LAFAYETTE, La. (KPEL News) - Despite an unexpectedly frozen week in the middle of January this year, Louisiana tends to avoid extremely cold weather. When ice and snow does come, we're kind of at a loss.

But when Spring rolls around, we tend to get excited. Spring means warmer weather, beautiful gardens, fish fries, and crawfish. For Louisiana, particularly along the coastline, it also means rain.

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According to long-range forecasts like those from the Old Farmer's Almanac, we may be looking at more rain than normal this spring.

April Showers, May Flowers

As we get into the spring season in Louisiana, things will turn warm again - and probably stay that way. But the Old Farmer's Almanac is also predicting a fairly damp spring for Louisiana and other parts of the Deep South.

And, unfortunately, plenty of opportunities for more severe weather.

NOAA via Unsplash.com
NOAA via Unsplash.com
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"A fairly active severe weather season is expected, with the potential for damaging winds, hail, and tornadoes—especially in the Deep South, which is forecast to see a wetter-than-normal spring and more frequent thunderstorms," the almanac's spring weather forecast explained.

It also noted the following:

The Deep South will have normal temperatures in April but warmer-than-normal temps in May. It will be wetter than usual overall, particularly in the southern areas of Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama. Above-average temperatures will persist through the summer.

A Good Spring for Gardening?

If you want to take advantage of the warm and wet weather potentially headed our way this spring, the LSU AgCenter says now is the time to start planting.

"While it may seem early to think about spring gardening, it’s really not, especially when we are talking about growing plants from seeds," the AgCenter explains. "We want to be able to transplant seedlings into the garden soon after the average last frost date. In south Louisiana, the danger of frost usually passes by about March 15, and in northern parishes, that date is typically around April 1."

"Because it can take up to eight weeks for a seed to grow into a small plant that’s sturdy enough to be transplanted," the AgCenter continues, "it’s important to get started now."

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