WARM LATE WINTER AFTERNOON: Birmingham reported 78 degrees at 3 p.m.; that is a new record high for Feb. 19, beating the old record of 76 set in 2011, 1986 and 1971. Huntsville is also in record territory at 77 degrees.

Clouds are scattered this afternoon, and we are seeing nothing on radar as a strong upper ridge continues to build across the Southeast.

HIGH AMPLITUDE: This high-amplitude upper pattern, with a deep, cold trough in the west and warm ridge in the east, will persist this week with record lows under the trough and record highs under the ridge.

Here in Alabama, tomorrow will be another warm, mostly dry day with a mix of sun and clouds along with a high around 80 degrees — in record territory. Any showers will be few and far between.

WEDNESDAY THROUGH FRIDAY: Record highs are possible on all three of these days as the ridge holds, but we will bring in a chance of showers or storms Wednesday afternoon as a front slowly approaches from the north. A few showers and storms are possible on Thursday as well, but the front will lift northward away from us on Friday. For now, Friday looks warm and mostly dry, with a high near 80 degrees and only a few isolated showers around.

THE ALABAMA WEEKEND: Saturday will feature a mix of sun and clouds with some risk of scattered showers or storms; a few strong storms are possible by Saturday night over northwest Alabama as a cold front approaches. The Storm Prediction Center has this part of Alabama in a severe weather risk area on its “Day 6” outlook. The weather stays warm for late February, with a high in the upper 70s Saturday afternoon. Sunday will be cooler with periods of rain as a front pushes through; the high will drop back into the 60s.

NEXT WEEK: The week looks fairly pleasant with highs mostly in the 60s. The first half of the week looks dry; there will be some risk of showers after Tuesday.

BEACH FORECAST: Click here to see the AlabamaWx Beach Forecast Center page.

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