A sharp cold front will usher in winter-like temperatures back into Acadiana early Tuesday morning. Highs Wednesday may not make it out of the 40s despite sunshine returning by the afternoon. It will be dry in New Orleans too for Tuesday afternoon/evening for the Saints Parade but dress warmly as temperatures will stay in the 40s accompanied by a blustery northwest wind. Temperatures will likely drop to near or below the freezing mark in Acadiana for Wednesday morning so it’s time again to tend to the tender vegetation. Wednesday will be cool, partly sunny and dry, but clouds will be increasing late in the day. It will get interesting Thursday as a quick-developing storm system will likely bring cold rains to the area. This may bring winter weather conditions to the northern part of the state and as close as Central Louisiana at the onset of the precipitation and perhaps when things wind down Thursday night. If the track of the developing surface low goes farther south than is currently forecast we could see a forecast tilted to some sort of wintry mix. Right now though we’ll go with very chilly rains with at least 1-2″ of rain possible…if not maybe a little more. In the wake of Thursday’s system cold and dry weather should follow that will likely carry us through much of the Mardi Gras holiday weekend. Showers could return though for Fat Tuesday…so stay tuned to KATC for that, updates on the weather system tonight, and then for the one on Thursday…as always the forecast is subject to change!