WARM SEPTEMBER AFTERNOON: Temperatures are generally between 86 and 91 degrees across Alabama this afternoon. The exception is Mobile, which has soared to 94 degrees at midafternoon. Most of the showers on radar are in areas generally east and south of Montgomery. A few small, isolated showers are forming elsewhere, but most places are dry with a partly sunny sky. We will hang on to some risk of isolated showers tonight; the low will be in the 60s for most places.

The weather won’t change much Wednesday; a few widely scattered showers or storms are possible, mainly over the southern half of the state. Otherwise, we expect a mix of sun and clouds with a high in the mid to upper 80s for most communities.

THURSDAY THROUGH THE WEEKEND: An upper ridge begins to rebuild, and the weather looks dry for most of Alabama Thursday through Sunday with mostly sunny, warm days and fair, pleasant nights. Highs will remain in the 80s, with lows in the 60s.

NEXT WEEK: A ridge will likely keep much of Alabama and the Deep South dry through the week with highs in the 80s. A few isolated showers could show up toward the end of the week as moisture levels rise, but the prospect of a big rain event is looking low for at least the next 10 days.TROPICS: Tropical Storm Philippe remains disorganized this afternoon with winds of 45 mph. It is about 840 miles east of the Northern Leeward islands, moving west/northwest at 14 mph. The system will be encountering dry air and shear, and the National Hurricane Center is forecasting it to weaken and become a remnant low this weekend well north of Puerto Rico.

A tropical wave, Invest 91L, is trailing Philippe in the Atlantic. It is expected to become Tropical Storm Rina over the next few days, but it will turn north and is no threat to land.No tropical systems will threaten the Gulf of Mexico for at least the next seven days.

RAIN UPDATE: Here are rain totals for the year so far, and the departure from average:

• Muscle Shoals — 35.24 inches (5.31 inches below average)
• Huntsville — 36.74 (3.24 below average)
• Dothan — 36.94 (5.07 below average)
• Montgomery — 39.58 (0.74 above average)
• Tuscaloosa — 41.23 (1.36 above average)
• Anniston — 41.73 (2.53 above average)
• Birmingham — 42.8 (0.72 below average)
• Mobile — 44.4 (7.81 below average)

ON THIS DATE IN 1898: A schoolteacher saved 32 children from death in Merritton, Ontario, when she spotted an approaching tornado and led her students to a safe corner. Unfortunately, falling debris killed one of the children and injured several others.

ON THIS DATE IN 1955: The Atlantic reconnaissance aircraft Snowcloud Five went down while investigating Hurricane Janet and was never heard from again. The commander with a crew of eight and two newspapermen reported that they were about to begin penetrating the central core of the hurricane. Hurricane Janet made landfall at peak intensity near Chetumal, Mexico, on Sept. 29. Janet’s landfall as a Category 5 hurricane on the Yucatán Peninsula was the first recorded instance that a storm of such intensity in the Atlantic made landfall on a continental mainland; prior to Janet, landfalls of Category 5 intensity were known to have taken place only on islands.

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