Weather Service Expands Louisiana Storm Threat – Snow? Really?

There are some four-letter words that will get you a lot of attention in Louisiana. For example, if you're in Baton Rouge and utter the words "Roll" and "Tide" you might get laughed at. If you're in Lafayette and you utter the words "Olde" and "Tyme" folks might question your spelling but they'll know that you know a great po-boy sandwich.

But of all the words in our great gumbo of language that is Louisiana, there is one word that will stop even sensible people in their tracks. That word is "snow". The reason the word "snow" stops so many of us is because that weather phenomenon is so scarce in Louisiana.

One thing we do need to clarify anytime we bring up snow in Louisiana is this. There is a difference between "snowing" and "sticking". Snowing suggests that frozen precipitation is falling from the sky. Sticking suggests that frozen precipitation is not melting when it hits the ground. This leads to accumulation and eventually massive school closures and an inordinate amount of people taking pictures of their patio tables.

What Does It Take For It To Snow in Louisiana?

The same thing it takes to snow anywhere else. You need atmospheric moisture and you need temperatures at or below freezing. Based on what we are seeing in the National Weather Service Forecasts much of Louisiana will have those two ingredients late Wednesday into early Thursday.

The graphic above is from the Storm Prediction Center. It shows where forecasters believe the greatest threat of heavy showers and storms will occur. Fortunately, there is no severe weather expected across Louisiana but there are a lot of factors at play.

Below is a graphic supplied by the National Weather Service Forecast Office in Shreveport, Louisiana. 

That looks pretty ominous, doesn't it? As you can see we have a lot of the ingredients needed for a good soaking rainstorm. There is a lift in the atmosphere. There is abundant moisture. And there is instability. We have all the ingredients for a rainy rest of the week.

But this article mentioned snow, what about that?

The only ingredient we haven't covered is temperature and depending on where you happen to live in Louisiana there is a very good chance you could experience nighttime temperatures at or very close to the freezing mark late Thursday night into Friday morning.

The graphic above is from NWS Lake Charles and they are not suggesting in their official forecast that frozen precipitation could fall. However, if the temperature near the surface is at 33 degrees about 1,000 feet up it's freezing or below and it gets colder the higher into the atmosphere you go. 

So it's quite possible that any precipitation that falls during that time could turn into snow flurries before they come in contact with the ground. No, it won't be enough for a snowman and chances are it would melt on contact but there is still the possibility of a little bit of light snow adding a little ambiance to Louisiana's holiday scenes.

Now, isn't that more pleasant to think about than just having to drive to work or school in the rain? I mean, that's probably what will actually happen but maybe Mother Nature has got a little "holiday magic" for us over these next few days.