Good morning! I'm Aaron Jolly. And welcome to the Louisiana Weather Podcast — it's Tuesday, February 24th.

Step outside right now and you'll feel winter taking its final bow. But stick around.. Because Louisiana's about to crank the heat.

Down in Southeast Louisiana, you're waking up to a freeze warning — 38 degrees at 5 A.M. Dress warmly for that morning commute. But by 4 P.M.? You'll hit 63 degrees under brilliant sunshine. The winds flip from northeast to south around 11 A.M., like someone switched on the warm air. Tonight stays mild at 51 degrees, then keeps climbing overnight.

The Capital Region starts even colder — 33 degrees at 5 A.M. — but rebounds just as fast. You'll reach 63 degrees by 3 P.M. South winds arrive around 10 A.M., pushing overnight lows to 49 degrees.. Then *rising* to 53 by dawn. That's right — temperatures go *up* overnight. Classic Louisiana move.

Northwest Louisiana skips the deep freeze, starting at 33 degrees around 6 A.M. Steady south winds at 12 miles an hour shove you to 68 degrees by 4 P.M. Tonight holds at 53 degrees.

For the week. Wednesday brings a dramatic warm-up — mid-70s statewide. Southeast and Capital Region both hit 74 degrees. Northwest? A toasty 79 degrees. Thursday flirts with 80 and rain chances arrive by evening. Friday through Monday stays warm — upper 70s to low 80s — with mostly sunny skies. Maybe a stray shower Sunday.

Winter's last stand ends today. By Wednesday, we're 32 degrees above normal. And that sunshine? We're gaining nearly 2 minutes of daylight every single day.

That's your forecast — we'll be back tomorrow.