NEW ORLEANS (WVUE) – Arctic air will bring frigid temperatures and a winter storm to the Gulf Coast as we head into next week. It’s mild on this Friday evening with temperatures hovering around the 60 degree mark through the overnight. Expect some showers and a few thunderstorms through the morning on Saturday into the early afternoon. The cold air moves in behind the rain late Saturday taking Sunday morning temperatures down into the 30s. The real difference comes Sunday afternoon with highs only in the middle 40s and areas north and west of Lake Pontchartrain will likely see the first night of hard freeze conditions where temperatures drop below 28 degrees for 4 hours or more Sunday night into Monday morning.
Take the time to winterize property over the weekend wrapping exposed pipes and making sure elevated homes have some kind of skirting to help mitigate the cold. The frigid conditions will hold on for most of the week with low temperatures Monday morning in the middle 20s and daytime highs in the 30s. Temperatures continue to dive for Tuesday…