, with temps returning to the 70°s for next week.

Please send along comments & critiques.

Thanks to:

NWS Offices serving LA

NWS Weather Prediction Center

WeatherModels.com

GOHSEP & LSU