James Spann: Dry Friday ahead for Alabama; a few storms over the weekend

WARM SPRING DAY: With a partly to mostly sunny sky, temperatures are in the 80s over Alabama this afternoon. Nothing is on the radar; tonight will be fair with a low between 67 and 73 degrees.

Friday will be another dry, very warm day, with a high between 87 and 90 degrees for most communities. A line of storms will likely enter the far northern part of the state around midnight ahead of a front. These thunderstorms will move southward through the northern third of Alabama before dawn Saturday. The main concern will come from strong straight-line winds. Some small hail is also possible.

THE WEEKEND: The line of storms will drift southward into central Alabama after daybreak Saturday and weaken; a decent part of the midday should be rain-free.

Then, scattered storms could form during the afternoon and evening as temperatures rise into the mid 80s. The afternoon thunderstorms will be rather random, and it won’t rain everywhere. Some of the high-resolution models are showing very little development Saturday afternoon and evening, but we will keep the chance of a few storms in the forecast based on the pattern.

On Sunday we expect a mix of sun and clouds with a high in the 80s, and again we will likely see scattered, random showers and storms developing south of the stalled front over southern Tennessee. The weekend certainly won’t be a washout, but from time to time a passing shower or thunderstorm is possible. The best chance of scattered storms will be over the northern two-thirds of the state; far south Alabama and the Gulf Coast will be dry thanks to an upper ridge.

NEXT WEEK: Much of Monday and Tuesday will be very warm and dry, with only isolated storms for the northern counties. A more organized rain mass will move into the state Tuesday night into Wednesday. A few strong storms will certainly be possible then, but for now it looks like the higher severe-weather potential will be north and west of Alabama. Cooler air rolls into the state late in the week, with highs dropping into the 70s Thursday and Friday; lows will be mostly in the 50s. Some of the cooler spots over north Alabama could reach the upper 40s by early Friday morning.

ON THIS DATE IN 1957: An F4 tornado killed 20 people in Silverton, Texas. A 5,000-pound gasoline storage tank was reportedly carried 1.5 miles and dropped into a lake.

ON THIS DATE IN 1968: An F5 tornado moved through Butler, Chickasaw, Floyd, Franklin and Howard counties in northeast Iowa, killing 13 people.

For more weather news and information from James Spann and his team, visit AlabamaWx.