NEW ORLEANS (WGNO) — A very hot and humid weather pattern is set to continue for the next several days along the Gulf Coast.
Temperatures are not expected to cool much overnight with lows only dropping into the mid 70s for the Florida Parishes and low 80s for locations south of Lake Pontchartrain.
High temperatures Friday through the weekend will be close to record levels, topping out between 95 and 97 degrees most days. Heat index values or “feels like temperatures” will reach the upper 90s by 9 a.m. before topping out between 108° and 115° in the afternoon. An Excessive Heat Watch is in effect from Friday morning through Friday evening.
This hot pattern is set to continue for the next week or so. Rain chances also appear to remain low for the next few days, so there will be little relief from afternoon showers. The best chance to see storms will be in the northeastern part of the area up I-59. Saturday afternoon could see a cluster of storms moving through these areas. If that does occur then severe weather would be possible.
In the tropics, the National Hurricane Center is monitoring a tropical wave moving off the coast of Africa over the next day or two. The NHC gives this system a 20 percent chance of formation over the next seven days.