QUIET AFTERNOON: Most of Alabama is rain-free this afternoon after a big mesoscale convective system rolled through the southern counties this morning (and the Florida Panhandle as well). Temperatures are mostly between 85 and 90 degrees. Showers and storms are increasing over west Tennessee and north Mississippi; these will move into northwest Alabama over the next few hours with potential for small hail and gusty winds.

THE ALABAMA WEEKEND: Unsettled weather continues. We expect scattered to numerous showers and storms Saturday and Sunday across the state with highs in the 80s. The weekend won’t be a washout, and the sun will be out at times, but a few passing thunderstorms are likely, and they will be strong where they form. Much of the state is in a level 1 or 2 severe weather risk both days; the concerns are hail and strong winds.

NEXT WEEK: We will have a good chance of a few passing showers or thunderstorms daily with a mix of sun and clouds. Highs will hold in the 80s with a moisture-laden air mass in place and unusually strong upper winds over the region for mid-June.TROPICS: A tropical wave between the west coast of Africa and the Cabo Verde Islands is producing disorganized showers and thunderstorms. Environmental conditions appear to be conducive for gradual development, and a tropical depression could form during the early to middle portions of next week while the system moves westward at 15 to 20 mph across the eastern and central tropical Atlantic.

The National Hurricane Center now gives the system a 60% chance of becoming a tropical depression or storm over the next seven days on the journey across the Atlantic. It remains to be seen whether this affects the U.S.ON THIS DATE IN 1972: Agnes was first named by the National Hurricane Center. It would go on to make landfall between Panama City and Apalachicola, Florida, on the afternoon of June 19. Hurricane Agnes would later cause catastrophic flooding in the mid-Atlantic states, especially Pennsylvania. The hurricane caused more than 100 fatalities.

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