70 degree temperatures return to the Baton Rouge area for the rest of the week.

THE FORECAST:

Today and Tonight: Thursday Afternoon will be considerably warmer. With sunshine and southwest winds of 10mph, highs will make it into the low 70s. Overnight, those winds will keep low temperatures above average, bottoming out in the mid 50s. Some patchy fog isn’t out of the question.

What’s Ahead? Again on Friday, a mostly sunny afternoon will offer a high in the low 70s. A few clouds may be possible late as another weak cold front comes into the area. The cooler air may be a bit delayed in arriving and thus, the weekend will start off just below 50 degrees. Sunshine is expected into the afternoon with seasonable highs in the low 60s. Sunday will remain dry but likely be a touch cooler with lows in the upper 30s and highs near 60 degrees. The first shot at rain showers in quite a while is pegged for Monday.

THE SCIENCE: 

Forecast Discussion: As a surface high pressure system sets up in the Eastern Gulf of Mexico and a Western U.S. upper ridge nudges eastward, a warming trend will be noted for the end of the week. A thicker atmosphere and southwesterly wind flow at the surface will result in high temperatures climbing into the low 70s on both Thursday and Friday. The Eastern U.S. trough will briefly suppress the ridge Friday Night through Sunday with an associated surface cold front pushing by the region. Additionally a 1040mb+ high will move from South-Central Canada to the Northeast U.S. over that time. With the atmosphere remaining dry, only a passing cloud or two (if that) will be noted with the frontal passage on Friday Evening. Over the weekend, the trough in the east and easterly winds on account of the strong surface high will provide the area with some cold air advection. However, because the trough basin will be to the east and a northerly wind flow never fully established, temperatures shouldn’t fall more than a few degrees below average. Another shortwave will move across the country on Monday with a surface low and cold front tracking across the Mid-South. This will provide the region with some rain showers, but because the front will of Pacific origin, no significant cool down is expected behind it.

--Josh 

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