All Calcasieu Parish public schools and facilities will close at 11:45 a.m. Tuesday morning due to a severe weather threat in Southwest Louisiana.

Calcasieu Parish School Board spokesperson Holly Holland said that with sustained winds expected near 30 miles per hour by mid-afternoon, the safe transportation of students was a concern.

“The safety of our students, faculty, and staff will always be our primary focus, and we feel that this decision is in the best interest of all,” she said in an email to the American Press. “Students will be dismissed following normal transportation plans, and all students will receive lunch prior to leaving campus.”

Holland said students who are normally transported to different campuses during the day will not be transported tomorrow and all after-school activities are canceled.

The Curriculum and Instruction Committee meeting originally set for Tuesday has been rescheduled for 5 p.m. Jan. 31.

All Jeff Davis Parish schools will be running a half-day schedule on Tuesday with no school dismissing before 11:30 a.m. Dismissal schedules will be released by individual schools. All athletic events will also be canceled.

All Allen Parish public schools will also close at 11:30 a.m. on Tuesday.

All Beauregard Parish public schools will close at 11 a.m. Tuesday.

The National Weather Service’s Lake Charles office said showers and scattered thunderstorms are expected to develop around sunrise Tuesday as a cold front  moves across the Gulf Coast. The front is expected to spread east and leave a trail of rain into late Tuesday evening. The agency said most locations will receive between an inch and three inches of rainfall, with locally higher amounts possible. These heavier rains could produce localized flooding, the agency said.

Damaging wind gusts and possible tornadoes are the primary threats with these storms, the agency said, with strong tornadoes possible. Frequent cloud-to-ground lightning will also be possible.