James Spann: Showers/storms arrive in Alabama late Saturday night into Sunday

WARM/DRY THROUGH FRIDAY: Alabama’s weather won’t change much through the rest of the week with sunny warm days and fair pleasant nights. Highs remain in the 80s, lows mostly in the 50s and low 60s.

RAIN RETURNS: Most of the day Saturday will be dry, although a small, isolated shower can’t be totally ruled out. An approaching cold front will bring an organized batch of showers and thunderstorms to Alabama late Saturday night into Sunday … for now it looks like the main window for rain will come from about midnight Saturday night through 3 p.m. Sunday.

A few strong storms are possible, but the overall severe weather threat looks fairly low with the main upper support lifting north of the Deep South and only modest instability available. On the positive side, rain amounts of 1/2 to 1 inch are likely, with some spots over the northern third of the state possibly receiving over one inch.

Temperatures rise into the 80s again Saturday, but Sunday’s high will be in the 70s with clouds and rain.

NEXT WEEK: Cooler, drier air rolls into the state Sunday night, and much of the week looks dry with pleasant days and cool nights. Some rain could return late in the week, but models have backed off on the amounts.

TROPICS: Lorenzo is barely a tropical storm in the middle of the Atlantic, about 1415 miles west of the Cabo Verde Islands. It is very disorganized; winds are down to 40 mph and it is moving to the north at 13 mph. It will dissipate tonight far from land.

The rest of the Atlantic basin remains quiet; no tropical storms or hurricanes are expected across the Gulf for at least the next 7-10 days.

RACE WEEKEND: The weather will be warm and dry in Talladega on Friday and Saturday with high in the 80s. Showers and thunderstorms are likely Sunday, however. Models suggest the highest risk of rain Sunday will be during the morning and early afternoon hours, so there is some hope they could get the big race in Sunday afternoon, but that is no guarantee. The high Sunday will be in the mid 70s.

FOOTBALL WEATHER: Jacksonville State will host Delaware this evening (6 p.m. kickoff) … the sky will be clear with temperatures falling from the upper 70s at kickoff into the 60s by the fourth quarter.

Alabama hosts Tennessee Saturday night (6:30 p.m. kickoff) … the sky becomes mostly cloudy during the game, but for now it looks like the rain will hold off in Tuscaloosa until after 11 p.m. Temperatures will fall through the 70s.

Auburn hosts Missouri (6:45 p.m. kickoff) … the sky becomes mostly cloudy, but we are not expecting any rain during the game. Temperatures fall through the 70s.

ON THIS DATE IN 1954: Hazel made landfall near the border between North and South Carolina as a Category 4 hurricane. After causing 95 fatalities in the U.S., Hazel struck Canada as an extratropical storm, which raised the death toll by 81 people, mostly in Toronto. The effects of Hazel were particularly unprecedented in Toronto because of a combination of heavy rainfall during the preceding weeks, a lack of experience in dealing with hurricanes and the storm’s unexpected retention of power despite traveling 680 miles over land.

Prior to landfall in the U.S., the storm killed at least 469 people in Haiti. Most of the casualties drowned when the water flowed in a flood down the mountains, some of which were as high as 8,000 feet.

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