by Malcolm Butler
Freezing rain could be the biggest issue for Lincoln Parish, according to the latest reports from the National Weather Service in Shreveport.
Armani Cassel, a meteorologist with the NWS in Shreveport, said late Tuesday night that the latest models are showing that Lincoln Parish could see a little snow but that freezing rain is the highest probability for our area.
Throughout Tuesday, forecasters continued to update the information on the winter storm that is going to hit much of the United States, including the southern states.
Castel said that although there is still time for the forecast to change again, the models are predicting anywhere between a tenth of an inch and a quarter of an inch of freezing rain for our area.
“The latest is in ranges,” said Castel. “Confidence is still fairly low. Snow chances are showing zero to one-half inch of snow and at the highest end maybe an inch, but that is very uncertain.
“For ice accumulations, most likely it’s going to be sixth hundreds to a tenth of an inch of ice and freezing rain and the worst case scenario is showing a tenth to a quarter of an inch of ice accumulations.”
Castel said the precipitation would begin Thursday.
“The onset is more likely for at the very earliest around mid-morning on Thursday around 10 a.m.,” said Castel. “This definitely through Friday afternoon before clearing Friday evening.”
Castel did say that temperatures should get in to the upper 30s on both Thursday and Friday, but that would dip below freezing each night.
“Most of the time we are looking at temperatures at or below freezing, especially by Thursday and Friday night,” said Castel. “Just because the precipitation ends doesn’t mean its over.
“The issue isn’t the melting, it’s going to be the re-freezing at night. It may start to melt which isn’t always necessarily a good thing.”
Castel said there still could be some change to the forecast over the next 24 hours.
“We are looking at probabilities possibly going up, more so for freezing rain along the I-20 corridor,” said Castel. “There is a higher chance of getting more which is a concern compared to chances of snow. What could change is the intensity of freezing rain and the accumulation.”
