Weather Blog

Dave Nussbaum
dnussbaum@wbrz.com

Short Term:  We are starting this Friday off with mostly cloudy skies, and muggy conditions.  Warm southerly winds have ushered in the moisture in the air, and is giving us temperatures in the lower 60s.   A disturbance, or short wave, is moving to the north of Baton Rouge.  This has set off scattered showers and thunderstorms over those areas, and they were severe.  Fortunately, it stayed north of us, so we did not get any of the strong storms here.  However, a few showers have been popping up across the area, and that will continue through the early morning.

This afternoon, the clouds will decrease, and we will be left with partly cloudy skies as that disturbance moves east.  High pressure will also be moving in over us.  This will allow the southerly winds to continue, and that will make it unseasonably warm.  High temperatures will be in the lower 80s. 

Tonight, the skies will go mostly clear, and it will be muggy again.  Low temperatures will fall to the lower 60s. 

Weekend Forecast:  We are expecting fantastic weather all weekend!  If you are headed to the "Wearin' of the Green" St. Patrick's Day parade, then you better plan on wearing shorts!!  We will have partly cloudy skies all day, and you might want to bring your sunscreen with you too!  The parade starts at 10:00 AM, and temperatures will be around 70.  By the afternoon, we will have a high in the lower 80s! 

Saturday night will still be partly cloudy, but a cold front will be moving across the state.  This front will not have any rain with it, so it will only shift the winds from the south to the north.  The temperatures will really cool down too with lows on Sunday morning in the lower 50s.   This will lead to a very sunny and cooler day on Palm Sunday.  With plenty of sunshine, highs will be in the lower 70s. 

Next Week Outlook:  We will have the southerly winds return on Monday, and that will increase the clouds, making it partly cloudy.  Highs will be in the upper 70s. 

On Tuesday, a strong cold front will move across the Southeast U.S.  Ahead of the front, scattered showers and thunderstorms will develop, and some of these could be strong to severe.  It is still too early to make the call as to how severe the storms will be in Baton Rouge, but the models are showing the possibility for them.  Highs will be around 80.  The cold front will move through Tuesday night/Wednesday morning.  Then high pressure will build in by Wednesday afternoon.  It will be cooler with highs in the lower 70s.  Mostly sunny skies will then be expected through Friday with highs in the lower 70s each day.

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