James Spann has the Alabama forecast for midweek from Alabama NewsCenter on Vimeo.

RADAR CHECK: Scattered showers continue across the northern two-thirds of Alabama early this morning; the more numerous ones are over the Tennessee Valley. A few showers will remain possible through the day, but the big story is the December warmth. The high this afternoon will be in the mid 70s in most places, about 15 degrees above average. Highs remain in the 70s through Friday, not far from record levels.

Here are the record highs for Birmingham; we’re not expecting to break them, but it will be close:

• Dec. 7 (today) — 80, set in 1951
• Dec. 8 (Thursday) — 79, set in 1978
• Dec. 9 (Friday) — 74, set in 1946

Thursday will be mostly dry with just a few showers near the Tennessee border. We will mention a risk of showers Friday as a surface front approaches, but the rain won’t be especially heavy or widespread.

THE ALABAMA WEEKEND: The front will have a hard time pushing through Alabama; it likely becomes stationary, meaning a mostly cloudy weekend with some potential for rain at times both days. It won’t be a washout, and there’s no risk of severe storms. For now, it looks like the higher coverage of rain will come Sunday; highs over the weekend will be between 66 and 73 degrees.

NEXT WEEK: Warm weather continues Monday and Tuesday; there will be a few scattered showers both days, but nothing widespread. To the west, the Storm Prediction Center has defined a risk of severe storms from north Texas and Oklahoma to Arkansas, Louisiana and parts of Mississippi early in the week, but it does not have Alabama in a risk at this point. The system arrives here Wednesday with rain and thunderstorms. The best dynamic support will stay well to the north, and instability values look low. For now, the severe weather threat in Alabama looks very limited, but this is a week out, and things could change. Colder, drier air returns Thursday and Friday, with highs in the 50s and lows in the 30s.

Global models continue to show signals for a colder look for the Deep South by Christmas and late December.TROPICS: A large non-tropical area of low pressure over the central subtropical Atlantic, about 800 miles northeast of the northern Leeward Islands, continues to produce a large area of disorganized showers and thunderstorms. Environmental conditions appear marginally conducive for development and a subtropical or tropical storm could form within the next day or two. By Thursday night or early Friday, the low will move northeastward over cooler waters and interact with a mid-latitude trough, limiting the chance for additional development of the system. It will remain far from land.

ON THIS DATE IN 2004: An F2 tornado tracked for eight miles across parts of rural Lowndes County, Mississippi, and into Lamar County, Alabama. The worst damage occurred near Steens, Mississippi, where several homes were ripped apart, a trailer was destroyed and numerous trees were knocked over.

ON THIS DATE IN 2006: A rare tornado tore through Kensal Rise in London. This T4 on the TORRO scale, equivalent to an F2 on the Fujita scale, injured six people and damaged 150 homes. According to the BBC, the last tornado that had caused significant damage in London had been in December 1954, in West London.

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.