Staff Report
As we get closer to the coming weekend, forecast models are gaining confidence that the north Louisiana area along the I-20 corridor will in fact be impacted by a winter weather episode.
According to National Weather Service meteorologist Brandon Thornton, it’s “just a matter of where, when and how long.”
“Some of the new models have started to role in,” said Thornton at 10 p.m. Tuesday night. “We are gaining more confidence that there will be some event of winter weather that will impact our area.
“Are there still some uncertainties? Absolutely. But those uncertainties are more around timing, precipitation timing, exact location, and things like that.”
Although Thornton reminded readers that the models could still see significant changes over the next 24-48 hours, he does believe winter weather is coming our way.
“Right now it’s looking like more of a wintry mix, like ice with freezing rain accumulation across the I-20 corridor,” said Thornton. “It’s actually a pretty wide area. Most of the (Ark-La-Tex) will be in that range. The further north you go, there will be concern about where there is going to be snow to where there will be ice and where that transition happens.
“That’s what we are trying to pinpoint on the details, but it probably won’t come into view for the next day or so.”
Thornton believes temperatures will dip below freezing sometime Friday night and may not come back above freezing until Monday afternoon at the earliest. He said there is a possibility the below freezing temperatures may stay with us until Tuesday.
“Temperatures along the I-20 corridor will probably drop below freezing for an extended period of time,” said Thornton. “I have it right now for about 65 hours, give or take a few hours. At 65 hours below freezing we know a lot of places down here deal with freezing pipes. So with that extended time its important to make sure that people are taking precautions now to protect their pipes.”
The Lincoln Parish Journal will continue to monitor the threat of a winter storm over the course of the next few days.
