James Spann forecasts much more dry weather for Alabama from Alabama NewsCenter on Vimeo.

DRY AUTUMN WEATHER CONTINUES: Alabama’s weather won’t change much for the next seven to 10 days as the dry pattern continues. We are forecasting sunny, pleasant days and fair, cool nights over the weekend and through all of next week. Highs will be in the mid to upper 70s over the weekend and close to 80 degrees most of next week. Lows will be mostly in the 50s.

FOOTBALL WEATHER: For the high school games in the state tonight, the sky will be mostly clear with temperatures falling through the 60s.

Saturday, Alabama travels to Fayetteville to take on Arkansas (2:30 p.m. CT kickoff). The sky will be sunny with a temperature around 80 degrees as the game begins. There’s no risk of rain.

Auburn hosts LSU Saturday (6 p.m. kickoff) at Jordan-Hare Stadium. The sky will be mostly fair with temperatures falling from near 72 at kickoff into the 60s during the game.

UAB will be in Houston to take on Rice (6:30 p.m. CT kickoff). The sky will be clear with temperatures falling from the low 80s at kickoff into the mid 70s by the final whistle.

RACE WEEKEND: The weekend looks great for Talladega as Ian stays to the east. Expect a good supply of sunshine Saturday and Sunday with highs in the mid to upper 70s.

RAIN UPDATE: Here are some rain totals across Alabama for the year so far and the departure from average. Despite the dry conditions over the past few weeks, some communities (including Birmingham) still have a healthy surplus.

• Birmingham — 51.67 inches (7.62 inches above average)
• Mobile — 50.08 (2.83 below average)
• Tuscaloosa — 47.54 (7.25 above average)
• Montgomery — 45.78 (6.45 above average)
• Huntsville — 41.7 (1.22 above average)
• Anniston — 40.07 (0.44 above average)
• Muscle Shoals — 39.33 (1.69 below average)
• Dothan — 38.81 (3.58 below average)

TROPICS: Hurricane Ian will make another landfall today on the coast of South Carolina north of Charleston. Winds are 85 mph early this morning; strengthening is not expected before the center reaches the coast as dry air is working into the system and strong shear conditions are in place.

Elsewhere, Tropical Depression 11 has dissipated far from land. A new wave will emerge off the coast of Africa tonight; the National Hurricane Center gives it a 50% chance of development over the next five days in the far eastern Atlantic. The rest of the Atlantic basin is quiet.

ON THIS DATE IN 1896: A hurricane formed on Sept. 22 and lasted until Sept. 30. It formed directly over the Lesser Antilles and hit Cuba, Florida, Georgia, South and North Carolina, Virginia, Washington, D.C., and Pennsylvania. Its maximum sustained winds were at 130 mph. The heaviest rainfall deposited in association with the storm was 19.96 inches at Glennville, Georgia. This hurricane was responsible for an estimated 130 deaths.

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

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