James Spann forecasts more heat for Alabama, then a little weekend relief from Alabama NewsCenter on Vimeo.

HOT: A heat advisory remains in effect for all of Alabama today; we project a high between 94 and 99 degrees with a partly to mostly sunny, hazy sky. Afternoon storms will be few and far between. There won’t be much change Friday, although storms could be a little more numerous over the northern half of the state late in the day as a surface front approaches. The Storm Prediction Center has parts of north and east Alabama in a marginal risk (level 1 out of 5) of severe thunderstorms because of the potential for strong winds.THE ALABAMA WEEKEND: Drier air works into the state Friday night, and the weekend will feature sunny days, lower humidity levels and cooler nights. Cooler spots could dip into the 50s early Sunday morning; highs will be generally in the low 90s.

NEXT WEEK: Heat levels begin to rise again, and by the latter part of the week temperatures will be flirting with 100 degrees across the state. There could very well be a day or two with a few afternoon and evening showers and storms, but they will be pretty scarce. Temperatures will likely remain above average through the rest of June as the upper ridge holds.TROPICS: An area of low pressure inland over northeastern Nicaragua is accompanied by a disorganized area of showers and thunderstorms. Additional development is unlikely today while the low remains inland. The system is forecast to move slowly northwestward and could emerge over the Gulf of Honduras, where some development is possible by Friday. Some development is also possible over the southern Bay of Campeche by early next week. Regardless of development, locally heavy rainfall is possible over Nicaragua, Honduras, Belize and southeastern Mexico through the weekend.

The National Hurricane Center gives the system a 20% chance of development over the next five days. The rest of the Atlantic basin, including the Gulf of Mexico, remains very quiet.LAST NIGHT’S STORMS: An organized batch of storms moved into east Alabama last night from Georgia. These westward-moving storms produced tree and power line damage across a number of counties; at one point more than 35,000 Alabama Power customers were without service. Some of the most significant tree damage was reported over parts of Etowah, Calhoun and Randolph counties. Evening storms produced wind damage in the Bluff Park community of Hoover, in the Birmingham metro.

ON THIS DATE IN 1806: The great American total solar eclipse occurred from California to Massachusetts, nearly five minutes in duration.

BEACH FORECAST: Click here to see the AlabamaWx Beach Forecast Center page.

WEATHER BRAINS: You can listen to our weekly show all about weather any time on your favorite podcast app. James Spann and a team of meteorologists from around the nation bring on interesting guests; it’s a great podcast for weather geeks.

For more weather news and information from James Spann and his team, visit AlabamaWx.