Heavy Rain Threat Here to Stay for Several Days in Acadiana
Whatever your plans happen to be this weekend if you're planning on going outside then you should plan to be doing a little dancing between the raindrops. I think KATC Chief Meteorologist Rob Perillo summed it up nicely, Soggy Saga for Acadiana Continues. That's the blog wrote for the KATC website yesterday and based on what Acadiana's Weatherman is telling us, it's gonna rain.
Of course with the threat of rain comes the bigger question, when? And how much? I think the answers to the questions would follow along the lines of "just about anytime this weekend" and "maybe as much as five inches in some places".
Where is the Heaviest Rain Now?
The current radar scan from the National Weather Service Office in Lake Charles is showing a large area of moderate to heavy rain over extreme southwest Louisiana and the adjacent coastal waters. This activity is slowly creeping onshore and to the east. That means the heart of Acadiana could have a very wet ride to work on this Friday morning.
What's Causing the Prolific Rainfall?
We have another situation where a storm system to our west and another system to our east are dragging an overabundance of Gulf of Mexico moisture over the state. Those wet winds are poised to release rainfall across South Louisiana through Thursday of next week.
How Much Rain is Forecast to Fall?
Rob Perillo's HRRR Model for rainfall accumulation is showing some rather healthy rainfall totals between now and Saturday at 12 pm. As you can see in the graphic from KATC above most of us will see in excess of two inches of rainfall today and tomorrow.
Some of the longer-range forecast models show the area could be inundated with as much as seven inches of rain by the time the faucets are turned off late in the day on Wednesday.
As of now, forecasters with the Storm Prediction Center do not anticipate this becoming a severe weather event but there are Flood Watches and Warnings posted for a large part of South Louisiana over the next few days.
You know, a lot of people blame the current flooding and drainage situation in Lafayette on development in and around the area. How much development do you ask? Well, take a look.
70 Google Maps Images That Show How Much Lafayette Has Changed