Heavy Rain, Strong Storms Moving Into Louisiana This Morning

(KMDL-FM) That area of deep tropical moisture that has been moving across the northern Gulf Coast has finally gotten close enough to Louisiana's coastline to start creating chaos in the form of heavy downpours and gusty winds. There has been heavy rain already reported in Morgan City, Pierre Part, Baton Rouge, Metairie, LaPlace, and Houma.

As of 1:30 this morning, the National Weather Service Forecast Office in Lake Charles had issued a Special Marine Warning for strong storms located just south of the Louisiana coast off of St Mary Parish. You can see those storms in this snapshot from the National Weather Service Radar.

That scan was from earlier this morning. For the latest look at where the showers and storms are located, you can view the National Weather Service Radar Mosaic here.

READ MORE: Where To Get Sandbags in South Louisiana

READ MORE: How Driving Through High Water Can Damage Your Car

The movement of the area of showers and storms you see depicted above is generally to the west. This means some of the stronger storms that are currently situated between Morgan City and Houma will be making their way toward the Atchafalaya Basin in the next few hours. See Acadiana's current radar scan here. 

Where Is The Heaviest Rain Forecast to Fall in Louisiana?

Should this thunderstorm complex hold together, there could be heavy rains in cities such as Breaux Bridge, Youngsville, Broussard, New Iberia, and Lafayette about the time the morning rush hour begins. All of those cities will certainly experience light to moderate rain off and on throughout the morning as well.

Get our free mobile app

The National Weather Service has extended the coverage of a Flash Flood Watch to now include all of South Louisiana's I-10 corridor. That watch will remain in effect at least through Saturday. Forecasters say rainfall totals of four to eight inches will be common across the watch area. Some localized amounts could go even higher.

The catalyst for all of the expected heavy rainfall is an area of deep tropical moisture that has had the attention of the National Hurricane Center for several days now. The system is still given a 30% probability of strengthening into a tropical depression or potential tropical storm, but most tropical models don't suggest it will get much stronger than that.

The biggest issue with the system will be rainfall. Based on the official forecast from the National Weather Service, rain chances will remain very high across the area until Saturday evening. But until then, rainfall probabilities will be as high as 90% during the day on Friday and 70% during the day on Saturday.

What Is The Risk of Flooding in South Louisiana?

There is also a moderate risk of an excessive rainfall event across much of Acadiana throughout the day. An excessive rainfall event is when rainfall rates exceed an area's ability to drain efficiently. These kinds of downpours usually result in ponding of water on roadways and, in some cases, can close roads for a short time.

If there is a silver lining to this abundant tropical moisture, it would be this. At least it's keeping the afternoon temperatures down. But don't worry, the forecast for next week includes a return of higher heat indices to South Louisiana.

In the meantime, plan on some downtime where outdoor activities are concerned. As we mentioned, we probably won't be done completely with this storm system until Saturday. Until then, now might be a good time to catch up on some TV shows or books.