James Spann: Alabama sees more rain Tuesday, Wednesday; Halloween looking cool

CLOUDY, COOL OCTOBER DAY: Clouds cover most of Alabama this afternoon with temperatures in the 50s and low 60s; only the southwest corner of the state is enjoying a sunny sky. The range at mid-afternoon is from 54 degrees at Fort Payne to 82 degrees at Gulf Shores. A few sprinkles are moving across the Tennessee Valley; those fade by sunset.

Tomorrow will be generally dry and cool with only a small risk of any one given spot seeing a brief shower. Then, another round of rain will move into the state tomorrow night into Wednesday morning. The air will be cool and stable, and we don’t expect any thunder. This area of rain will move out of the state by midday Wednesday, but a few spotty showers are possible during the afternoon and evening hours.

THURSDAY THROUGH THE WEEKEND: The weather looks dry with cool days and chilly nights. Most North Alabama communities will drop into the 30s early Friday and Saturday morning with some scattered frost likely. Highs on Halloween and over the weekend will be in the 60s over North Alabama, with low 70s for the southern counties.

At this point much of the following week (November 3-7) looks dry with seasonal temperatures … See the video briefing for maps, graphics and more details.

TROPICS: This afternoon dangerous Hurricane Melissa is packing sustained winds of 175 mph about 145 miles southwest of Kingston, Jamaica. It is moving to the west/northwest at only 3 mph.

Melissa is forecast to turn north and move over Jamaica tomorrow morning. Catastrophic and life-threatening flash flooding and numerous landslides are likely today through tomorrow. Catastrophic winds in the eyewall have the potential to cause total structural failure especially in higher elevation areas tonight and early tomorrow. This will result in extensive infrastructural damage, long-lasting power and communication outages, and isolated communities. Life-threatening storm surge and damaging waves are expected along the southern coast through tomorrow.

Melissa will move over the eastern tip of Cuba Wednesday morning, as it turns northeast. It will remain well east of the U.S. Atlantic coast. The rest of the Atlantic basin is quiet, and no tropical storms or hurricanes are expected across the Gulf for at least the next 10 days.

ON THIS DATE IN 2006: A waterspout came ashore and caused significant damage as an EF-1 tornado on the west side of Apalachicola on the Florida coast.

For more weather news and information from James Spann and his team, visit the Alabama Weather Network.