Another Arctic Blast For Weekend, Much Warmer Next Week

The weather we see down at the surface is usually dictated by what's happening in the upper air.  Our hard freeze earlier this week occurred as a lobe/spoke of the upper Polar Vortex rotated down into the lower 48.  We have another such spoke coming for this weekend, but there is a big difference up in Canada.

The bottom graphic is this afternoon's temperatures up in Canada.  Unlike this past weekend, the air there is not as cold.  In fact, most stations are only single digit below zero.  Last week had 30-50 below zero readings.  Still the coming cold has NWS issuing Freeze watches for Saturday & Sunday mornings.

I grabbed these graphics off of Nicondra's 4 PM program.

The front sweeps through near midnight with strong north winds bringing the cold feel back requiring heavy coats once again.  Ahead of the front today, we enjoyed a Spring preview.

Highs across south Louisiana were 20-25 degrees warmer than yesterday.  We have no freeze issues tonight.  The hard freeze precautions will be needed tomorrow night & on Sunday morning,  Look at the warm up for next week.

However, with the return of warmer air will come a heavy rain threat.   

SE TX to SW LA could get 4-6"+ between Tuesday &Thursday.  Locally, we could easily get in on 3-5" amounts.  If spread out over several days, that shouldn't be a big deal.  All falls in one day, then it becomes a big deal!  Stay tuned!