Messy Weather Morning Across Louisiana – Where’s it Freezing Now?

A check of the National Weather Service Radar composite suggests that it will be a gumbo day across Louisiana. From Lake Charles to Lafayette to Morgan City light to moderate rain is already falling and it's being bolstered by gusty winds as well. This is what the radar scan looked like at 0200 AM.  For a live scan, go here. 

In Central Louisiana, the temperature is forecast to hover right at or possibly just below the freezing mark for at least a few hours this morning. That could lead to some icing on bridges and raised structures. However, forecasters are not calling for any significant accumulations of ice or snow.

In North Louisiana along the I-20 corridor, the forecast is more than a little challenging. A Winter Storm Warning remains in effect for the extreme northwestern parishes of the state. This includes Shreveport/Bossier City.

You probably recognize the green on the radar screen as rain. The pink is the bad stuff if you have to be out on the roads in northern Louisiana this morning. The pink represents freezing rain and ice and already Louisiana State Police and the National Weather Service in Shreveport are reporting some locations with freezing rain this morning.

Of course, the catalyst for rain to turn to freezing rain is the temperature. This morning the line of demarcation between above freezing and below freezing, also known as the freezing line extended from northeastern Texas through northwestern Louisiana into southern Arkansas and central Mississippi.

If you're north of that line, you could have issues on roads, bridges, and overpasses with ice and maybe snow. South of that line you'll experience a cold rain but we should caution you. Falling precipitation cools the atmosphere even more. So it is possible that as rain-cooled air gets even colder the freezing line could shift southward.

It's also important to note that Mother Nature draws the freezing line like a left-handed kindergartener attempting to draw in a coloring book. It's not a straight line and it's usually not pretty. However, the consensus among forecasters is that the majority of the frozen precipitation that falls in Louisiana will be along and north of I-20.

Meanwhile in South Louisiana this morning there is a Coastal Flood Warning, a Wind Advisory, and the threat of an Excessive Rainfall Event along I-10 from Lake Charles to New Orleans. The western sections of the state will experience heavy rain this morning, and the eastern part of the state later this afternoon and evening.

The good news for southern Louisiana, generally south of Louisiana Highway 28 which bisects the state from Leesville through Alexandria and on into Mississippi, is the temperatures are not forecast to fall below freezing.

Rainfall amounts will be heavier along the coast, generally south of I-10. It is possible cities such as Lake Charles, Lafayette, Baton Rouge, Morgan City, and New Orleans could see as much as two inches of rainfall before the precipitation ends later today.

According to the National Weather Service skies will begin to clear across the state on Saturday but don't expect temperatures to be as cold as they were at the beginning of the week. In fact, they will be in the "seasonable" range for the weekend and into early next week.