Louisiana Rainfall Totals Adjusted Higher for Monday

Many parts of Louisiana experienced weather conditions on Saturday that have not been the "norm" in the state since late spring of this year. That's because those weather conditions included cloud cover and spritzes of light rain and an occasional moderate downpour.  The gentle wetting, if you will, did little to break Louisiana's record breaking drought, but it helped.

All of that dark color is not good and as you can see, it covers nearly three quarters of the state. Based on the history of the Drought Monitor no state has ever had this much of its landmass (by percentage) covered in Exceptional Drought Conditions.

So, to say the state needs rain would be an understatement. But the questions regarding Monday's potential downpours are these. Will the rain come too fast and too furious and create a flooding situation? And, how will a sudden deluge affect Louisiana's late season cane harvest?

We spoke with a group harvesting cane in St. Mary Parish on Saturday. They were attempting to get as much of their crop in before the heavier rains came. One of them even joked it was so nice to not have to "scrape the gumbo off the highway" after every load. That "gumbo" is the mud that gets deposited on the state's highways and roadways in and near cane harvest areas.

Not only could it make your car very muddy. But, that mud is slicker than "snot on glass" according to one of the farm hands we spoke too. So, extra moisture and extra mud might present some additional traffic concerns in the state's cane raising areas during the harvest.

How Much Rain is Louisiana Forecast to Receive This Week?

A quick check of the Weather Prediction Center forecast for Excessive Rainfall Events did not include much of Louisiana this morning. Only the extreme southeastern corner was at risk for a slight to marginal occurrence. But if you extrapolate the rainfall potential over the next five days the area under the gun for heavy downpours might look very familiar to you.

Basically the entire I-10 corridor from southeast Texas, through Louisiana, across Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida will get a good soaking between now an November 17th.

Forecast models have been divided on just how much of a soaking the area might receive but as we have moved through time those forecast models are in better agreement and the outlook, should it come to fruition, should have a major impact on the drought in at least southern Louisiana.

How Much Is It Supposed to Rain in Louisiana Next Week?

Bradley Benoit of KATC Television has a great description of what is most likely to unfold as we move into the coming week on the TV station website. In that posting Bradley dropped this graphic detailing the forecast rainfall for the area through Wednesday (11/15) of this week.

As you can see rainfall totals of four to six inches are very common across the region. And there might even be more rain that was is suggested by the forecast model. But as of now, the National Weather Service Forecast Office in Lake Charles is suggesting that the bulk of the rain will move away from the area by mid-week.