Louisiana Drought Status Update: December 11, 2025

By Jay Grymes

Louisiana State Climatologist

Rains from the final days of November through December 9 were sufficient to produce welcomed 1-category improvements (drought category reductions) across all of southern Louisiana.  

Unfortunately, almost all of the northern and central parishes missed out on those soaking rains, resulting in very minimal drought reductions in just a few small areas.  However, rains across the northern half of the state were sufficient to maintain 'status quo' conditions such that there were no significant degradations prompting drought intensification. 

It does look like the 'wet' pattern has exited the region for the time being.  While there is rain in the WPC's 7-day outlook, most sites can expect less than 1/2" of rain and many will see far less than that.  For comparison, 7-day rainfall at this time of year averages more than 1".

Temperatures will also return to a rollercoaster pattern over the upcoming 7-day stretch.  Most of the state will experience a freeze on Monday morning (Dec 15) with 'hard' freezes possible-to-likely across Louisiana's northern half.  Temperatures will climb above freezing statewide during the day but northern and central parishes should be ready for a second less-intense freeze on Tuesday morning.

After that freeze cycle, temperatures should start rebounding ... and the latest extended outlooks suggest a seasonal "mild-to-warm" run of days leading into Christmas.

Remember ... the weekly U.S. Drought Monitor (USDM) normally runs on a Wednesday-to-Tuesday 7-day schedule (may be adjusted during holiday periods).  Two days are normally required to collate the data from all of the input sources (states & territories) to develop the national product which is normally issued on Thursday mornings.