SUNNY AFTERNOON: We are enjoying a sunny sky across Alabama this afternoon; temperatures are between 76 and 80 degrees at most places. The average high for Birmingham on Oct. 1 is 80. A new surge of cooler air moves into the state tonight; we drop into the 40s early Friday morning.

FRIDAY THROUGH THE WEEKEND: Dry weather continues with sunny days and clear nights. The highs will be in the low 70s Friday, followed by mid 70s over the weekend. Lows will be mostly in the 40s. The coldest morning will come early Saturday; some of the colder spots across north Alabama could reach the upper 30s for the first time this season.

NEXT WEEK: Classic October weather continues. No rain is expected through the week, with sunny, mild days and fair, cool nights. Highs will be generally between 77 and 82, with lows mostly in the 50s. Models hint rain could return to Alabama about 12-15 days from now.

TROPICS: The National Hurricane Center is monitoring two tropical waves in the Atlantic basin. One will move through the Windward Islands tonight and into the eastern Caribbean Friday; it has only a 20% chance of development over the next five days. The other wave, now designated as Invest 91L, is in the western Caribbean and has a 70% chance of becoming a tropical depression or storm over the next five days. It will likely move over the Yucatan Peninsula and into the Bay of Campeche. From there, the most likely scenario is a westward drift into Mexico, but that is certainly not carved in stone.

No systems will threaten the northern Gulf Coast (Alabama, northwest Florida, etc.) for the next seven days.

RACE WEEKEND: The weather looks good for NASCAR fans. Look for sunny days and clear nights Thursday through Saturday at Talladega, with highs in the 70s and lows in the 40s and 50s. The coolest morning will be early Saturday, when temperatures will drop into the 40- to 45-degree range. For the YellaWood 500 on Sunday, we expect a mostly sunny sky with a high in the mid 70s.

FOOTBALL WEATHER: We’ll have perfect autumn weather for the high school games Friday night. The sky will be clear, with temperatures falling from the mid 60s at kickoff into the 50s by the second half.

Saturday, Alabama will host Texas A&M at Bryant-Denny Stadium (2:30 p.m. kickoff). The sky will be sunny with a kickoff temperature around 74 degrees, dropping to near 70 by the final whistle.

Auburn is on the road, taking on Georgia in Athens Saturday (6:30 p.m. kickoff). The sky will be clear; temperatures will fall from near 68 at kickoff to near 60 by the fourth quarter.

UAB has a home game Saturday at Legion Field (11:30 a.m. kickoff) against UTSA; the sky will be sunny with temperatures rising into the low to mid 70s during the game. It will be a perfect day for college football across the Deep South.

Jacksonville State is on the road, taking on Florida State in Tallahassee (3 p.m. kickoff). The sky will be mostly sunny, with temperatures falling from the upper 70s at kickoff to near 70 by the final whistle.

ON THIS DATE ONE YEAR AGO: An autumn heat wave was cranking up across the Deep South. Birmingham’s high was 99; we would reach 101 degrees on Oct. 3, the hottest temperature on record for the month of October.

ON THIS DATE IN 1893: The village of Caminadaville, Louisiana, was destroyed by a massive hurricane. In the late 19th century Caminadaville was a vibrant fishing community on Cheniere Caminada, adjacent to Grand Isle in coastal Jefferson Parish. It took five days for the news of this devastating hurricane to reach New Orleans.

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