What a difference a week can make, from arctic cold temperatures to mild weather and plenty of rain. In classic El Nino fashion, LSU Climatologist Barry Keim said a system that’s lingering in the western Gulf of Mexico will continue to move inland and bring us a tropical deluge of rain.
“Bringing rain to the entire state, for the rest of the work week and perhaps maybe even into Saturday. So, this is going to be a long protracted even here, with lots of clouds and wet conditions,” said Keim.
Our high temperatures will reach the upper 60s across northern parishes and in the 70s along the southern parishes. Lows will only drop into the mid-50s to lower-60s this week because of cloud coverage. But it’s the rainfall amounts that Keim said will be significant this week.
“Now what really makes this event a big deal is the rain potential with the possibility of anywhere from three to ten inches of rain,” said Keim.
He said central Louisiana is expected to receive the majority of the rainfall and the excess precipitation should improve the state’s drought. Currently, Keim said 92 percent of the state is still experiencing some level of drought.
“A big rain event like this is much, much welcomed and will lead to substantive improvement in our current drought situation,” said Keim.
Keim said fortunately the rainfall totals should be spread out over a period of days versus hours and that will help saturate the soil and provide runoff to improve water levels across lakes and rivers in Louisiana.
Comments