FXUS64 KLCH 190533 AFDLCH Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Lake Charles LA 1233 AM CDT Thu Mar 19 2026 ...New AVIATION... .KEY MESSAGES... - A warming trend will begin today and stretch through the weekend - High temperatures will be in the mid 80s to near 90 across interior areas this weekend and early next week - Dry conditions continue, with no rain expected for the remainder of the forecast period && .SHORT TERM... (Tonight through Friday night) Issued at 155 PM CDT Wed Mar 18 2026 Surface high pressure extends from New England to the NE Gulf Coast this afternoon, providing southerly winds across the forecast area. Aloft, a large ridge is building across the western CONUS, while a weakening trough is over the eastern CONUS, resulting in a NWrly flow overhead. This has resulted in a dry and seasonal afternoon, with temperatures expected to top out around 70 degrees. Upper ridging will continue to amplify over the western CONUS through the end of the week, keeping a mainly NW to N flow overhead aloft. At the surface, high pressure will linger over the Eastern Seaboard through Friday, keeping a mainly SW surface flow in place. This will result in further dry conditions, along with a rapid warming trend as we head towards the weekend. highs will reach into the mid 70s to near 80 tomorrow and into the upper 70s to low 80s on Friday. 17 && .LONG TERM... (Saturday through next Tuesday) Issued at 155 PM CDT Wed Mar 18 2026 Moving into the weekend, western CONUS upper ridging begins to shift eastward and flatten out from Saturday through Sunday while SWrly flow continues at the surface. This will bring about further warming, with highs reaching into the mid/upper 80s across interior portions of the forecast area and low/mid 80s elsewhere. Moisture return will be ongoing but rather slow thanks to SW flow at the surface and ridging building in aloft, with PWATs remaining near average. Therefore, no rainfall is expected. Moving into the work week, upper ridging continues to build eastward, while at the surface a weak boundary slides into the region late Monday. While this front won't really be noticeable it will hold the ongoing warming trend in check, with highs continuing to reach into the low to mid 80s. && .AVIATION... (06Z TAFS) Issued at 1229 AM CDT Thu Mar 19 2026 VFR conditions ongoing and expected to prevail with southerly winds relaxing tonight before picking up slightly tomorrow. We could see a few areas of patchy ground fog at some of the terminals, however with minimal impacts expected and low confidence in locations, this was not added to this TAF cycle. && .MARINE... Issued at 155 PM CDT Wed Mar 18 2026 Light south to southwest winds and low seas will continue through the end of the week and into the weekend as surface high pressure lingers to our east. Ridging building in aloft will keep dry conditions in place, with no precipitation expected through the forecast period. && .FIRE WEATHER... Issued at 155 PM CDT Wed Mar 18 2026 Dry conditions will begin to slowly moderate today through the later half of the week as light S to SW flow prevails. MinRH values will generally range from the mid 30s to mid 40s for inland locations, and from the upper 40s to mid 50s for areas along/south of I-10. While moisture slowly returns through the period, no rainfall is expected for the foreseeable future. && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... AEX 78 53 83 57 / 0 0 0 0 LCH 75 57 78 61 / 0 0 0 0 LFT 77 56 79 60 / 0 0 0 0 BPT 77 57 81 61 / 0 0 0 0 && .LCH WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... LA...None. TX...None. GM...None. && $$ SHORT TERM...17 LONG TERM....17 AVIATION...87LCH-883270