Cooler Temps and Rain on the Way for Shreveport… “Lots of Rain”

With the exception of officials at the State Fair, the ArkLaTex has been begging for real rain. Now it is coming in waves.

Weather Channel meteorologist Richard Lewelling told KEEL News on Tuesday that a parade of storm systems is lining up from East Texas through the Mid South, with Shreveport Bossier sitting in the middle of the action. The pattern starts late this week and may keep us soggy through Thanksgiving and into early December.

Storms Every Other Day for the ArkLaTex

Lewelling says a system moves in Thursday night into Friday with one to three inches of rain possible, followed by a brief break Saturday before showers return Saturday night and linger into early next week.

Forecast models suggest as many as seven or eight systems could cross our area between now and mid December. That puts Shreveport Bossier under a broad zone of concern for heavy rain and possible flooding as the ground finally starts to recover from months of drought.

Lewelling expects the heaviest rain with this first round to fall north and west of town, closer to Texarkana, although later systems may bring more widespread soaking rain to I-20.

Thanksgiving Finally Feels Like Fall

Temperatures stay unusually warm through the end of this week, with highs in the upper 70s to near 80. Over the weekend and early next week, highs settle into the low to mid 70s, then a stronger push of cooler air should arrive around Thanksgiving. Lewelling says Thanksgiving Day highs may only reach the 50s, with lows dropping into the 30s that night.

READ MORE: Holiday Train Rolls into North Louisiana

The winter outlook from December through February calls for above average temperatures in the ArkLaTex with “equal chances” of normal or slightly wetter than normal precipitation. That mix often means plenty of cold rain and at least some risk for ice episodes, especially in December, January, and February.

Drought Help Here, Crawfish Trouble South

For Shreveport/Bossier and the I-20 corridor, this wet pattern could chip away at drought conditions that have baked yards, fields, and area lakes. Lewelling believes our part of northwest Louisiana has a much better shot at drought relief than areas farther south.

South Louisiana may not be as lucky. The Climate Prediction Center outlook keeps rainfall well below normal from around Alexandria southward, which is bad news for rice fields and crawfish ponds that depend on steady water levels. Lewelling warns that the crawfish industry could be in trouble again if those rains do not materialize.

Keeping an Eye on Severe Weather

Most of the concern in the short term centers on flooding and travel issues, not tornado outbreaks. Lewelling notes that the best chance for stronger storms looks to be late Sunday into Monday, near the edge of the seven day forecast window. Forecasters will be watching that closely as families start planning their Thanksgiving travel.