James Spann: A few spotty afternoon storms for Alabama with highs mostly in the low 90s

SUMMER DAYS: Classic summer weather continues across Alabama and the Deep South through the weekend. That means partly sunny, hot, humid days with the risk of a passing afternoon or evening shower or thunderstorm in scattered spots. Afternoon highs will be mostly in the low 90s through Saturday, followed by mid 90s Sunday. The chance of any given location seeing a shower is 30-40% today and Friday, dropping to 20-30% by the weekend. Most of the scattered storms will come from about 1 until 10 p.m.

NEXT WEEK: The upper ridge strengthens, and we expect the hottest weather so far this summer during the first half of next week, with afternoon highs between 97 and 100 degrees. Heat levels slowly fall late in the week as the ridge shifts westward a bit. Afternoon showers and storms are always possible in summer, but they should be few and far between Monday through Wednesday thanks to the ridge.

TROPICS: A trough of low pressure over the northeastern Gulf is producing a broad area of disorganized showers and thunderstorms. Over the next day or two, this system is forecast to move generally westward across the north-central and northeastern portion of the Gulf, where some slow development is possible. By this weekend, the system is likely to move inland, ending its chances for development.

The National Hurricane Center gives this only a 10% chance of development. The weather along the central Gulf Coast (Gulf Shores to Panama City Beach) will be routine through the weekend with the usual mix of sun and scattered storms. However, there will be a high risk of rip currents Friday.

The rest of the Atlantic basin remains very quiet.

ON THIS DATE IN 1936: Lincoln, Nebraska, saw an all-time high temperature of 115 degrees. The low only dropped to 91 degrees and the average temperature was 103. Many people spent the night sleeping outside to escape the heat.

ON THIS DATE IN 1956: The Andrea Doria sank in dense fog near Nantucket Lightship, Massachusetts. The Swedish-American liner Stockholm hit the ship 45 miles off the coast of Massachusetts. Fifty-two people drowned or were killed by the impact.

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