The highly anticipated cold front is now sitting off the Louisiana coast Thursday morning, continuing to shield the state from any impacts from Hurricane Helene and inviting much drier air to move into the region over the next several days. 

Today & Tonight: Southeast Louisiana will see comfortable conditions by daybreak Thursday as temperatures fall into the upper-60's thanks to the cold front that moved through overnight. Winds behind the front will be breezy on Thursday, out of the north, between 10-20 mph. The winds will help quickly usher in the drier air behind the system, and in result, humidity levels will continue to drop throughout the day today. Thursday afternoon will be sunny and warm with a high temperature near 87° in the Capital Area. 

Overnight, temperatures will fall into the low 60's and make conditions feel more like fall around southeast Louisiana. Winds will begin to calm out and skies will remain clear into Friday morning.     

Up Next: Thanks to the front, temperatures each afternoon through the weekend will be near average for this time of year, in the middle-80's on Friday and a degree or two warmer Saturday and Sunday. Skies will be mostly sunny and humidity will remain low. Both mornings this weekend will start off in the mid 60s with clear skies. Over the next 7 days, rain will be hard to come by due to the lack of moisture in the air. Next week will be another relatively quiet one, with temperatures and humidity levels only increasing slightly as the week wears on.  

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The Tropics: Hurricane Helene is moving NNE at 16 mph in the Gulf of Mexico Thursday afternoon as it continues to steadily strengthen. As of 1 p.m. Thursday, Helene is a just below Category 3 strength  with maximum winds at 110 mph. Helene is expected to continue to strengthen, becoming a major hurricane (Category 3+) before it makes landfall in the Big Bend area of Florida tonight. Officials are urging residents of the Big Bend area of Florida to rush completion of preparations to protect life and property. The storm is expected to begin moving due north and then northeast on approach to land. An increasing forward speed will also transport hurricane conditions well inland across the Southeast United States. 

Tropical Storm Isaac formed late Saturday night in the Subtropical Atlantic Ocean, several hundred miles northeast of Bermuda. Isaac is forecast to become a hurricane this weekend before continuing to move east-northeast and quickly dying out as it enters cooler waters. This system poses no threat to Louisiana or the continental United States as it is moving away from the country. 

A broad low pressure system associated with a tropical wave located west of the Cabo Verde Islands continues to produce disorganized shower and thunderstorm activity. Environmental conditions appear favorable for gradual development of this system, and a tropical depression is likely to form in a few days while it moves westward to west-northwestward across the eastern and central tropical Atlantic.

– Emma Kate C.  

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