First Alert Forecast: Skies clearing Friday with warmer temperatures for the first half of the weekend

LAKE CHARLES, La. (KPLC) - Much more cheerful weather is moving in to finish out our week, but rain could make a return before the next.

The low that brought us numerous showers Thursday is quickly moving out of the picture. With it goes it’s damp influence, with drier weather set to take place for Friday and Saturday. Skies will steadily clear during the day and winds will shift to out of the northeast, helping temperatures to return close to seasonable levels. Plenty of sunshine will be back by the afternoon, which will let highs climb in the 60s and lows in the mid/upper 40s.

All in all, Friday is shaping up to be a nice day to enjoy time outdoors, get some shopping done, or bring those Thanksgiving leftovers for a snack on the porch.

Saturday will not be much different, though some upper-level clouds may start filtering back in by later in the day. This is due to the next cold front that will start to approach the area.

The timing on the next cold front is proving hard to pin down with several disturbances expected to move across the area. However, rain is still looking more likely late overnight Saturday into Sunday morning, though there does not appear to be a severe weather risk with this front aside from a stray thunderstorm. If the timing of the front holds, much of any shower or rain activity may actually leave by the afternoon, which would result in a nicer day overall.

This is still plenty of room for this to change. Rainfall amounts currently do not look that impressive, perhaps up to half an inch. However, we could see rain coverage and amounts increase significantly should we see more moisture along the front, which we will be watching closely for those of you travelling back from the Holiday.

Regardless of timing, the front will bring another round of cold air. Much of next week will likely be cool with highs in the 50s under mostly cloudy skies and lows in the 40s, with some mid/upper 30′s possible in our northern parishes on Tuesday morning. That could allow for some areas of frost to develop if winds relax enough or skies clear, and we’ll watch this too as we head into next week.

For a look at current conditions, our hour-by-hour forecast, radar, and other forecasting tools, visit the KPLC weather page: https://www.kplctv.com/weather/

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