James Spann: Alabama stays dry through Sunday with warm afternoons
SUMMER PREVIEW AHEAD: With a partly to mostly sunny sky, temperatures are around 80 degrees this afternoon. There’s nothing on radar, and the sky will be mostly fair tonight with a low around 60 degrees.
Dry, warm weather continues through the weekend with mostly sunny days and fair nights. The high will be in the low 80s Friday and between 82 and 86 degrees Saturday and Sunday. It will be the warmest weekend so far this year.
NEXT WEEK: A weakening cold front will bring the chance of a few scattered showers Monday night into Tuesday morning, but amounts should be light and spotty, generally less than one-tenth of an inch. The rest of next week will be dry; highs will be in the 70s Wednesday and Thursday, then back in the 80s by Friday, April 29. There’s no sign of any heavy rain or severe weather issues for Alabama for the rest of April.
RACE WEEKEND: The weather will be warm and dry over the weekend at Talladega. For the Geico 500 Sunday, the sky will be partly to mostly sunny with temperatures between 82 and 85 degrees. Morning lows at the Superspeedway will be close to 60 degrees.
FOOTBALL WEATHER: The Birmingham Stallions will host the Houston Gamblers Saturday (6 p.m. kickoff at Protective Stadium); the sky will be mostly clear with temperatures falling from 83 at kickoff into the upper 70s by the second half.
TORNADO COUNTS: The Birmingham National Weather Service reports 39 tornadoes in its county warning area since Jan. 1. In Mississippi, the tornado count for the year so far is 89; that state has already surpassed the total number of tornadoes for every year except 2019, 2008, 2005 and 2011.
ON THIS DATE IN 1967: Severe thunderstorms spawned 48 tornadoes in the Upper Midwest. Hardest hit was northern Illinois, where 16 tornadoes touched down during the afternoon and evening, causing $50 million damage. On that Friday afternoon, tornadoes struck Belvidere, Illinois, and the Chicago suburb of Oak Lawn, killing 58 people.
BEACH FORECAST: Click here to see the AlabamaWx Beach Forecast Center page.
WEATHER BRAINS: You can listen to our weekly 90-minute show any time on your favorite podcast app. This is the show all about weather featuring many familiar voices, including the meteorologists at ABC 33/40.
CONNECT: You can find me on the major social networks:
For more weather news and information from James Spann and his team, visit AlabamaWx.