James Spann forecasts typical summer weather for Alabama from Alabama NewsCenter on Vimeo.

SUN, HEAT, STORMS: Our classic August weather pattern will continue through the weekend — hot, humid, partly sunny days with scattered, mostly afternoon and evening showers and thunderstorms. Most of the storms will come from noon until 10 p.m., but there is always the risk of a rogue late-night or morning shower somewhere. A northwest flow aloft remains in place across the region, and organized thunderstorm areas that form over Arkansas, Missouri and west Kentucky will roll into north Alabama from time to time.

Where storms do form, they will be heavy this afternoon with potential for strong, gusty winds. Of course, all summer storms pack lots of lightning. The odds of any one spot getting wet are 30% today, 50% Friday and 30% to 40% Saturday and Sunday. Remember, rain distribution is uneven on summer days; some places will get drenched and other places will get nothing.

Afternoon highs will be in the low to mid 90s today, and the National Weather Service has a heat advisory in effect for parts of north and central Alabama. But, trust it, it will be hot statewide. Look for mostly low 90s Friday through Sunday.

NEXT WEEK: An upper ridge over Texas noses in here early in the week, and output from the Global Forecast System ensemble actually suggests parts of the state might make a run at 100-degree heat Monday or Tuesday. The last time it was 100 degrees in Birmingham was on June 26, 2016. We won’t go quite that high in the forecast, but mid to upper 90s are likely. Heat levels drop during the latter half of the week, and once again we will have the risk of a few scattered showers and storms daily during the peak of the daytime heating process.

TROPICS: It’s still very quiet across the Atlantic basin; tropical storm formation is not expected through the weekend.

ON THIS DATE IN 2007: A tornado bounced across Staten Island and Brooklyn, New York, ripping off roofs and damaging dozens of buildings. The EF-2 twister hopscotched through Brooklyn’s Bay Ridge and Sunset Park neighborhoods around 6:30 a.m.

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