Weather Service Warns Heavy Rain Possible in Louisiana Tonight

For many in Louisiana, the first official work day of the new year will be mostly sunny and seasonable. Cities such as Lake Charles, Lafayette, and Baton Rouge will bask in abundant sunshine for most of the day. Temperatures will remain just a bit below the seasonal averages but for the most part, today will be pleasant.

The changes in Louisiana's forecast come later this evening and especially during the day on Wednesday. The National Weather Service Forecast Office in Lake Charles says almost all of the I-10 corridor can expect rainfall totals over one inch over the next 24 to 36 hours.

The graphic above really tells the story. As you can see just about all of the southern half of the state will get some rain over the next day or so. Based on forecast models the majority of the heaviest rain should fall while most of us are sleeping. Namely in the early morning hours of Wednesday.

That's the GRAF Model solution. Bradley Benoit from KATC TV does a great job explaining the cause of all of this rain in his piece he wrote for the TV station website.

The catalyst for the rain is a storm system moving in the mid and upper levels across the country that will interact with a surface low that will move just south of Louisiana in the northern Gulf of Mexico. The result will be widespread rain with some embedded thunderstorms.

Will Louisiana Experience Severe Weather From This System?

While we can never rule out how strong a storm might grow to be the prognosis suggests that this will be a rain event. You may hear a rumble of thunder or see a flash of lightning during the nighttime storms but for the most part severe storms are not anticipated.

Most of the rain should be ending from the west during the morning hours of Wednesday, behind the storm system skies will clear but it will be colder. We can expect gusty northerly winds on Wednesday with a high temperature of only 52 degrees. But the wind at 10 to 20 mph will make it feel much colder than that.

The next threat of rain for the area will come on Friday afternoon and extend into the early morning hours of Saturday.