The Farmer's Forecast: Rain and Heat

By Nick Mikulas

Louisiana Farm Bureau News/Cenla Weather

It’s officially summer, which typically means scattered storms or a hurricane on the way. Fortunately, it’s just the first of those two for us as of this writing. Over the last week, most of the state has seen rain, although some north of I-20 have stayed completely dry. The North Shore near Slidell, and areas south of I-10 between Lake Charles and Lafayette saw 3+ inches. This is typical of summer in the south, as we range from nothing, to a decent rain over short distances. 

Looking forward, it looks mostly hot and dry across the state through Tuesday of next week. After Tuesday, scattered storms return, with the heaviest, most concentrated areas of rain from Baton Rouge to New Orleans, and points south. I don’t see anything extreme on the way, but some areas could really dry out through mid week next week. Hopefully the storms that pop will be well placed, and rain on those that need it. Overall, it looks like most areas will see 1/4 to 1 inch of rain from Next Wednesday through Friday. Isolated areas could see a bit more.

I’m watching a couple areas of disturbed weather in the tropics, but see no imminent threats for the Louisiana coast in the next week. Coastal flooding should decrease today, so if you have plans to head to Grand Isle or Holly Beach to do some crabbing this weekend, I think you’ll be just fine. I’ll be watching it all, and will update as needed!