087 FXUS64 KLIX 050504 AFDLIXArea Forecast Discussion National Weather Service New Orleans LA 1204 AM CDT Fri Sep 5 2025
...New SHORT TERM, LONG TERM, AVIATION, MARINE...
.SHORT TERM... (Today through Saturday) Issued at 1201 AM CDT Fri Sep 5 2025
Upper ridging from southern California to British Columbia with the main upper low along the Quebec-Ontario border on Thursday evening. A strong shortwave was rotating around the upper low and was over North Dakota. High pressure was centered over Kansas and Missouri.
Dry air is in place with precipitable water values near the 25th percentile, around 1.4 inches. This improves slightly by Saturday to about 1.7 inches, which is only right around the median for the first half of September. Mid-level lapse rates are relatively weak, around 5.5 C/km, though. With a shortwave and frontal boundary in the area, a few showers or thunderstorms can not be entirely ruled out, but anything much more than 20 percent PoPs is probably pushing things.
Dry air in place should allow some pretty strong solar insolation with highs 90 to 95 today. With somewhat better moisture on Saturday aiding in cloud production, highs Saturday could be a couple degrees cooler than today.
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.LONG TERM... (Saturday night through Thursday) Issued at 1201 AM CDT Fri Sep 5 2025
With upper ridging remaining near Bermuda and over the Rockies, that leaves upper troughing over the eastern half of the country. Shortwaves diving southeastward through that upper trough will reinforce drier air every couple of days. There may be brief windows where showers or thunderstorms could occur during this portion of the forecast. One would be the continuation from the short term into Sunday for the extreme southwest portion of the area, and then perhaps another around Tuesday or Wednesday. Both of those again would not be much more than 20-30 PoPs for most of the area, and that might be overstating things. Precipitation chances for Tuesday and Wednesday could be slightly higher near the Louisiana coast, but even there, below 50 percent.
The drier air would probably be more noticeable in overnight lows, with lows in the 60s north of Interstate 10 on multiple mornings. There is even some support in the ECMWF ensemble for overnight lows approaching 60 degrees across northwest portions of the area on Monday and/or Tuesday morning. For now, we won`t be going with anything that cool, but it is a reminder that we`re approaching the equinox in a couple weeks. We should still be able to warm efficiently, so highs in the upper 80s and lower 90s still look to be reasonable for most of the period. The coolest day will probably be Monday, when it is possible we stay in the 80s area-wide.
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.AVIATION... (06Z TAFS) Issued at 1201 AM CDT Fri Sep 5 2025
Mainly VFR conditions through the forecast period. May be brief visibility restrictions (MVFR) at KMCB around sunrise, and perhaps KBTR, but those will mix out pretty quickly.
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.MARINE... Issued at 1201 AM CDT Fri Sep 5 2025
Winds should be rather variable through Saturday and seas will run around 1 foot. Heading into next week, another frontal passage Sunday night or Monday will bring an increased pressure gradient to the waters, potentially exceeding 15 knots over the open waters by Monday morning. Seas will respond to these stronger winds and increase into the 2 to 4 foot range, with these wind and wave conditions potentially continuing into Tuesday or Wednesday.
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.PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... MCB 94 71 91 69 / 0 0 20 10 BTR 94 73 92 73 / 0 0 20 10 ASD 91 71 92 71 / 0 0 10 10 MSY 91 76 91 77 / 0 0 10 10 GPT 89 73 90 72 / 0 0 10 10 PQL 89 72 91 71 / 0 0 10 10
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.LIX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... LA...None. GM...None. MS...None. GM...None. &&
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NWS LIX Office Area Forecast Discussion