STILL WET: Large areas of light to moderate rain persist across Alabama this afternoon. The sky is cloudy, and rain will continue to fall at times tonight ahead of an upper trough.

THE ALABAMA WEEKEND: Clouds will linger into the morning Saturday; there could be a bit of scattered light rain. But during the day the sky becomes partly to mostly sunny as dry air returns. The day will be colder, with a high around 50 degrees. Then, on Sunday, expect sunshine in full supply with a high in the mid 50s after a subfreezing start to the day.

NEXT WEEK: Monday will be dry and pleasant with a high in the low 60s; clouds move in Monday night and rain is likely Tuesday, especially during the morning, ahead of the next weather system moving in from the west. It looks like rain amounts will be one-half inch or less, and dry weather returns Wednesday and Thursday. Another rain-producing system should arrive on Friday, Jan. 10.

There’s still no sign of any extremely cold Arctic air for Alabama and the Deep South through mid-January. The Climate Prediction Center outlook for Jan. 11-17 continues to show above-average temperatures for the eastern half of the nation, with the cold air way out west.

UPDATED RAIN TOTALS: Here are some storm totals from the ABC 33/40 Skywatcher team:

• Dunnavant (Shelby County) — 4.5 inches
• Mountain Brook — 3.51
• Bibbville — 3.24
• Weaver — 2.76

ON THIS DATE IN 1949: During the late afternoon, an estimated F4 tornado destroyed the town of Warren, Arkansas. This tornado killed 55 people and injured more than 250 others. The destruction of the Bradley mill displaced 1,000 employees.

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