Weather Blog

Dave Nussbaum
dnussbaum@wbrz.com

. . .Some Strong Storms Possible Tonight. . .

Short Term:  We will start out this Thursday morning with partly cloudy skies, and cool temperatures in the upper 40s.  You may want that light jacket as you head out the door, but you will probably not want it this afternoon. . .

High pressure will be to the southeast of Louisiana this afternoon.  This will lead to southerly winds returning to the state, along with more moisture.  As this happens, a disturbance, and cold front will be moving across Texas.  These systems will tap into that moisture which will set off scattered showers and thunderstorms over Texas.  The storms will move toward Louisiana, but will not get here until tonight.  We will be increasing our clouds ahead of those storms, giving us a mix of clouds and sun.  It will be a another warm day for south Louisiana with highs in the mid 70s. 

Tonight, the storms will be making their way into Baton Rouge.  They will be scattered across the viewing area, and some of them could be strong to possibly severe.  The bulk the severe weather is expected to be over Arkansas, however, we are in a Slight Risk for Severe Weather here.  Click on the image to the right to check out the Day 1 Severe Weather Outlook from the Storm Prediction Center.  The main threats from the storms tonight will be damaging winds and hail.  At this time, the amount of storms could be limited.  The more unstable air will be to the west of Baton Rouge, but if the atmosphere over us can become more unstable, then we will see more storms.  Regardless, it will be breezy, warm and muggy tonight with low temperatures in the upper 50s. 

Be sure to have your NOAA Weather Radios on tonight incase some of the storms go severe!  Remember if there is any severe weather, turn to News 2 and Cable Channel 18 for updates!

Rest of the Week:  The storms will end on Friday morning as the systems move by, but do not look for a cool down.  We will have partly cloudy skies by the afternoon, and it will be warm with highs around 80! 

The great weather will continue into Saturday and Sunday.  On Saturday, if you are headed to the St. Patrick's Day Parade then you are in for a treat!  The parade starts at 10:00 AM, and it will be partly cloudy with temperatures in the lower 70s.  By the afternoon, we will have partly cloudy skies, and temperatures in the lower 80s!!  How nice is that?!? 

On Saturday night, a cold front will move across the state, but we are not expecting any rain from it.  It will get cooler with lows near 50.  Sunday will be mostly sunny, and cooler with highs in the lower 70s. 

This Day in History:  15 Years ago today, the '93 Superstorm, or Storm of the Century, was getting underway.  Blizzard conditions stretched from the Deep South to the Northeast U.S.  Around 12" of snow fell in Birmingham and Atlanta!  Snow even accumulated in the Florida panhandle.  I was living in Pittsburgh at the time, and we were greeted with the Blizzard and 25" of snow at my house!!  Everything was shut down, and it was a white paradise!  At the time, that was the most amount of snow I ever saw.  Across parts of Florida, a severe weather outbreak occurred, and a number of tornadoes were reported.  Hurricane force winds were reported along the whole system, but especially in Florida.  Overall, this Superstorm caused $6 Billion in damage, and unfortunately there were around 280 deaths.  Click here for more information.

If you would like to have the Weather Blog in you e-mail Inbox every morning during the week, click here and sign up for FREE! 

Remember you can always get the latest forecast and radar information on Cox Cable channel 18 or Digital Cable channel 125, on www.2theadvocate.com/weather, or by calling the Weather 2 forecast line at (225) 336-2375.