RADAR CHECK: On this hot summer afternoon we have widely scattered, random showers and thunderstorms drifting to the west/southwest. They are producing heavy rain, strong winds and gobs of lightning. Away from the storms, it is mostly sunny and hot, with temperatures in the 90s. Scattered storms end soon after sunset, and tonight will be mostly fair with a low in the 70s.

The weather won’t change much over the weekend. It will be hot and humid with a few afternoon storms in scattered spots; highs will remain in the 90s. The chance of any one spot getting wet is around 30% both days. The Storm Prediction Center has put north Alabama in a marginal risk (level 1 out of 5) of severe thunderstorms Sunday.

This is for potential for strong storms over western Tennessee to enter Alabama in a northwest flow aloft Sunday afternoon.

NEXT WEEK: The weather won’t change much Monday and Tuesday, but we continue to see evidence that the ridge will weaken over the latter half of the week, with lower heat levels and a high coverage of scattered showers and thunderstorms.

TROPICS: A tropical wave about midway between the Cabo Verde Islands and the Lesser Antilles continues to produce disorganized cloudiness and showers. Environmental conditions are expected to be favorable for gradual development of this system during the next few days, and a tropical depression could form early next week while the disturbance moves west-northwestward to northwestward at about 15 mph.

The National Hurricane Center gives the system a 60% chance of development over the next five days. If anything does develop, it will recurve into the open Atlantic well east of the U.S.

There’s still no sign of any tropical systems near the U.S. or the Gulf of Mexico for at least the next seven days.

ON THIS DATE IN 1976: At 3:42 a.m., an earthquake measuring between 7.8 and 8.2 magnitudes on the Richter scale flattened Tangshan, a Chinese industrial city with a population of about 1 million people. An estimated 242,000 people in Tangshan and surrounding areas were killed, making the earthquake one of the deadliest in recorded history, surpassed only by the 300,000 who died in the Calcutta earthquake in 1737 and the 830,000 thought to have perished in China’s Shaanxi province in 1556.

For more weather news and information from James Spann and his team, visit AlabamaWx.