James Spann forecasts a nice weather weekend for Alabama from Alabama NewsCenter on Vimeo.

NICE WARM-UP TODAY: Temperatures are generally between 35 and 45 degrees across Alabama early this morning, but some of the colder spots over the eastern half of the state are at or below freezing again. Look for a big warm-up today; temperatures reach the low to mid 70s this afternoon with sunshine in full supply. The weekend will stay dry with sunny, pleasant days and clear, cool nights; highs will be in the 70s with lows in the 40s and 50s.

NEXT WEEK: Dry weather continues Monday and Tuesday with afternoon temperatures between 77 and 81 degrees. A cold front will bring a few showers Wednesday, but moisture will be very limited and rain amounts will be light. Dry air returns Thursday and Friday with highs in the 70s.DROUGHT MONITOR: Scattered pockets of Alabama are now in a D1 moderate drought. Conditions will likely worsen through the rest of October, as no major rain events are being advertised. But November marks the beginning of Alabama’s tornado season (November through May), and we typically see more rain-producing systems then.

TROPICS: All remains quiet across the Atlantic basin this morning and tropical storm formation is not expected through next week. Hurricane season ends Nov. 30.

FOOTBALL WEATHER: It will be another great night for high school football games across Alabama tonight; the sky will be clear with temperatures falling through the 60s.

UAB has a Friday night special this week; the Blazers travel to Bowling Green to take on Western Kentucky (kickoff at 7). The sky will be clear with temperatures falling from around 65 degrees at kickoff into the mid 50s by the final whistle.

Saturday, Jacksonville State hosts Southeastern Louisiana (1 p.m. kickoff). The sky will be sunny with temperatures in the mid 70s.

Alabama will host Mississippi State Saturday evening (kickoff at 6). The sky will be clear in Tuscaloosa with temperatures falling from near 73 at kickoff into the 60s during the second half.

ON THIS DATE IN 1975: Carlton Fisk made history because of a walk-off home run in the 1975 World Series, after rain had postponed it for three days.

ON THIS DATE IN 1988: Hurricane Joan, the last hurricane of the season, neared the coast of Nicaragua packing 125 mph winds. Joan claimed more than 200 lives as she moved over Central America, and total damage approached $1.5 billion. Crossing more than 40 degrees of longitude, Joan never strayed even one degree from the 12-degree north parallel. After crossing Central America into the Pacific, the cyclone was renamed Tropical Storm Miriam, with the system’s dissipation occurring southwest of Mexico.

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.