POWERFUL SOLAR FLARES IN PROGRESS

 POWERFUL SOLAR FLARES IN PROGRESS: New sunspot 4366 has an unstable 'delta-class' magnetic field that is crackling with strong solar flares. Earlier today it produced a M7-X1-M6 flare that collectively lasted more than 6 hours. X marks the spot in this snapshot from NASA's Solar Dynamics  Observatory: 

Extreme ultraviolet radiation from the flare ionized the top of Earth's atmosphere. This, in turn, caused a shortwave radio blackout centered on the South Atlantic, touching the edges of South America and Africa: map. Ham radio operators may have experienced loss of signal below 20 MHz for hours around 1230 UTC.

Is a CME heading for Earth? The jury's still out. First-look data suggest "no," but this conclusion may be overturned by fresh data from NOAA and SOHO coronagraphs. Stay tuned.

Source: spaceweather.com

EXTREME COLD WATCH

 

EXTREME COLD WATCH: Wind chills Sunday night and Monday night fall into single digits and teens. Bring your pets and plants inside and check on your neighbors! Everyone needs to have pipes protected as well.

12PM 1/18/2026

 

12PM 1/18/2026: Beautiful day out there today, but chilly! Temps in the mid/upper 40's.

Cold tonight! Several hours of below freezing temperatures along the I-10/12 corridor, south into the Atchafalaya Basin. Bundle up in the morning! Another cold one Mon night/Tue morning. Take precautions & stay warm!

This Martin Luther King Jr. Weekend

 This Martin Luther King Jr. weekend will be a bit chilly with Sunday being the coldest day of the weekend. Temperatures will only warm into the mid 50s tomorrow after starting out in the 40s and skies will be mostly cloudy. Occasional light rain showers will also affect areas mainly south of I-10 along the MS and LA coasts. Late Saturday night, the rain may briefly change over to some snow flurries on the MS coast, but no accumulation is anticipated. Sunday will be sunny and cool with the day starting out in the upper 20s and lower 30s. Highs will struggle to reach 50 in most locations. Monday will continue to the cool trend with lows once again falling into the upper 20s and lower 30s, but highs should warm to the mid to upper 50s by the afternoon beneath a mostly sunny sky.

Jan 13, 2pm -- Expect chilly to cold overnight low temps the next few days.

Coldest will be early Friday morning. First graphic is our current forecast; Second graphic is the reasonable worst cast to keep in mind.

This is still a few days away, so stay tuned for any adjustments.

 

The rain has mostly moved out of SE LA with only some lingering showers remaining. There is still the chances for locally heavy rain and some flooding over Coastal MS. Otherwise, sun should return with temperature in the lower 80s.

.TONIGHT...Mostly clear. Cooler with lows around 60. Northwest
winds 5 to 10 mph. 
.WEDNESDAY...Sunny, cooler with highs in the lower 70s.
Temperature falling into the mid 60s in the afternoon. Northwest
winds 15 to 20 mph with gusts up to 30 mph. 
.WEDNESDAY NIGHT...Mostly clear. Cooler with lows in the upper
40s. North winds 15 to 20 mph. 
.THURSDAY...Sunny. Highs in the mid 60s. Northwest winds 10 to
15 mph. 
.THURSDAY NIGHT...Clear. Lows in the mid 40s. West winds 10 to
15 mph. 
.FRIDAY...Sunny. Highs in the lower 60s. 
.FRIDAY NIGHT...Mostly clear. Lows in the mid 40s. 
.SATURDAY...Sunny. Highs in the lower 60s. 
.SATURDAY NIGHT AND SUNDAY...Mostly clear. Lows around 50. Highs
in the mid 70s. 
.SUNDAY NIGHT THROUGH TUESDAY...Partly cloudy. Lows in the mid
60s. Highs in the upper 70s. 

Invest 99L

The NHC has issued an Invest for the area of disturbance weather in the Caribbean. Invest 99L. It is predicted the undergo tropical cyclone genesis in the next few days and form a depression as conditions are favorable for development. Still very early and since nothing has formed the computer modeling is low accuracy in the long term. But ensemble trending has it pulling up into the Gulf of Mexico and the trend is a pull to the East. Unfortunately, this is looking more like a Florida storm. Everyone from the panhandle to the keys should be keeping an eye on this and preparing for tropical weather or hurricane impacts as soon as next week.  Here are the operational model mosaic, ensembles for GFS, EURO, Canadian as well as the intensity mosaic. #SELAWX