Major Change in Louisiana Forecast This Week – Tropics Active

There has been a tale of two summers across Louisiana, at least it sure seems that way. If you reside along the I-20 corridor in a town such as Shreveport, Monroe, or Tallulah you've been mostly hot with occasional outbreaks of strong to severe storms.

If you live along the I-10 corridor you've been not as hot, at least over the past couple of weeks, and you've gotten more than your share of rainfall. Of course, part of that rain could have been attributed to Hurricane Beryl but that system actually brought more bad weather to northern Louisiana than it did to the coastal parishes.

Over the past week or so Louisiana's forecast has been influenced by a frontal system, which dried things out for the northern half of the state a week or so ago. That storm system was responsible for a lot of the rain that fell in southern Louisiana though as it interacted with moisture from the Gulf of Mexico.

What Are the Big Changes in Louisiana's Weather This Week?

The "big change" is more along the lines of the "big return". Forecasters with the National Weather Service tell us that rain chances across Louisiana will return to seasonal norms for this week. That means, there will be a threat of afternoon and early evening showers or thunderstorms but they will be widely scattered.

The other change of note will make its presence known on your thermometer or on your skin the moment you step outside. Louisiana is returning to more typical summertime temperatures since we won't have the cooling effects of clouds and showers.

Heat Advisories are Posted for Much of Louisiana Today

The northern half of Louisiana, basically from Alexandria northward to the Arkansas line is under a heat advisory for today. The advisory will be in place from 11 a.m. until 8 p.m. and those in the advised area should expect daytime high temperatures to climb to the middle 90s with heat index readings approaching 110 during the hottest part of the day.

The I-10 corridor will be hot as well but conditions will remain below the threshold needed to issue a heat advisory for cities such as Lafayette, Lake Charles, and Baton Rouge. But that could be coming later this week.

Louisiana Tropical Outlook for This Week

The National Hurricane Center is currently monitoring an area of disturbed weather well east of the Lesser Antilles. The weather system is in the open waters of the mid-Atlantic Ocean. Forecasters believe the system will strengthen over the next seven days.

The current forecast guidance suggests the storm system might become a tropical depression or tropical storm by late this week. The season has already spawned three named storms, Alberto, Beryl, and Chris. Should this system strengthen to tropical storm status it would be called Debby.

The general forecast track for this storm system is to the north and west. You can see the guidance in the graphic from the Hurricane Center above. The system as it stands poses no threat to the U.S. Coastline but that could change by the end of the week. Elsewhere in the tropics, tropical storm formation is not anticipated over the next few days.

What is Louisiana's Weather Forecast for This Week?

Partly cloudy and very hot with a chance of mainly afternoon and early evening showers or thunderstorms is what much of the state will experience over the next several days. The northern parishes will experience more of the heat and the southern parishes will experience a few more showers and storms.