Louisiana Weekly Drought Monitor Update: 16 Oct 2025

By Jay Grymes

Louisiana Climatologist

Thursday’s update of the U.S. Drought Monitor (USDM) for Louisiana shows a modest increase in areas of D0 ('Abnormally Dry') and D1 ('Moderate Drought') between last week and the current week.

A cold front will bring rain to Louisiana this weekend (with a second round of rain expected next week), but the latest projections for 7-day rain amounts from the NWS Weather Prediction Center (WPC) are under 1/2" for many parishes.  

The NWS Storm Prediction Center (SPC) has issued a "Slight Risk" for severe storms across northern Louisiana for activity ahead of the weekend cold front, with a "Marginal Risk" for severe storms across the central parishes.

While those weekend rains may temporarily stall the recent declines in environmental moisture, the forecasted rain amounts will not be enough to take a 'bite' out of the developing drought in most areas of the state.  In fact, given the low forecasted totals for many parishes, further expansion of D0 and possibly D1 will be possible/likely with next week's USDM update, especially for areas along and south of the I-10/12 corridor.

Comments are mine ... the NWS provides federal weather expertise.