BATON ROUGE – The Governor's Office of Homeland Security and Preparedness is urging residents to prepare for the coldest weather of the winter season that is expected in the state later this week.

The National Weather Service says that winter rain will impact parts of the state starting Friday.

The NWS Shreveport office reports that temperatures will fall into the 20's in the state on Thursday night and a light rain may begin to fall and increase across the area by midday on Friday. The weather service says that much of the rain may fall south of I-20 and a snow, sleet mix can be expected north of I-20. The rain however should taper off by Friday night into early Saturday morning.

Snowfall and sleet should melt quickly after reaching the ground as temperatures on Friday will rise to the upper 30's. However, when temperatures fall to below freezing on Friday night, bridges and overpasses may become slick or even impassable as melted water begins to refreeze.

GOHSEP Director James Waskom said for residents to prepare in advance for the weather conditions.

"Get a game plan to protect friends or loved ones who may not be prepared to handle freezing temperatures. Protect your pets from the cold," Waskom said.

Waskom said that GOHSEP is monitoring the weather and will be ready to support state and local agencies if needed.

For WBRZ's weather forecast on the wintry weather click here.