The Farmer's Forecast: Springlike Start to 2026
By Nick Mikulas
I’m back after a little holiday break. I hope you all had a great time with family and friends, and were able to kick back and relax a little. I know that isn’t always the easiest thing to do! We are a few days into January, and it feels more like late March. It also looks like some springlike storms are on the way for Friday, with some respectable rainfall totals on the way.
89% of Louisiana is abnormally dry, and 40% of the state is in a moderate drought as of last week’s update. Most of Louisiana has seen less than 30% of their average rain in the last 30 days, and it’s looking like we at least have hope for a decent rain on Friday. As of now, I’m thinking 1/2 to 2 inches for most by Saturday morning, and a slight risk for severe weather for most of Louisiana, north of I-10. This doesn’t look like a major severe weather outbreak, but the slower motion of this system means storms will have a longer time to rain on us, and the delayed start means these storms will likely fire closer to the peak daytime heating. That means more instability, and is part of the reason models are slowly increasing forecast totals as we get closer to this event.
Beyond this, it looks like a stretch of cooler days, but I don’t foresee any excessive cold, and don’t see anything wintry in sight. It looks like highs ranging from near 50 near I 20, to the lower 60s down south after the Friday cold front moves through. We could also see some freezing conditions, but not pipe busting cold. I’ll be watching it all, but wanted to give an early heads up if you had to finish anything up before the rain gets started late Thursday into Friday.