Please see the below weather update and attached slides from the National Weather Service (NWS) New Orleans/Baton Rouge.
- An Arctic airmass will move in late this weekend impacting the entire area through much of the work week.
- Cold Weather Advisories and even Extreme Cold Warnings are possible if not expected, mainly for wind chill values ranging from the lower teens to lower 20s.
- At or below freezing temperatures and wind chills are forecasted for our area Monday through Wednesday.
- Bitterly cold at times with wind chills ranging from the lower 20s to mid 20s Monday through Wednesday and possibly into Thursday.
- Lows expected to range from near 20 to the upper 20s for most of the area.
- The NWS has little confidence in the potential for any frozen precipitation and especially amounts because the range is 6-8 days away and a small shift in the forecast can lead to large changes in impacts.
- IF there is any winter precipitation it would most likely occur Tuesday and into Wednesday...the earliest possible would be overnight Monday night.
- At this time, there is a 20-50% probability of seeing freezing rain accumulations of 0.01" (there is a 10-30% of 0.1" not in this briefing package).
- Impacts would be minimal if it is only 0.01 however given the possible winter precipitation will occur after the area has had 24-36 hours to cool down elevated surfaces will be more prone to quickly glazing over. Obviously, this is contingent on getting freezing rain, sleet, and/or snow.
- Expect the probabilities of winter precipitation to vary possibly significantly for the next few days.