With only one more cold night to go, the weather will soon transition to a much warmer pattern. The warmth will be felt by Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Rain will also become an important consideration for outdoor plans around the holiday.

Tonight & Tomorrow: Although many neighborhoods have already seen a light freeze this season, Baton Rouge managed to eclipse the 32° mark for the first time early Sunday (tying the fifth latest freeze on record, since 1930). Yet another cloud-free and cold night is expected into Monday morning. Look for a wake-up temperature in the mid-30s in Baton Rouge. And with areas of frost not off the table either. Some areas, especially north and east of Baton Rouge, will flirt with freezing. Keep pets and plants warm for another night. Southeast winds will take over on Monday, allowing highs to climb even higher. Expect a daytime high in the upper-60s under mainly sunny skies.

Christmas Eve & Christmas Day: The warming trend will continue on Christmas Eve as a warm front slides through, allowing highs to return to the 70s. While the entire daytime stretch will be dry locally, rain will be organizing to the west. Showers, and perhaps a few rumbles of thunder, will arrive late on the night of Christmas Eve. These showers could persist into Christmas Day on a scattered basis. The main "forcing" mechanism for these showers will be exiting through the afternoon. As a result, most of the shower activity should focus on Christmas morning with a downward trend in rain coverage through the afternoon. A washout is not the expectation, but be prepared to face the occasional shower. And fortunately, severe weather is not a major concern. Up to 0.5" of rain is possible with the Christmas Day showers.

Up Next: While rain coverages decline the day after Christmas, that will not mark the end of the warm and unsettled pattern. A few more round(s) of rain could arrive by Friday and Saturday. A cold front appears to finally move through on Sunday, but even that won't produce a major temperature drop.

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-- Meteorologist Malcolm Byron

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