THE ALABAMA WEEKEND: A cold front will move into Alabama today that will bring scattered showers and thunderstorms, and a few of those storms may become strong to severe. The Storm Prediction Center has nearly the entire state under a marginal risk today, with the main window for that threat coming from noon in the northwest until around 10 p.m. in the southeast. Isolated damaging wind gusts and quarter-sized hail will be the main threats, but a brief tornado is possible. Highs will range from the mid 70s to the mid 80s.

Sunday looks to be a much better weather day. While a few isolated showers and thunderstorms will be possible over the far eastern and southeastern parts of the state, the day will be mainly dry and warm. Highs will be in the upper 70s to the mid 80s.

NEXT WEEK: Unsettled weather returns to start the work week, with scattered afternoon showers and storms possible on Monday. Highs will be in the upper 70s to the lower 80s. Same story, different verse on Tuesday — a few scattered afternoon showers and storms will be possible, with highs in the mid 70s to the lower 80s. It looks like we may get a reprieve from rain on Wednesday as an easterly flow sets up. We’ll have mostly sunny skies, with highs in the upper 70s to the lower 80s. Thursday will be a touch warmer, but we’ll keep the dry weather around. It will be mostly sunny with highs in the lower to mid 80s. Calm weather continues to hang around on Friday. We’ll have mainly sunny skies, with highs in the lower to mid 80s.

BEACH FORECAST CENTER: Get the latest weather and rip current forecasts for the beaches from Dauphin Island to Panama City Beach, Florida, on our Beach Forecast Center page. There, you can select the forecast of the region you are interested in.

For more weather news and information from James Spann, Scott Martin and other members of the James Spann team, visit AlabamaWx.