Colder air will quickly return to the ArkLaTex Tuesday night and Wednesday behind a cold front. The threat of rain will continue with some freezing rain possible for the northwest edge of the area. The threat of rain will likely continue into the weekend.
From 80s to freezing rain?: Tuesday has been another warm day around the ArkLaTex with a few scattered showers and thunderstorms. After lows in the 60s over most of the area, temperatures have returned to the 70s and low 80s. Big changes are on the way in the next few days. A strong cold front will begin to move through the area Tuesday night and will bring some much colder air. Wednesday morning temperatures will range from the low to middle 30s over the northwest edge of the area to the low to middle 50s over the southeast. Temperatures Wednesday will likely stay fairly steady throughout the day. It is possible that we could see some freezing rain Wednesday over the extreme northwest corner of McCurtain county where temperatures could dip below freezing.
Futurecast: Most models including Futurecast show that we will continue to see a cloudy sky Tuesday night with a chance for some scattered showers. The threat of rain will continue Wednesday but any rain will remain rather light. Again, a small pocket of freezing rain will remain possible over NW McCurtain County. The cold front will likely stall Thursday pausing the drop in temperatures. We will continue to see some scattered showers with some thunder possible Thursday over the southeast part of the area closer to the front. A few storms could be strong in the warmer air over the SE edge of the area. We will have to keep an eye on the NW edge of the area as temperatures will likely remain near or slightly above freezing. We will see the front push back to the southeast Thursday night into Friday. This will likely pause any rain over the area from late Thursday night into Friday. Rain will likely return to the area Friday night and Saturday. As of right now, it appears that we will be warm enough that any precipitation that falls during this time will be rain.
Rainfall potential: It still appears that rainfall totals from now into Saturday will be rather light with Futurecast showing that totals will stay below ½” for most of the area. If you add Saturday’s expected rain, totals should end up being close to ½” with higher amounts of ½ to 1” over the northern edge of the area.
Mainly dry and warmer next week: Warmer air will begin to return to the ArkLaTex next week. Most of the week will be dry, however, a fast-moving disturbance could bring some clouds Tuesday and Tuesday night. Next week will begin with highs in the upper 50s to lower 60s. We should warm into the low to middle 70s by the end of the week. Overnight lows will begin in the 30s and warm into the mid to upper 40s. We could end next week with a slight chance of rain next Friday.
Parade Weather: There will be lots of Mardi Gras festivities going on again this weekend. It now appears that we could have some scattered showers around for the Krewe of Gemini parade in Shreveport and Mardi Gras Upriver in Jefferson Saturday. Temperatures for the parades will be quite chilly in the 40s.
