Louisiana is nowhere near as dry (yet!) as the circumstances that developed during 2023 … but we are seeing some pockets of “critical” dryness in sections of the state. Note that the LA Drought Team introduced two areas of D2 (‘Severe Drought’) to the latest Weekly Drought Monitor. It’s the first time that any part of the state was tagged with D2 since late 2024.
Read MoreThere's a lot going on in the world of weather, so I wanted to update you on the things you probably already know, and add some things you might not know. First off, there's a freeze warning for most of the state Tuesday morning. I'm confident you all know that since you're very tuned into the weather, and this will be the first freeze of the year for some. The freeze warning gets way down south to Houma and Abbeville, but I think immediate coastal areas will stay above freezing. After that, we will see a quick warm up, with temperatures approaching 80 by Wednesday.
Read MoreIf the start to the work week was your rude awakening weather-wise, there will be more where that came from tomorrow morning. High temperatures today won’t get out of the 50s, and LSU Health Climatologist Barry Keim says it’ll be a little longer before this cold snap is over.
Read MoreIt seems like most of what I’ve been talking about for the last several weeks is how dry it’s going to be. I think that will change in a couple weeks. I also think we have our first widespread freeze over parts of Louisiana on Tuesday morning. Let’s take a look at what’s on the way!
Read MoreThere may officially be one month to go in the 2025 hurricane season, but State Climatologist Jay Grymes says for all intents and purposes, Louisiana will make it through this year unscathed.
Read MoreThe state experienced a slight reduction in drought coverage over the period of 22-28 October, largely due to rains during the past weekend (25-26 Oct).
Read MoreWe've had a large range of rainfall totals over the last week, with some areas along the I-20 corridor seeing less than an inch, and some parts of central and south Louisiana seeing 4+ inches of rain. This has knocked the moderate drought from 31% of the state to 18% of the state, but it looks like organized rain is about to shut back off for a bit.
Read MoreEven with a little rain in the forecast, conditions across Acadiana remain dangerously dry.
St. Landry, Acadia, and Evangeline Parishes are all under active burn bans as drought conditions persist across the region. Fire officials say gusty winds and low humidity are creating the perfect setup for fires to spread quickly, even from something as small as a spark.
Read MoreA low pressure system will send warm and cold fronts across the Lower Mississippi Valley on Tuesday. While thunderstorms are in the forecast, latest projections from the NWS’s Storm Prediction Center (SPC) and Weather Prediction Center (WPC) indicate no significant concerns with regard to severe storms or excessively-heavy rainfall.
Most of the state can expect less than 1/4" of rain, with isolated larger totals where slower-moving t-storms have an impact.
Read MoreThe Louisiana Drought Team, in coordination with national USDM authors, increased the coverage of D1 (‘Moderate Drought’) across central and southwestern Louisiana and introduced a new area of D1 across far northwestern Louisiana. D0 (‘Abnormally Dry’) coverage was reduced across northeastern Louisiana and increased across southeastern Louisiana.
Read MoreHigh grocery prices have been a defining economic story in recent years, driven by a combination of factors including pandemic-related supply chain breakdowns and labor shortages. However, an increasingly critical driver of food price inflation has been the impact of natural disasters—such as droughts, floods, and hurricanes—on the nation’s agricultural output.
Read MoreKevin Marcus of Marcus Weather Consulting gives the areas to watch as harvest goes into the home stretch in the northern hemisphere and the growing season is shaping up in the southern hemisphere.
Read MoreThe latest NWS forecast calls for a storm system to move through the Lower Mississippi Valley this weekend ... and unlike some of our recent frontal passages, this one looks to deliver significant rains across most of the Bayou State.
Read MoreA parade of cold fronts is set to march across Louisiana. I don't see any frosty pumpkins in sight, but I do see some rain chances, some cooler nights, and some areas possibly getting a few inches of rain. Here's how I see things going.
Read MoreThursday’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.
Read More
