THE ALABAMA WEEKEND: There is not much change in the daily forecast throughout this forecast period. Your Fourth of July will be hot and humid with scattered showers and thunderstorms, mainly during the afternoon and evening. A few storms may become strong with gusty winds, and we may see one become briefly severe, with isolated damaging wind gusts up to 60 mph. Highs will be in the upper 80s to the lower 90s.

For Sunday, scattered to numerous showers and thunderstorms will become likely during the afternoon and evening. Highs will be in the upper 80s to the lower 90s.

THE WORK WEEK AHEAD: A weak upper-level low will add just enough lift to make rain and thunderstorms likely Monday through Wednesday. They will be mainly during the afternoon and evening each day, but rain could occur at any time. Highs will be in the lower to mid-80s.

That upper low may begin to lift to the northeast and high pressure will begin to build. At this point, it will only decrease the rain chances from likely to a decent chance on Thursday. Scattered showers and thunderstorms will be possible mainly during the afternoon and evening, with chances maxing out around 50/50. Highs will be in the 80s.

As the high continues to build, rain chances will drop slightly again, but it will allow heat levels to start to rise. Scattered showers and thunderstorms will be possible during the afternoon and evening. Highs will be in the mid to upper 80s with a couple of locations possibly reaching 90 degrees or just above.

TROPICS: While the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea remain rather quiet, the Atlantic has a low to the west-southwest of Bermuda that started to get its act together on Friday, and it is possible that a tropical depression could form today. While it moves east-northeastward, conditions will become unfavorable for any further development on Sunday and after. The National Hurricane Center is giving it a 40% chance of forming into a depression within the next 48 hours.

ON THIS DATE IN 1956: A world record for the most rain in one minute was set at Unionville, Maryland, with a downpour of 1.23 inches.

ON THIS DATE IN 1987: Thunderstorms around the country provided extra fireworks for Independence Day. The storms produced wind gusts to 82 mph at Clearwater, Kansas, 8 inches of rain in four hours at Menno, South Dakota, and 3 inches of rain in just 15 minutes at Austin, Kentucky. In Alabama, morning thunderstorms drenched Oneonta with 8.6 inches of rain, its greatest 24-hour total in 30 years of records. The heavy rain caused mudslides and serious flooding, claiming two lives.

BEACH FORECAST CENTER: Get the latest weather and rip current forecasts for the beaches from Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, to Panama City Beach, Florida, on our Beach Forecast Center page. There, you can select the forecast of the region you are interested in.

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