Snow possible Friday night in Capital Region

The potential for snow or sleet exists throughout the Capital Region on Friday night, according to the National Weather Service’s New Orleans/Baton Rouge office. A strong upper-level trough will move across the South Friday and Friday night, and a cold airmass is already established over the region. The combination provides the potential for areas of snow or snow mixed with sleet Friday night. In a special weather statement issued this morning, an all-snow line will begin to move into the area from the northwest around sunset Friday and should be located along a line from Bayou Sorrel to Hattiesburg, Miss., by midnight. This includes the Baton Rouge area, where temperatures are expected to fall to near freezing, and there is a 60% chance of precipitation. A snow-sleet mix should exist along a line from Thibodaux to Saucier, Miss., at midnight, including the Northshore of Lake Pontchartrain. A rain-sleet mix should exist along a line from Houma to Ocean Springs, Miss., by midnight, including the New Orleans metropolitan area, Gulfport and Biloxi, Miss. Winter-weather advisories could be issued later today or early Friday for the area. Meanwhile, the National Weather Service office in Lake Charles has issued a Winter Storm Watch from Friday evening through late Friday night for southeast Texas and southwest and central Louisiana. For more on the winter-weather conditions possible for the Capital Region, click here for the NWS New Orleans/Baton Rouge office Web site.