The area will soak up a lot of sunshine this weekend. Temperatures will gradually warm until the next cold front comes next week.

THE FORECAST:

Today and Tonight: We will make it back-to-back, sun-filled comfortable days with ample sun and highs near 80 on your Friday. Overnight will be clear with light winds and lows in the mid 50s.   

Up Next: Quiet weather is in store for the weekend. As a surface high pressure system shifts to the east, local winds will become southerly. The local atmosphere will slowly undergo some subtle changes as a result. First, highs will gradually warm from the low to upper 80s Saturday through early next week. Humidity and low level clouds will also increase through that period. Highs could break into the 90s for the first time this season Monday or Tuesday. No significant rain chances will go on the forecast board until Tuesday night or Wednesday when a cold front moves through the region.

The Mississippi River: At Baton Rouge, major flood stage continues with a level of 42’ as of Friday morning. The river is expected to fall slowly over the coming weeks. The high water is primarily an issue for river traffic and river islands, although some inundation will continue for a few spots north and south of Baton Rouge that are not protected by levees. Unprotected low-lying areas will be flooded and agricultural operations will be impacted on the west side of the river. The grounds of the older part of Louisiana State University's campus become soggy. This includes the area around the Veterinary Medicine building, the Veterinary Medicine Annex, the stadium and ball fields. The city of Baton Rouge and the main LSU campus are protected by levees at this level. The level is also high in New Orleans and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is operating the Bonnet Carre Spillway.

THE EXPLANATION:

A surface high pressure system will remain over the central Gulf Coast region through Saturday. Eventually moving to the Southeast U.S. will allow for steady development of summer-like daily sea breeze regime but without the showers and thunderstorms since Gulf and air temperatures are relatively close. Highs and lows will be close to average through the weekend.  Originally, an upper level ridge was expected to build over the area, but it now looks as though that will remain centered over Texas. This would do two things. First, upper level winds would remain out of the northwest, promoting continued dry and mainly clear conditions and making it difficult for any moisture to become established ahead of the next cold front on Wednesday.  Second, the maximum compressional warming of the ridge remaining to the west could result in high temperatures staying a bit closer to average in the mid 80s versus the upper 80s and low 90s. Clearly, these are both low impact forecast challenges.

--Josh

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