WARM AFTERNOON: Temperatures are in the 80s across most of Alabama this afternoon with generally dry conditions. We do note a few small, isolated showers over the southern quarter of the state, but those won’t last long. Tonight will be mostly fair with a low in the 60s.We expect dry weather across Alabama Friday and Saturday with a good supply of sunshine both days. Highs remain in the 80s, lows in the 60s. On Sunday, we will introduce the chance of a few showers by afternoon as moisture levels begin to rise. The sky will be occasionally cloudy Sunday with a high in the mid 80s. The best chance of a shower will be over the western half of the state.

NEXT WEEK: We will forecast a chance of showers statewide Monday through Wednesday, nothing too heavy. The weather looks dry Thursday and Friday with a northerly flow aloft developing. Highs hold in the 80s through the week with lows in the 60s.FOOTBALL WEATHER: The sky will be clear for the high school games across Alabama Friday night, with temperatures falling through the 70s, possibly reaching the 60s by the fourth quarter.

Saturday Auburn will travel to College Station to take on Texas A&M (11 a.m. CT kickoff). The sky will be mostly sunny with temperatures rising from near 90 at kickoff to near 95 by the final whistle.

Alabama will host Ole Miss at Bryant-Denny Stadium Saturday (2:30 p.m. kickoff). The sky will be partly to mostly sunny with temperatures in the mid 80s.

UAB will be in Athens to take on Georgia Saturday (6:30 p.m. CT kickoff). The weather looks dry with a mostly clear sky; temperatures will fall from near 77 at kickoff into the 60s by the fourth quarter.

TROPICS: Hurricane Nigel, with winds of 85 mph, is racing northeastward and becomes post-tropical in the North Atlantic Friday far from land.The National Hurricane Center (NHC) has initiated advisories on Potential Tropical Cyclone 16, which is 350 miles southeast of Charleston. A tropical storm warning is in effect from Cape Fear, North Carolina, to Fenwick Island, Delaware. The system will likely move into the North Carolina coast Saturday morning as a tropical storm (the name will be Ophelia).

The system will bring tropical-storm-force winds, storm surge, heavy rain and high surf to large portions of the southeastern and mid-Atlantic United States coast beginning Friday and continuing into the weekend. There is the potential for life-threatening storm surge inundation from Surf City, North Carolina, to Chincoteague, Virginia, the Pamlico and Albemarle Sounds, and the lower Chesapeake Bay.Showers and thunderstorms associated with a broad area of low pressure (Invest 90L) a couple hundred miles southwest of the Cabo Verde Islands are beginning to show signs of organization. Environmental conditions are forecast to be conducive for gradual development of this system; a tropical depression is likely to form this weekend or early next week while the system moves generally westward at 10 to 15 mph across the eastern and central tropical Atlantic. The NHC gives it an 80% chance of development.

Most global models suggest this system will turn north into the open Atlantic before reaching the Lesser Antilles or the United States.

ON THIS DATE IN 1938: One of the most destructive and powerful hurricanes in recorded history struck Long Island and southern New England. This Category 3 hurricane was traveling at 47 mph when it made landfall near Bellport, New York. This storm caused at least 600 deaths and left approximately 63,000 homeless.

ON THIS DATE IN 1989: Hurricane Hugo made landfall on Isle of Palms, South Carolina, as a Category 4 storm. This storm brought strong winds to many areas of South Carolina. In downtown Charleston, sustained winds of 87 mph were reported, along with gusts of 108 mph. Hugo was the strongest hurricane to make landfall on the continental U.S. since Hurricane Camille in 1969. The cleanup and recovery efforts that followed were extensive throughout the areas affected by Hugo. There were at least 39 fatalities during the post-storm recovery phase; more people died in South Carolina in the hurricane’s aftermath than during its passage.

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