Area to get a soaking

Published 12:30 am Wednesday, October 24, 2018

A low-pressure trough moving from the Texas coast to south central Louisiana today is forecast to bring plenty of rain to the Teche Area.

The heaviest rain is expected to fall today through  early Thursday morning, according to the National Weather Service in Lake Charles. An average of up to four inches of rain could fall along and south of the Interstate 10 corridor of southeast Texas, southwest Louisiana and south central Louisiana.

Higher amounts, up to six inches, could cause street flooding for brief periods, forecasters warned. Also, minor coastal flooding is possible because tides are running approximately half-a-foot to a foot higher than normal through tonight, they said, and it will slow drainage of coastal parish.

The culprit to the rainy midweek is Hurricane Willa, which made landfall off the Pacific coast of Mexico. It is forecast to move across the area this week, NWS forecasters said Tuesday afternoon.

Even before the remnant low reached the area a “plume of deep tropical moisture continued to feed off the tropical system and sweep across the Gulf South” on Tuesday, forecasters said. 

The rain might taper off some during the day today but the rain chance increases overnight, the weather officials said.

Thursday is when Willa’s remnants will track directly across the area and “localized rainfall totals of three to four inches could occur,” according to the NWS.

Once what’s left of Willa moves out Thursday afternoon, temperatures will start to fall. Friday’s forecast high is 68 for South Louisiana with lows Friday night in the low-to-mid 50s.