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Rain & maybe ice and sleet on Lundi Gras as coldest air moves in

A hard freeze is forecast for areas outside of the New Orleans metro Mardi Gras morning.

NEW ORLEANS — The chilly weather has settled in, but the coldest isn't here just yet. We'll start to see light freezing rain northwest of the area Sunday morning, but we stay above freezing in SE Louisiana with showers possible. 

The Arctic air is forecast to move in by Monday. Models show the day starting in the 50s with temperatures plummeting into the 30s by the afternoon. It's possible some places north of the lake drop below freezing by Monday afternoon. The other important part of the forecast is the timing of the cold air and moisture. Models shows the potential for freezing rain and sleet starting by late Monday morning across parts of the northshore. The trickiest part of the forecast is determining if the cold air gets here before the moisture leaves. If they meet just right we could see ice through Monday afternoon/evening.

Credit: Payton Malone

Right now the chance of freezing rain or sleet south of the lake is low, but not zero. We have a few more days to watch this and determine the exact impacts to the Channel 4 viewing area.

The other major part of this will be the freezing temperatures waking up Mardi Gras morning. We expect a hard freeze on the Northshore with low 20s and a few places in the upper teens. This will be a pipe freeze north of the lake and also in the River and Bayou Parishes where lows will dip into the low to mid 20s. The New Orleans area is forecast to see temperatures in the upper 20s to low 30s Tuesday morning. This is considered a light freeze, but freezing temperatures could last over 10 hours Monday night.

Credit: Payton Malone

Mardi Gras afternoon will be cold with some sunshine trying to come out. Highs will stay in the upper 30s and low 40s with wind chills lower.

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