Severe weather possible Friday as cold front makes its way to SW La.
Published 5:56 pm Thursday, April 20, 2023
Severe weather is possible across Southwest Louisiana Friday morning.
“Good news. We’ve got another cold front coming, which is unusual for this time so late in the year,” Donald Jones, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service’s Lake Charles office, said. “This doesn’t look too much to be a tornado-threat storm as much as it appears to be a damaging-wind-or-large-hail-threat storm.”
Jones said widespread showers and thunderstorms were expected to move into the area from the west Thursday night in advance of the approaching cold front.
Lake Charles, Cameron and the Fort Polk area have up to a 30 percent chance for receiving damaging winds as the storm makes its way to the area, Jones said.
He said there was also a slight chance of localized flooding because heavy rainfall was expected late Thursday night going into Friday morning.
Widespread power outages are not expected, he said.
“A second, thinner line of precipitation will be possible Friday afternoon as the actual cold front moves through the area,” Jones said. “That’s not expected to be as strong or severe; that’s the cold front itself.”
He said the first round of the cold front should be arriving in Southwest Louisiana between 8 a.m. and noon on Friday.
“The weekend is actually looking fantastic,” Jones said.
But it won’t last, he said.
By Tuesday, a warm front will lift out of the Gulf of Mexico and cause the area to return to a more usual temperature for this type of year, he said.
“We’ll at least have three good days of nicer weather,” Jones said with a laugh.