Special Weather Statement For New Orleans & Sleet Tonigh

[Sean in New Orleans]

Special Weather Statement
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NEW ORLEANS LA
330 PM CDT SAT APR 7 2007

LAZ034>040-046>050-056>070-MSZ068>071-077-080>082-080200-
AMITE-ASCENSION-ASSUMPTION-EAST BATON ROUGE-EAST FELICIANA-HANCOCK-
HARRISON-IBERVILLE-JACKSON-LIVINGSTON-LOWER JEFFERSON-
LOWER LAFOURCHE-LOWER PLAQUEMINES-LOWER ST BERNARD-LOWER TERREBONNE-
ORLEANS-PEARL RIVER-PIKE-POINTE COUPEE-ST CHARLES-ST HELENA-ST JAMES-
ST JOHN THE BAPTIST-ST TAMMANY-TANGIPAHOA-UPPER JEFFERSON-
UPPER LAFOURCHE-UPPER PLAQUEMINES-UPPER ST BERNARD-UPPER TERREBONNE-
WALTHALL-WASHINGTON-WEST BATON ROUGE-WEST FELICIANA-WILKINSON-
330 PM CDT SAT APR 7 2007

...FREEZE WARNING FOR SOUTHWEST MISSISSIPPI...COASTAL MISSISSIPPI...
AND PARTS OF EAST CENTRAL LOUISIANA TONIGHT...
...PERIODS OF LIGHT SLEET FOR SOUTHWEST MISSISSIPPI...EAST CENTRAL LOUISIANA...AND AREAS SOUTH OF LAKE PONTCHARTRAIN THIS EVENING AND
OVERNIGHT...

STRONG...NORTH WINDS HAVE PUSHED UNSEASONABLY COLD AIR INTO THE GULF
SOUTH TODAY. IN ADDITION...AN AREA OF LOW PRESSURE WILL MOVE ACROSS
THE GULF OF MEXICO TONIGHT AND SUNDAY AND IS EXPECTED TO BRING
MORE LIGHT PRECIPITATION ACROSS THE AREA.

DURING THE LAST TWO HOURS...SLEET HAS FORMED OVER PARTS OF THE
NEW ORLEANS METROPOLITAN AREA...AS WELL AS OVER PARTS OF SOUTH
MISSISSIPPI. ADDITIONAL SLEET DEVELOPMENT IS EXPECTED THROUGH THE
EVENING HOURS AND INTO EARLY SUNDAY MORNING. SLEET IS MORE LIKELY TO
DEVELOP OVER SOUTHWEST MISSISSIPPI AND BORDERING EAST CENTRAL
LOUISIANA PARISHES. HOWEVER...PATCHES MAY OCCUR OVER AREAS SOUTH OF
LAKE PONTCHARTRAIN AND THE MISSISSIPPI GULF COAST. WHILE MOST OF THE
SLEET DEVELOPMENT WILL REMAIN LIGHT...SOME ACCUMULATIONS WILL BE
POSSIBLE ON BRIDGES AND OVERPASSES.

OVERNIGHT LOW TEMPERATURES WILL BE A CONCERN AS WELL TONIGHT.
TEMPERATURES WILL FALL TO NEAR THE FREEZING LEVEL ACROSS SOUTHWEST
MISSISSIPPI...COASTAL MISSISSIPPI...AND EAST-CENTRAL LOUISIANA. THESE
FREEZING TEMPERATURES WILL BE A DANGER TO TENDER VEGETATION THAT HAS
ALREADY BLOOMED DUE TO THE UNSEASONABLY WARM WEATHER OF THE PAST FEW
WEEKS. TENDER PLANTS SHOULD BE PROTECTED TONIGHT.

TEMPERATURES ARE EXPECTED TO FALL TO NEAR 40 DEGREES FOR AREAS SOUTH
OF LAKE PONTCHARTRAIN TONIGHT. THOUGH OVERNIGHT LOWS WILL NOT BE
QUITE AS COLD SUNDAY NIGHT...TENDER VEGETATION WOULD STILL BENEFIT
FROM PROTECTION.

THIS WEEKENDS TEMPERATURES ARE 20 TO 25 DEGREES BELOW NORMAL.
FREEZING TEMPERATURES IN APRIL ARE EXCEEDINGLY RARE IN OUR AREA. THE
LATEST FREEZES ON RECORD AT NEW ORLEANS INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT ARE
APRIL 8TH 1971...AND APRIL 13TH 1940 IN BATON ROUGE.

A MODERATING TREND WILL BEGIN ON MONDAY...BUT UNTIL THEN...BE
PREPARED FOR UNSEASONABLY COLD WEATHER. CONTINUE TO MONITOR LATER
STATEMENTS AND FORECASTS FOR UPDATES ON THIS COLD SPELL.

http://www.srh.noaa.gov/showsigwx.php?warnzone=LAZ062&warncounty=LAC071&local_place1=Arabi&product1=Special+Weather+Statement