On this fine Saturday morning we have some low clouds over the northern parts of the state, with mainly clear skies in the south. At 6 a.m., temperatures were running in the 50s to the lower 60s.

THE WEEKEND: We’ll have a good bit of sunshine today with some clouds moving in later this evening, but we’ll stay dry with highs in the 70s. There will be no issues at all for any of the football games taking place across the area today, or for the activities out at Talladega Superspeedway.

On Sunday, nearly all of central Alabama should stay dry, but some rain will be off to the north and northwest associated with the old remnants of Sergio. We could see an isolated shower or two over the extreme northern parts of the area, but most will have partly to mostly clear skies. We’ll start off in the mid-50s to the lower 60s, and warm into the 80s for the afternoon highs. No worries out at Talladega for the big race. It will be mostly sunny with highs in the lower 80s.

NEXT WEEK: A cold front will begin a slow trek through the state on Monday and finally make its exit late Tuesday. We’ll have a chance of a few isolated to scattered showers and thunderstorms throughout the area. Monday’s highs will be in the mid-70s to the mid-80s, and will step back into the mid-60s to the lower 80s from northwest to southeast on Tuesday.

Wednesday and Thursday look to be fantastic weather days across the area. We’ll have to wait for clouds to move out of the area on Wednesday before plenty of sunshine returns on Thursday. Afternoon highs will be in the 60s and 70s.

Moisture will start to be pulled in from the Gulf of Mexico ahead of the next developing system that will bring rain to the area for the first day of the weekend, meaning that we may have a few isolated showers on Friday. Much of central Alabama should remain dry and highs will top out in the 70s.

LONG TERM: Stepping out into Voodoo Land, next Saturday looks to be a wet day with a system moving through, but it clears out in time for Sunday, leaving us with a fantastic end of the weekend. Temperatures will be trending in a cooler direction after we get through Monday, with highs settling down into the 60s and 70s, and lows in the 40s and 50s.

TROPICS: The tropics are finally quieting down again, as Leslie is the only system out there. She is currently a hurricane and will be making landfall on Portugal and eventually moving across Spain. There’s nothing of interest out there on the board close to the United States.

BEACH FORECAST: Get the latest weather and rip current forecasts on our Beach Forecast Center page. There, you can select the forecast of the region that you are interested in.

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 meteorologists at ABC 33/40.

For more weather news and information from James Spann, Scott Martin and the rest of the James Spann team, visit AlabamaWx.