Winter storm heading toward parish

A winter storm packing ice, snow and dangerously low temperatures, the likes of which Lincoln Parish hasn’t seen in decades, is heading toward the area.

Already, the storm is expected to make for hazardous travel and potentially widespread power outages.

“Beginning Sunday night, we could see a significant winter storm coming into our area: snow, sleet, ice, just a mix of everything,” Kip Franklin, parish director of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness, said Thursday. “It’s going to get cold, and you better be ready.”

Though freezing rain is possible tonight across portions of North Central and Northwest Louisiana, it’s Sunday and Monday that could pack the first big wallop.

“It looks very complex for the next few days,” meteorologist Brandi Travis, with the National Weather Service in Shreveport, said. “We may be looking at multiple rounds of winter weather.”

The coldest temperatures are projected for Monday night, with lows dropping to around 11 degrees.

“Out in the rural areas, definitely single digits are going to be a probability,” Travis said.

Tonight’s low is expected to be in the 20s. On Saturday, the high inches to 35 degrees Fahrenheit. The temperature drops back into the 20s Saturday night and isn’t forecast to climb above freezing until Wednesday — the day a second round of snow and freezing rain could begin.

For now, the heaviest snow event is expected Monday, with an 80% chance of precipitation. Accumulations of up to 3 inches are forecast.

But “we may be piling that on top of ice accumulation and sleet accumulation,” Travis said.

Both parish and Ruston officials have begun getting ready for the pending bad weather. They’re checking equipment and getting extra personnel in place.

The anticipated extreme cold poses an additional hazard with the storms, Ruston Public Works Director John Freeman said.

Whereas storm damage is typically confined to power lines, water lines and pumps come into play with prolonged hard freezes, he said.

“Now you have to prepare for that which you have in the ground,” Freeman said.

Officials are urging residents to plan now to protect exposed pipes, as well as to provide for livestock, pets and plants.

Because Monday is President’s Day, all local elementary and secondary schools will already be closed, as will city and parish offices. Louisiana Tech closes Saturday for the annual Mardi Gras holiday.