ANOTHER WARM FEBRUARY AFTERNOON: Temperatures are generally between 75 and 85 degrees across north Alabama this afternoon with a mix of sun and clouds. Muscle Shoals has reached 85 degrees at midafternoon, beating the old record high of 83 last set in 2012. We have a few scattered showers on radar, mainly over the eastern half of the state.

Tonight will be mostly cloudy with isolated showers, and cooler air begins to filter into the state after midnight.

FRIDAY AND THE WEEKEND: Friday will be cooler; highs will range from near 60 over the Tennessee Valley to the 70s for south Alabama. Showers are possible over the northern half of the state. For the weekend, highs will be in the 70s statewide. While south Alabama will remain mostly dry, a few scattered showers are possible Saturday and Sunday to the north — again, nothing too widespread or heavy.

NEXT WEEK: A cold front will bring a chance of showers and possibly a thunderstorm Monday, but for now severe storms are not expected thanks to the upper ridge and limited instability. Dry weather is likely Tuesday and Wednesday, followed by a chance of rain and storms Thursday or Friday. Highs through the week will be mostly in the 70s.

ON THIS DATE IN 1975: The F4 tornado that struck Tuscaloosa just before 2 p.m. was not only the strongest tornado that struck Alabama that year; it was the deadliest. The tornado first touched down in the Taylorville community and then skipped northeastward before hitting the Skyland Park area and moving on to the McFarland Boulevard exit area of I-59/20. It went on to affect parts of the Alberta City-Leland Park area and on to Holt. The tornado moved right over what is now University Mall; in 1975 it was the old Northington campus, once home to American GIs and hospital patients.

The official path length was 14.4 miles. Along it, 289 homes were destroyed or heavily damaged, along with 20 businesses and 21 mobile homes. The tornado nearly destroyed the new Scottish Inn motel on I-59 at McFarland. The fatality was a 23-year-old housekeeper named Thelma Hill, killed when most of the second floor of the motel was sheared away by the tornado, causing a wall to fall on her.

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

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