The last weekend of the year includes cold mornings, mild afternoons, plenty of sunshine and dry conditions. Rain is set to arrive early on New Year's Day but is still tracking late enough to not impact New Year's Eve activities. 

Today & Tonight: A FREEZE WARNING has been issued for the majority of southeast Louisiana until 10 a.m. this morning. Baton Rouge and surrounding parishes are expected to hit or go below the freezing mark early Friday with wind chills even colder in the 20s. Be sure to bundle up before heading out the door this morning.

Later in the day, the chill sticks around as temperatures climb into the mid-50s with winds around 5-15mph that create an even colder feel. Plenty of sunshine can be expected and into the overnight clear skies remain. Early Saturday, things stay cold as temperatures hover over the freezing mark once again, 33° expected as the low temperature in the capital city.

Up Next: Morning lows remain cold through the end of the year. Afternoon highs on the other hand will steadily rise through the final days of 2023 and winds by Saturday begin to calm out. On New Year's Eve we could see highs near 70° with plenty of sunshine around. As of right now, southeast Louisiana remains dry through midnight as we ring in the new year Sunday night, with showers moving into the capital area early Monday morning.  This will be a fast-moving round of isolated showers, so we shouldn’t see too much rain out of it. By the afternoon hours on New Year’s Day conditions will be much drier with partly sunny skies.

The unsettled weather pattern continues into the first week of the new year, as a second system brings rain to southern Louisiana from the south on Wednesday. This system is tracking to be more widespread and deliver a greater amount of precipitation to the area. Overall, temperatures next week will be right around average for the beginning of January, hanging out in the upper 50s to lower 60s. 

-- Emma Kate Cowan

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