Nice January Weekend Weather!

By Jay Grymes & Steve Caparotta

Friday turned out to be the beauty we anticipated ... and we think you’ll like the weekend weather as well.

A cool front is approaching Louisiana this evening and should pass through the WAFB viewing area on Saturday morning. But as you probably have noticed, the air is very dry (low humidity), and that’s going to keep Saturday morning’s front from being a rain-maker.

Our in-house weather model suggests that Saturday’s front might generate a sprinkle or two as it slides through (see below), but we think all it will do is generate some clouds as it passes to our southeast.

We’ll start Saturday morning with sunrise temps around the mid 40°s for metro Baton Rouge under partly cloudy skies, but as the front heads southeast the skies will clear. Look for plenty of sunshine by Saturday afternoon with highs in the mid 60°s.

Saturday’s front will deliver a reinforcing surge of cool and very dry air. With a forecast for high pressure overhead and clear skies with very light winds to near-calm conditions, we think Sunday morning could be a real chiller, with patches of frost and early morning lows in the mid 30°s for Baton Rouge. In fact, communities to the north and east of BR could get a brief, light freeze to start Sunday. Thankfully, temps will return to the low 60°s for Sunday afternoon under sunny skies. That's good news as the Mystic Krewe of Mutts gets the Mardi Gras season rolling in Baton Rouge.

Fair to partly cloudy skies are expected for Monday and Tuesday along with a modest warm-up, with highs expected to return to the 70°s for just about everyone by Tuesday.

Our extended outlook calls for our next front to arrive on Wednesday. Signals are mixed between models and forecasts as to how “wet” Wednesday’s front will be, but we think that conditions could allow for an active run of weather between the latter half of Wednesday and extend into early Thursday.

And don’t forget: Louisiana Special Olympics’ POLAR PLUNGE at Cabela’s (in Gonzales) on Saturday morning and the unofficial start of the Mardi Gras Parade Season for Baton Rouge with the Krewe of Mutts on Sunday (10am – 4pm) in downtown BR.