SHREVEPORT, La. (KTAL/KMSS) – It wouldn’t be a normal week in the ArkLaTex if we didn’t threaten record highs and have a chance for severe thunderstorms. We could see both over the next 36 hours.
Tuesday afternoon forecast high temperatures
Dry and very warm today: There will be areas of dense fog through sunrise under otherwise mostly cloudy skies. The clouds will hang on all morning keeping our early day temperatures in the 60s. As the clouds begin to break late this morning the returning sunshine will warm our temperatures into the mid to upper 70s. This would tie or break high-temperature records for the date (the record for both Shreveport and Texarkana is 79°). There will be a light south breeze of 5 to 10 miles per hour.
A cold front will bring scattered strong to severe storms Wednesday: The warm air won’t be around much longer as a cold front remains on schedule to arrive in the ArkLaTex Wednesday morning through Wednesday afternoon.
The ingredients for severe thunderstorms will be highest in northwest Louisiana where the Storm Prediction Center has a ‘Slight Risk’ outlook for severe weather. This is a level 2 threat on the 1 to 5 scale, 5 being the most dangerous. This means scattered severe storms are possible, but widespread severe weather is not expected. A ‘Marginal Risk’ extends north and west into east Texas and southwest Arkansas where the threat of severe weather is slightly lower.
Severe weather risk late Wednesday morning through Wednesday afternoon
The primary severe weather hazard will be damaging wind gusts, but an isolated tornado and large hail can’t be ruled out. The tornado risk will be highest in the ‘Slight Risk’ area. Scattered showers and a few storms may arrive by sunrise Wednesday, but the window for severe weather won’t open until the late morning and early afternoon. The main hours being monitored for severe weather will be between 11 a.m. and 5 p.m. with storms exiting to our east after sunset.
Rainfall accumulations should be less than an inch in most areas, but some areas may see 1 to 2 inches of rain, which may be enough to trigger localized road flooding where the heaviest rain occurs.
Potential rainfall accumulations Wednesday
Cool and dry Thursday and Friday: Temperatures will drop into the 50s and low 60s Thursday and Friday which is right where we should be in mid-January. Expect partly cloudy skies Thursday, and increasing clouds Friday.
Rain returns Saturday: If you’re planning out the weekend and hoping to get outside beware of Saturday. There will be an area of low pressure that zips through and this will bring scattered to widespread rain showers Saturday afternoon into Saturday night. The threat of severe weather is low, but there may be a few hours of light to moderate rain that makes outdoor plans difficult. We will dry out Sunday with highs in the 50s over the weekend.
Get exclusive severe weather details on storms as they approach your area by downloading the Arklatex Weather Authority app, now available in the App Store and Google Play
