Marine Weather and Tide Forecast for Hackberry, LA

DISCUSSION
(This evening through next Friday)
Issued at 130 PM CDT Sat Apr 18 2026

Saturday afternoon surface analysis shows a cold front draped from the Great Lakes to south Texas, making its way into the northwestern edge of the forecast area at the time of this writing. Scattered shower activity is ongoing ahead of this front, with more widespread activity to our NW/N. The boundary will continue on its south/southeastward trek this afternoon/evening, exiting the forecast area by midnight tonight. As it does so, shower activity along with a few thunderstorms will overspread the region, with convection expected both ahead of and behind the front as dry air lags well behind. So, while the boundary itself exits the region by midnight, shower activity will linger a while longer, tapering off north to south from around midnight through sunrise tomorrow.

18Z sounding at LCH shows a PWAT of 1.54" which is right at the 90th percentile according to SPC climo, while forecast soundings show PWATs possibly increasing a bit further over the next couple of hours as onshore flow pumps Gulf moisture inland. With ample moisture available, heavy rainfall is likely, some of which may lead to areas of flooding. A Marginal Risk (level 1 of 4) for Excessive Rainfall remains in place for the majority of the forecast area, excluding the northern most zones and areas of deep south Acadiana.
Fortunately, this looks to be just a heavy rain event, which given the ongoing drought is definitely needed, and severe weather is not expected.

Rainfall tapers off through early tomorrow morning as a much drier and cooler airmass filters down into the region and surface high pressure settles over the Ark-La-Tex. Dewpoints fall into the upper 30s to mid 40s through tomorrow afternoon, while highs top out in the low to mid 70s. A combo of breezy winds and dry air will bring about some minor fire danger concerns tomorrow, but thankfully tonight's expected rainfall should help to keep fire danger mostly in check. Moving into the work week, surface high pressure slides east across the southeastern CONUS, allowing surface winds to return to an E/SE flow overhead. A warming and moistening trend begins on Tuesday and continues through the end of the forecast period, with highs returning to the mid to upper 80s by the end of the week. In addition, a combination of increasing moisture and a weak disturbance in the western Gulf will bring an uptick in rain chances for SE TX and parts of SW LA Tues and Wed. Better rain chances will exist to our west/southwest along the lower TX coast, but areas of showers could make their way further north through this period.



MARINE
Issued at 130 PM CDT Sat Apr 18 2026

A cold front will move through the coastal waters tonight with shower and thunderstorm activity expected with the frontal passage through tomorrow morning. Northerly winds ramp up in the wake of the front, approaching gale criteria for the western marine zones overnight into Sunday. As a result, a gale warning has been issued for the outer Gulf waters west of Intracoastal City for Sunday morning, with a small craft advisory for the remaining Gulf waters and all lakes/bays for this time frame. Tomorrow afternoon, the gale warning drops off and a small craft advisory will be in affect for all marine zones (excluding lakes and bays) through the evening hours. Winds remain breezy thereafter but only borderline with SCA criteria.

Winds will turn easterly to southeasterly starting Monday afternoon and diminish to around 10-15 kt, which will likely continue for much of the rest of the week. A few showers and thunderstorms may become possible towards the middle of the week as disturbance develops near the south TX coast.

FIRE WEATHER
Issued at 130 PM CDT Sat Apr 18 2026

A cold front will bring scattered to numerous showers and thunderstorms this afternoon through early Sunday morning before a drier airmass works its way into the region for the second half of the weekend. Breezy north the northeast winds develop overnight behind the front and persist throughout tomorrow, with gusts around 20-25kts expected. Strong winds and much drier air (minRH values in the upper 20s to mid 30s) will bring slightly elevated fire weather concerns for tomorrow afternoon. However, a good soaking rain is expected overnight, which should help to keep most fire concerns in check therefore no fire weather products have been issued at this time. This dry airmass remains in place for Monday, but fire concerns will be lesser as winds will be lighter, around 5-10 kt.
Flow shifts to the southeast starting Tuesday, which will increase moisture over the area and mitigate fire weather concerns through the remainder of the forecast period.

LCH WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES
LA...None.
TX...None.
GM...Small Craft Advisory from 1 AM to 1 PM CDT Sunday for GMZ430-432- 435-436.

Small Craft Advisory from 1 AM to 7 PM CDT Sunday for GMZ450-452- 455-475.

Gale Warning from 1 AM to 1 PM CDT Sunday for GMZ470-472.

Small Craft Advisory from 1 PM to 7 PM CDT Sunday for GMZ470-472.