FIRST ALERT FORECAST: One more round of wintry weather possible Thursday

LAKE CHARLES, La. (KPLC) - After a mixture of freezing rain and at times heavy rain moved through Southwest Louisiana through the day, icing issues that have caused significant power disruptions and travel issues have remained confined to areas of Allen, Beauregard and Vernon parishes while travel has remained unaffected along I-10 and points southward where temperatures have managed to stay just above freezing this afternoon. The good news is that back edge of the rain is moving through by 5:00 p.m. with drier weather arriving during the evening hours.

Unfortunately, we have one more round of wintry weather possible overnight into Thursday morning for our northern parishes, with some possibility of a light wintry mix as far south as I-10 before coming to an end by afternoon. The primary issues will be the likelihood of more freezing rain in the hardest hit areas of Vernon, Beauregard and Allen parishes that will continue to cause more travel difficulties and possibly more power outages into Thursday where 1 to 2 inches of more sleet and snow are possible. Farther south, accumulation of wintry weather is unlikely for Calcasieu and Jeff Davis parishes where travel issues are not expected.

After all the precipitation ends on Thursday, another hard freeze will be on the way for Friday morning as temperatures take a dip into the lower to middle 20s, so you’ll need to make those preparations with water pipes again by Thursday night and again on Friday night with another hard freeze expected overnight. By this weekend, conditions will greatly improve with temperatures closer to 50 by Saturday afternoon and highs back into the 60s by Sunday. We’ll be done with the hard freezes after Saturday morning. Be especially careful when traveling at night as patches of black ice will be a problem with any moisture on the roadways refreezing Friday and Saturday mornings.

We’re nearing the end of this unprecedented series of winter weather events for our area in addition to the unprecedented arctic temperatures very uncharacteristic for our area. Continue to monitor the forecast for updates on road conditions and any possible impacts that could be seen on Thursday by watching 7News Nightcast and 7News Sunrise Thursday morning. In the meantime, you won’t have to worry about a pipe-bursting freeze tonight, so give those pipes a rest and allow water systems to come back up to pressure by conserving water tonight and during the day on Thursday.

First Alert Meteorologist Ben Terry

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