Christmas Day in Southwest Louisiana is expected to be unseasonably warm — and slightly wet.

National Weather Service Lake Charles Lead Meteorologist Joe Rua said a series of upper-level disturbances will bring the chance for showers and thunderstorms — one expected on Christmas Eve night into Christmas Day morning and the other forecast for late Thursday.

“For the Christmas Eve-Day disturbance, there is a small potential for some strong-to-severe thunderstorms to develop late in the afternoon on Christmas Eve and move into the extreme western portions of southeast Texas during the evening hours,” Rua said. “Some of these storms will have the potential to produce damaging winds and high rainfall rates of greater than 1 inch per hour.”

Rua said the thunderstorms are expected as an upper-level disturbance moves into the warm and unstable air mass currently hovering over the region.

Another, possibly stronger disturbance is scheduled for Thursday evening.

“This disturbance will bring a small potential for heavy rainfall and flooding northwest of an Alexandria to Beaumont line,” Rua said. “There is also the chance

that the area may be upgraded into a potential for severe storms as we get closer to the event.”

Christmas temperatures are expected in the low to mid-70s during the day and will drop to the low 50s after sundown.

Rua said a Pacific cold front will move through the region next Saturday, bringing cooler and drier conditions.