The Farmer's Forecast: Severe Weather Threat Along I-20

By Nick Mikulas

Louisiana Farm Bureau News/Cenla Weather

It looks like a wild Thursday evening for some, with not much at all in other spots. There’s a solid threat for severe weather in communities like Stonewall, Jonesboro, and Wisner, while you might not see a drop of rain in Abbeville, Thibodaux, and Galliano. 

This doesn’t look like a huge rain maker. I think there will be a corridor of 1-2 inches across northern and parts of central Louisiana, with lesser totals to the south, ranging all the way down to nothing much south of I-10. Unfortunately, with the rain comes the severe threat. This time, it looks like damaging wind will be the most widespread issue. I’ve added the threat maps for hail and damaging wind so you can see where the greatest issues will be. Hail won’t be as widespread, but there will be a chance for some significant hail in the northwestern part of Louisiana. 

This will be a quick hit, with storms lasting maybe an hour or two where you see them. These will likely enter the northwestern corner of Louisiana around 4:00-5:00 PM, and cross into Mississippi around midnight. After this passes, it looks like a cooler stretch of weather. Highs and lows will be several degrees below normal from Friday through Sunday. That could mean some 50s at night, with highs in the 70s north of a Leesville to Alexandria to Ferriday line. It’ll be cooler and less humid for all of us! By late Sunday, rain returns to the forecast, and it looks like that rain could be heavy. There could be at least some risk for severe weather, but heavy rain appears to be the main threat from late Sunday through early Tuesday. I’ll be watching it all!