Northern parishes had a welcomed warm-up today, delivering a big “melt” across much of the region.  

Temperatures will drop below freezing again tonight (Wednesday evening into Thursday morning) for just about the entire state.  Thursday (29 Jan 2026) morning lows along the I-20 will dip into the mid 20°s with temps at/below freezing for 8 to 12 hours across the northern parishes.  However, north Louisiana temps on Thursday afternoon will get into the 50°s and that should just about finish any lingering roadway snow and ice except where plows and shovels have created piles.

The forecast for the remainder of the week keeps temperatures across Louisiana well-below normal with freezes likely each morning for a majority of northern parishes.  However, afternoon temperatures are expected to get above freezing ... and sunshine for the next few days should encourage steady ice melt.

Agriculture is at the mercy of the weather gods. And even though it’s winter — between harvest and planting season — for a lot of crops in the south, the record cold and ice still left a mark on some of the local agricultural sectors.

More than 120,000 people are without power because of the deadly ice storm. Public Service Commissioner Foster Campbell, who represents all of North Louisiana, says Monroe is the hardest hit area of the state as more than 45,000 customers in the parish do not have electricity. Campbell says the buildup of ice on tree limbs has led to many of the outages.

Conditions slowly improving across the state ... almost all of south Louisiana is ice-free.
After a bitterly cold start to Monday, most of the southern half of the state should get above freezing during the day, albeit just barely.

Jeff Landry declared a statewide state of emergency Thursday as Louisiana braces for a potentially dangerous winter weather event expected to bring ice, snow and days of freezing temperatures, particularly across the northern half of the state.

The federal government has been approved to assist Louisiana with Winter Storm Fern.

President Donald Trump approved the Federal Emergency Management Agency to assist all 64 parishes with disaster relief resulting from the storm Jan.23.

Reports from the NWS offices in Shreveport and Jackson (MS) are noting some significant ice accumulations over sections of northern Louisiana today, mainly in the form of sleet.  Community commentary relayed through the NWS indicate sleet totals reaching or exceeding 1” in a number of locations across the northern tier of parishes, especially in parts of NE Louisiana (see photos from Ouachita Parish as examples … and thanks to NWS/Shreveport for posting these).

Confidence is "HIGH" for an impactful, dangerous and potentially crippling winter weather event this weekend for north Louisiana ... beginning as early as this evening for northwestern parishes and continuing into next week with bitterly-cold Arctic air.