A FREEZE WARNING is in effect for the entire Capital Area until 9 AM this morning. Below freezing temperatures are already occurring for many!

Today & Tonight: It is a bone chilling morning across southeast Louisiana, with many below freezing. Some locations north and east of Baton Rouge are in the 20s! Turn those defrosters on, as ice will be on many windshields. After the cold start, sunny skies and less cold air moving into the area will allow temperatures to rapidly rise. Most will rise nearly 30 degrees during the day, with highs near 60 degrees. Sunshine will dominate all day long. Overnight, lows will bottom out in the mid-40s.

Up Next: Temperatures will make a steady climb through the middle of the week, returning to and eventually topping normal highs and lows for this time of year—around the low 70s during the day and upper 40s at night. From Wednesday through Friday, expect plenty of sunshine and dry weather. As winds calm down late in the week, some patchy fog could develop during the early morning hours.

The stretch of dry weather begins to fade heading into the weekend as the next system nears. Saturday should stay mostly dry and quite warm, with highs reaching the upper 70s. A brief, spotty shower can’t be ruled out, mainly for areas closer to the Atchafalaya Basin. Sunday brings a better shot at showers and a few thunderstorms as moisture increases across the region. Highs will remain on the mild side—upper 70s to near 80 degrees. The unsettled pattern looks to linger into early next week, with a slow-moving front stalling just to our west.

The Tropics: For the Gulf, Caribbean, and Atlantic, all is quiet. No new tropical development is expected over the next seven days.