A nice, breezy and pleasant weekend is on tap for Acadiana while the tropics remain busy in the Caribbean with the 10th tropical storm of the season forming near Colombia earlier Friday.
Locally and in the near term, expect fair to partly cloudy and milder conditions for Acadiana overnight through Saturday morning as a weak frontal system works its way toward the coast by daybreak.
Temperatures will hold mostly in the mid-60s overnight thanks to additional cloud cover moving in from the southwest.
After some morning clouds mostly sunny skies will return to the area, with breezy northeasterly winds near 10-15 mph and gusts up to 20-25 mph.
And with the very dry conditions of late, there will be some localized "dusty" gusts in the region.
It will be cooler Saturday night with lows dipping into the mid-upper 50s in most spots.
Lots of sun and less wind are anticipated Sunday with highs in the mid-80s.
Acadiana's fair weather pattern will continue early next week through Tuesday before it gets a little more interesting with some tropical moisture surging northward toward the region Wednesday into Thursday.
There could be a good chance of rain and perhaps locally heavy downpours into Thursday for portions of the Gulf Coast as a stronger front pushes through the region, but there could be a possible tropical element in the Gulf next week as well...more on this below.
Thereafter, it appear that the stronger front will usher in definitively cooler and more fall-like conditions for the following weekend.
See the KATC 10 Day Forecast for the latest.
Meanwhile in the tropics, the National Hurricane Center upgraded Tropical Depression 13 to Tropical Storm Julia in the Southern Caribbean Sea near the northern most portions of Colombia with 40 mph winds.
As the system moves westward it is expected to strengthen to a Category 1 hurricane by Saturday night prior to making landfall near Nicaragua late Saturday night or early Sunday.
This system will bring locally heavy rains to Central America, including Nicaragua, Honduras, Guatemala and portions of Mexico where incidentally, some heavy rains have been already preceding the system.
It gets more interesting for the Gulf of Mexico thereafter as the dissipating storm system Sunday may split into two parts, with some moisture and perhaps some spin heading for the Eastern Pacific and/or some moisture and spin manifesting in the Southwestern Gulf of Mexico early next week.
The long range models both hint at this possible scenario with the potential of a lower end tropical or hybrid system developing in the Gulf ahead of a strong frontal boundary that will be pushing into the region toward the end of next week.
While there are no immediate worries for the Gulf Coast at this time, a conduit of deep tropical moisture and perhaps the chance of some soaking rains could impact portions of the Northern Gulf Coast, including parts of Louisiana and Acadiana by next Wednesday, or more likely Thursday.
Something to watch this weekend into next week.
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