James Spann: Very warm weekdays, cool weekend for Alabama from Alabama NewsCenter on Vimeo.

FEBRUARY WARMTH: Today will be a warm, dry late winter day across the great state of Alabama. With a partly sunny sky, we project a high in the mid to upper 70s this afternoon, well above the average high of 61. We will be very close to 80 degrees tomorrow; a good chance we break the record high for Feb. 24, which is 78, set in 1930.

TO THE NORTH: A deep surface low with good upper support will move toward the Great Lakes, with blizzard conditions developing over parts of Iowa and Minnesota in the cold-air sector of the storm. South and east of the surface low, in the warm sector, severe storms are likely tomorrow and tomorrow night over parts of the Midwest, down into Kentucky and Tennessee.

We note that a “marginal risk” clips far Northeast Alabama; a band of showers and storms will move through our state tomorrow night ahead of the trailing cold front, but the main dynamic support will be well to the north, and the overall severe weather threat here looks pretty low.

THE ALABAMA WEEKEND: Much cooler air flows into the Deep South. The sky will be mostly sunny Saturday and Sunday with a high close to 60 degrees; a freeze is likely early Sunday morning, with most communities seeing a low between 28 and 32 degrees.

NEXT WEEK: The weather looks pretty unsettled for the first half of the week, with a chance of rain and thunderstorms each day Monday through Wednesday. Still no sign of any real focused severe weather threat, although we certainly could see a few strong thunderstorms along the way. Some heavy rain is possible as well; looks like amounts of 1 to 3 inches are likely. Then cooler, drier air returns later in the week.

ON THIS DATE IN 1975: An EF-4 tornado moved through the southern and eastern part of Tuscaloosa; one person was killed at the Scottish Inn near I-59/20 and McFarland Boulevard. Fifty were injured. Over the entire path, 289 homes, 20 businesses and 21 trailers were destroyed or heavily damaged.

SEVERE WEATHER AWARENESS WEEK: The focus today is lightning. All you need to know is this: When you hear thunder, go inside!

WEATHER BRAINS: You can listen to our weekly 90-minute netcast anytime on the web, or on iTunes. This is the show all about weather featuring many familiar voices, including meteorologists at ABC 33/40.

CONNECT: You can find me on all of the major social networks:

Facebook
Twitter
Google Plus
Instagram
Pinterest
Snapchat: spannwx

For more weather news and information, visit AlabamaWX.