Warmer into the Weekend

By Jay Grymes & Steve Caparotta

WAFB Storm Team QuickCast:

- warming trend underway with 80°s by the weekend

- mainly dry Thursday, a few showers possible for Friday

- Easter weekend looks good

Yep!  Metro Airport set a new record low this morning, but it wasn’t just a record for today.  This morning’s 37° for Baton Rouge is the lowest reading ever after April 15th, based on all the observations dating back to the Spring of 1893 -- that’s more than 120 years!

So here’s the key take-away: we should now be able to say “Goodbye!” to the 30°s until sometime late in the Fall of 2014.  Enough of winter, please!

Our daily temperatures for Thursday will still end up below seasonal norms, but a warming trend has already begun after the cool weather over the past 36 hours or so.  Although we only reached the mid 60°s at Metro Airport this afternoon, that’s still a little warmer than Tuesday afternoon.  And tomorrow morning’s low for metro Baton Rouge should be about 10° higher than this morning’s record low.  We’ll get into the low 70°s for Thursday afternoon and by Friday, wake-up temperatures will be in the upper 50°s to near 60° for the Red Stick with afternoon readings climbing into the upper 70°s.

While a spotty shower or two for Thursday can’t be totally discounted, most stay dry through the day.  For Friday, we’re posting a 30% rain chance for the region -- but even for Friday, any rain that does fall should be relatively modest and short-lived.  All in all, it looks good for Friday’s “Live After Five” with temperatures during the outdoor concert in the 70°s under a sun/cloud mix.

Maybe of greater importance for most of us is the “improved” weekend outlook.  Yesterday we were calling for isolated showers possible for both Saturday and Easter Sunday.  But our guidance today paints an even better-looking weather picture.  A rogue shower can’t be completely ruled out for either day, but both afternoons should be warm and mainly-dry across the area.  Get ready for those Easter Egg Hunts!

We’ll call for isolated mainly-afternoon showers for Monday and Tuesday, with fair to partly cloudy skies for Wednesday.