James Spann forecasts a bright, beautiful start for the Alabama work week from Alabama NewsCenter on Vimeo.

SPECTACULAR SPRING WEATHER: We are forecasting another beautiful spring day across Alabama with lots of sunshine and a high in the mid 70s for most communities. The average high for Birmingham on April 5 is 74. We stay dry Tuesday with a partly to mostly sunny sky; the high will be between 77 and 80 degrees.

RAIN RETURNS: The day Wednesday looks dry with a mix of sun and clouds, but a band of rain and thunderstorms will push into the state late Wednesday night ahead of a slow-moving cold front. The Storm Prediction Center has defined a marginal risk (level 1 of 5) for parts of west Alabama, generally west of a line from Athens to Linden to Chatom.

For now it looks like the storms will be weakening as they enter west Alabama sometime after 10 p.m. Wednesday. But they could still produce strong winds and some hail with a low chance of a brief, isolated tornado.

Storms will end early Thursday morning as a dry slot moves into the state. A decent part of the day Thursday looks dry with some sun possible and a high in the upper 70s. Another wave rotating around an upper low to the north will bring another batch of rain and storms into the state Thursday night. Again, they could be fairly heavy, with strong winds and some hail possible.

During the day Friday, the best chance of showers and storms will shift down into south Alabama. Friday’s high will be in the mid 70s.

THE ALABAMA WEEKEND: For now Saturday looks relatively dry with only a small risk of a shower. The day will be warm with a high around 80 degrees. We will mention scattered showers statewide Sunday, but not a washout. The high Sunday will be in the upper 70s.

NEXT WEEK: Scattered showers remain possible Monday; then, after a couple of dry days Tuesday and Wednesday, more showers and storms are possible Thursday and Friday as the active spring pattern continues. It’s way too early to know whether severe storms will be an issue.

ON THIS DATE IN 1977: A large, violent F5 tornado began around 3 p.m., 4 miles northwest of Birmingham near U.S. Highway 78, then traveled northeast for 15 miles at 60 mph, crossing the Smithfield Estates neighborhood and then I-65. At its widest point, the tornado was three-quarters of a mile wide. More than 150 homes were damaged, with almost 50 destroyed. A total of 22 people were killed and more than 130 injured. Daniel Payne College near U.S. Highway 78 sustained heavy damage from this massive tornado, with estimates over $1 million. The college, opened in 1880, closed its doors later in 1977, likely a result of the enormous cost and amount of damage. There were six other tornadoes on this day, five F2 tornadoes and an F3 tornado across north and central Alabama.

Many people do not know that the famous Dr. Theodore Fujita, for whom the Tornado Fujita Intensity Scale is named, followed this massive tornado and supercell thunderstorm from an airplane. After tracking the storm, Fujita surveyed the damage and toyed with the idea of rating the Smithfield tornado an F6.

The same thunderstorm complex was responsible for the crash of Southern Airways Flight 242 in Georgia, a flight from Huntsville to Atlanta. The passenger jet went down after suffering hail damage and losing thrust on both engines; Sixty-three people on the aircraft (including the flight crew) and nine people on the ground died; 20 passengers survived, as well as the two flight attendants. One of the initial survivors succumbed to his injuries several weeks later.

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