Winter weather could cause problems Tuesday for SW Louisiana

SOUTHWEST LOUISIANA (KPLC) - With the approach of our next Arctic cold front less than 24 hours away, the brief warm-up today will come to a very abrupt end by early Tuesday morning as the front barrels through Southwest Louisiana in the pre-dawn hours.

The front will send a very shallow cold layer of air near the surface that will combine with an upper level disturbance providing a shower threat that will quickly transition into a mix of freezing rain, sleet and snow before coming to an end by Tuesday evening.

The timing of the coldest air will send temperatures plunging to at or near freezing through most of the day tomorrow, with the greatest risk of icy bridges and roads coming by afternoon and evening with any precipitation that falls tomorrow potentially glazing over as black ice.

The National Weather Service could issue an official winter weather advisory for our area later today for hazardous driving conditions Tuesday.

The main concern will be the sharply colder air arriving early tomorrow morning that will drop temperatures to near freezing during the morning hours and continue to keep temperatures near freezing most of the day.

The likelihood of any precipitation that falls freezing on contact will increase through the day with temperatures below 32 in spots by afternoon, heading down into lower 20s by early Wednesday morning.

This does not appear to have the makings of a major ice storm nor produce any significantly high snow totals, but a combination of the cold air and moisture in place could make driving dangerous later in the day Tuesday on bridges and overpasses even with a slight glazing over of any precipitation that falls.

As with any winter weather event forecast in South Louisiana, this continues to be an evolving forecast and will likely continue to change through the day and evening. It's important to stay up to date with the latest forecast by downloading the KPLC news and weather apps and watching later newscasts on-air, online or on your mobile device.

Regardless of what falls, brutally cold air will surge in to the area by Tuesday night with lows in the upper teens to lower 20s by early Wednesday morning, resulting in pipe bursting temperatures if precautions are not taken.

First Alert Meteorologist Ben Terry