Mild Friday, Wet for the Weekend

By Jay Grymes & Steve Caparotta

WAFB Storm Team QuickCast:

- mainly clear and cool tonight
- partly cloudy & mild for Friday
- rain chances on the rise from the latter half of Saturday into Sunday 

Spring officially started at 11:57AM … and boy, this is surely the right way to start the season! If only every spring day could be this nice! Blue skies and sunshine made for a fine Thursday, and no one’s complaining about the 70°s especially with the low humidity.

Most of us will start Friday in the upper 40°s to lower 50°s under fair skies. The winds will come around by Friday afternoon, with the flow off the Gulf bringing in a little added moisture, although not enough to make it truly humid. The southerly flow will also allow for a slightly warmer Friday afternoon while the rise in moisture will yield partly cloudy skies by mid-day. But again, there will be no complaints with the weather as we close out the work week. Too bad it won’t last through the weekend.

Rains Arrive This Weekend

Our forecast calls for the next cool front to approach the viewing area during the latter half of Saturday, accompanied by an increase in rain chances through the second half of Saturday and extending through Sunday and into Monday. The front will slow to a crawl as it moves through southern Louisiana and get boosts from west-to-east traveling disturbances in the mid and upper levels. 

Plan on scattered showers and a few t-storms from Saturday afternoon into the overnight hours with showers and t-storms likely for Sunday. At this time we do not anticipate a severe weather outbreak, although we can’t rule out occasional strong-to-severe storms given the time of year.

Rains are likely to linger through Monday with the wet weather winding-down very early on Tuesday. The latest projections from the NWS Weather Prediction Center suggest moderate rain accumulations for the viewing area, generally ranging around 0.5” to 1.5” for most WAFB communities.

Cooler Next Week

The other weather story is the big dip in temperatures expected by early next week. After our current run of mild days with highs in the 70°s, our forecast calls for highs to struggle to reach the 60°s through the first half of next week. And while we don’t expect anything so cold as to threaten a late-season freeze, we certainly won’t rule out a return to the 30°s at some point next week for communities across the northern half of the WAFB viewing area!