Air Quality Alert in effect; increasing rain chances to end the week

BATON ROUGE, La. (WAFB) - Wednesday will be the last day this week the area will stay completely dry.

High pressure remains parked overhead for the time being. Humidity levels remain low, meaning we will be dealing with a dry heat. Highs are forecast to reach the low 90°s Wednesday afternoon.

The Louisiana DEQ has issued a ‘same day’ Ozone Action Day alert for the Baton Rouge area. Ozone levels at the Bayou Plaquemine monitoring site have been running higher than forecasted, with the updated afternoon forecast now suggesting that Bayou Plaquemine could reach the ‘Code Orange’ concentration levels later this afternoon, prompting the Action Day declaration.

Code Orange is defined as ozone levels that are “unhealthy for sensitive groups,” which includes the elderly, the very young, and those with pre-existing respiratory concerns. Sensitive individuals are encouraged to limit their time outdoors this afternoon and early evening. The Baton Rouge area AQI (Air Quality Index) forecast for Thursday is currently posted as Code Yellow, indicating moderate ozone concentrations are expected.

Showers and t-storms will begin to pop up on Thursday. Rain activity will hold off until the mid and late afternoon. Coverage will be widely scattered meaning many will stay dry.

Better rain coverage is expected Friday and Saturday as the local area is sandwiched between two storm systems. An area of low pressure will be moving into Florida off the East Coast by the end of the week all while a trough approaches from the west-northwest. The combination of these two features will produce a possibility for localized heavy rain pockets and a few strong storms capable of gusty winds. Rain coverage Friday will max at around 60% of the viewing area and 50% on Saturday. If you have outdoor plans either day, consider having an indoor option available. Neither day is expected to be a wash out.

Showers will linger into Sunday as the trough bypasses the area to the north. Over the 4 day stretch of Thursday-Sunday most will pick up around 0.5″. But we could see localized pockets of 1-3″. High pressure returns as we move into the following week. This will cause temperatures to once again increase and the weather to remain dry.

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