Locally, cool and pleasant March weather is forecast for the next several days. Meanwhile, a major snowstorm is grinding air and ground travel to a halt in the Northeast. Up to 20 inches of snow is possible for some locations with coastal areas expected to experience tropical storm force winds and beach erosion. This system comes exactly 24 years after America’s “Storm of the Century.”

THE FORECAST:

Today and Tonight: Abundant sunshine will welcome your Tuesday. With north, northwest winds of 5-10mph, high temperatures will stop in the low 60s. Overnight will be chilly with lows near 40 degrees.  

Up Next: Another sunny afternoon is ahead on Wednesday with highs in the low 60s. The chilliest night of this below average temperature stretch then follows with lows near 40 and some readings in the upper 30s possible north of I-12. By Thursday, highs will moderate closer to average. Expect a few clouds back into skies as highs return to the 70s by Friday Afternoon. Right now, the weekend is looking dry and mild—excellent news for the annual Wearin’ of the Green St. Patrick’s Day parade in Baton Rouge on Saturday.    

THE SCIENCE: A cold front will continue to push away from the local area as strong surface high pressure builds into the Upper Midwest. Clockwise wind flow around this slow moving area of high pressure will result in persistent cold air advection at the surface and below average temperatures will be maintained for an extended period as a result. The most ideal conditions for radiational cooling are expected to occur Wednesday Night as the proximity of the high dictates clear skies and relatively light winds. Lows will therefore drop into the low 40s and upper 30s. Largely zonal upper flow and very little disturbance at 500mb will result in mostly clear skies through Thursday. By Friday as the surface high translates off of the East Coast and return flow kicks back, some clouds may be able to develop. A trough in the Northeastern United States will try to push a front toward the Gulf Coast on Saturday, however at this time, it appears as though that front will deflect just north of the local area and little more than an uptick in clouds is anticipated. Responding to the southeast winds, temperatures will climb above average again Friday through the weekend.

--Josh