Fourth of July plans may have to be moved indoors if a weather forecast for afternoon scattered thunderstorms holds true.
The National Weather Service’s Lake Charles office is reporting chance of rain starting Saturday and continuing through Sunday.
Friday, however, will be dry, Roger Erickson, meteorologist with the NWS Lake Charles office, said.
According to Erickson, there will be scattered showers and thunderstorms across the region during the day on Saturday, but most of the activity will be weakening and dissipating in the early evening hours.
“There is a small chance that some of these storms could be strong, capable of producing gusty winds and deadly lightning,” Erickson said.
Friday will be mostly sunny, with a high near 92. Heat index values will be as high as 103, with south winds around 10 mph.
By Friday night, clouds will begin to move into the region.
On Independence Day, a system moving from the north will increase chance of showers and thunderstorms to 30 percent, mainly after 1 p.m.
Temperatures on the Fourth will reach 90 with winds 5 to 10 mph.
“It will be pretty wet on the Fourth with lots of lightning, gusting winds, mostly in the afternoon,” Andy Tingler, NWS meteorologist with the Lake Charles office, said. “Odds are most of the storms will be done by 9 p.m., at least in the Beaumont-Port Arthur area.”
Chance of in the Lakes area will be higher, 40 percent; while the rain chances at Port Bolivar are expected to be around 30 percent on the Fourth of July.
Next week is expected to be dry and hot with maximum afternoon heat indices soaring up to the 100 to 105 range, just a little below the threshold for excessive heat advisories.
The tropics will be quiet for the next week in the Gulf of Mexico, Caribbean, and Atlantic Ocean.
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