James Spann: Alabama temps head into 60s as warming trend continues from Alabama NewsCenter on Vimeo.

RADAR CHECK: A few showers are over the northern half of Alabama early this morning, moving east/northeast.

The sky is mostly cloudy, and temperatures are in the upper 50s and low 60s at daybreak. Expect a high in the upper 60s today; clouds will persist and we will maintain the risk of scattered showers, but nothing heavy or widespread.

We note the average high for Birmingham on Jan. 11 is 52; based on averages, this is the coldest time of the year; the average high slips up to 53 on Jan. 19.

TOMORROW/FRIDAY: An upper ridge will continue to build across the Southeast, pushing highs up into the low 70s both days, a good 20 degrees above average. We will hang on to a small risk of a shower tomorrow; Friday should be dry.

THE ALABAMA WEEKEND: A far cry from last weekend’s ice issues; we project a high between 70 and 73 Saturday and Sunday with a mix of sun and clouds. The upper ridge will keep Alabama dry, while some places across the Central U.S. deal with freezing rain and ice in a broad zone from Amarillo to Cincinnati.

NEXT WEEK: The Global Forecast System continues to trend slower with the next weather feature to the west; it now hints our next decent chance of rain will come around Wednesday of next week. For now, it doesn’t look like a really big event, and no risk of severe weather.

35 YEARS AGO: On Jan. 11, 1982, the low in Birmingham was 1 below zero. Then, in the coming days, Birmingham would experience one of its worst ice storms of the 20th century as freezing rain and sleet swept into Central Alabama about midday on Jan. 12, 1982.

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