Louisiana Weekend Rain Threat Elevated

There are holiday celebrations planned this weekend in Youngsville, Broussard, Lafayette, St Martinville, and Lake Charles., Truth be told, we could probably put every town in Louisiana on that list of holiday plans, couldn't we?

The first full weekend of December is always a popular weekend for community celebrations and I bet more than a few of you went to a Christmas party on Friday night or you have one planned for Saturday, don't you?

If you do have holiday plans or a party or your town is hosting a parade or an event. I do hope that is scheduled for Saturday. Because Sunday appears to be very concerning regarding the weather forecast for Louisiana. Not only is it a concern for the disruption of holiday plans but there is also a significant threat of flooding rains over the next 24 to 48 hours.

Elevated Risk of Excessive Rainfall  in Louisiana This Weekend

The Weather Prediction Center has elevated the risk of flooding downpours across almost all of southern Louisiana through Monday. The National Weather Service Forecast Office in Lake Charles is suggesting that Sunday could be the wetter of the weekend days for places like Lake Charles, Lafayette, and Alexandria.

As you can see in the graphic above, forecasters believe the better chance of the heaviest rainfall will come during the day on Sunday. The yellow shading is where forecasters believe heavy rain is most likely. If you're not familiar with the term "excessive rainfall" here's what that means.

An excessive rainfall event is when rainfall rates exceed a specific location's ability to drain. This results in water ponding on roadways. Depending on the amount of rain and the duration of the deluge there could also be minor flooding in homes and businesses that are located in low-lying areas.

National Weather Service Radar sites are already showing large areas of mainly light to moderate rain moving swiftly across the state this morning. So, we're not saying it won't rain today (Saturday) we're saying the threat of heavier rain will come tomorrow.

Forecasters say Louisiana's rain threat will begin to subside on Tuesday when a strong cold front pushes through the area. Behind that front, we'll have some of our coldest air of the season so far. The I-10 corridor could experience temperatures that are at or below freezing by Wednesday morning. 

Fortunately, most of the precipitation will have moved out of the area before the temperatures bottom out. This should preclude any frozen precipitation event but we all know Mother Nature doesn't listen to our forecast, she does what she wants to do. So, we will watch it for you.

Y'all remember when ol' Ma Nature pulled this stunt a few years ago?

And if the inclement weather does put a damper on your holiday plans you can relive the fun of last year's Christmas lights below. Or you could step out in the showers and snap a photo of your current holiday decorations for this year's Light Up Acadiana contest. You could win $500. Good Luck.