PLEASANT LATE SEPTEMBER DAY: A low-level easterly flow has helped to bring somewhat cooler air into Alabama today; temperatures are in the upper 70s and low 80s in many areas, which is below average for Sept. 28. Clouds are persistent over the southwest counties; the sky is mostly sunny elsewhere. Tonight will be mostly fair with a low in the 60s.

Look for sunny, warm days and fair nights Friday through Sunday, with highs between 85 and 91 degrees as the dry pattern continues across the Deep South.

NEXT WEEK: We won’t see much change for the first half of the week. Dry weather continues through Wednesday with highs in the 80s. Global models continue to suggest an upper trough, and a surface front will bring some risk of showers by Thursday or Friday, followed by noticeably cooler air over the weekend (Oct. 7-8).FOOTBALL WEATHER: The sky will be mostly fair for the high school football games across Alabama Friday night with temperatures falling through the 70s.

Saturday, UAB travels to New Orleans to take on Tulane (11 a.m. kickoff). The sky will be partly to mostly sunny with an outside risk of a brief shower or storm during the game. Temperatures will rise from near 84 at kickoff to 88 degrees by the final whistle.

Auburn hosts Georgia at Jordan-Hare Stadium (2:30 p.m. kickoff). The sky will be mostly sunny. Temperatures will hover in the mid to upper 80s through most of the game.

Alabama will be in Starkville to take on Mississippi State (8 p.m. kickoff). Expect a clear sky with temperatures falling through the 70s.

RACE WEEKEND: Expect sunny, warm days and fair nights at Talladega today through the weekend, with highs in the 80s.

TROPICS: Tropical Storm Philippe, with winds of 50 mph, is about 550 miles east of the northern Leeward Islands. The system is moving very little. The National Hurricane Center (NHC) is keeping it on the board as a tropical storm through early next week and holding it east of the Lesser Antilles. Long-range guidance suggests that if Philippe survives, it will head north and then out into the open Atlantic.Tropical Storm Rina formed this morning a little east of Philippe. Winds are at 40 mph, and the NHC keeps it below hurricane strength over the next five days as it gains latitude. There’s a very good chance this one won’t affect any land areas.

No tropical systems are expected near the Gulf of Mexico for at least the next seven days.

ON THIS DATE IN 1998: Hurricane Georges made landfall near Biloxi with maximum winds of 110 mph and a minimum pressure of 964 millibars, making it a Category 2 hurricane. After landfall, Georges moved very slowly across southern Mississippi and weakened to a tropical depression by the morning of Sept. 29, when the center was about 30 miles north-northeast of Mobile. Georges produced a storm surge of 7-12 feet in Mobile and Baldwin counties with a surge of 5-10 feet across the western Florida Panhandle, which caused extensive damage across coastal communities.

ON THIS DATE IN 2022: Ian peaked as a Category 5 hurricane with sustained winds of 160 mph while progressing toward the west coast of Florida, and made landfall just below peak intensity in southwest Florida on Cayo Costa Island. In doing so, Ian tied with several other storms to become the fifth-strongest hurricane on record to make landfall in the contiguous U.S.

Hurricane Ian caused 161 fatalities: five in Cuba, 150 in Florida, five in North Carolina and one in Virginia. Losses were estimated to be around $113 billion, making Ian the costliest hurricane in Florida’s history, surpassing Irma of 2017, as well as the third-costliest in U.S. history, behind only Katrina of 2005 and Harvey of 2017. Much of the damage was from flooding brought about by a storm surge of 10-15 feet.

The cities of Fort Myers, Cape Coral and Naples were particularly hard hit, leaving millions without power in the storm’s wake and numerous inhabitants forced to take refuge on their roofs. Sanibel Island, Fort Myers Beach and Pine Island bore the brunt of Ian’s powerful winds and its accompanying storm surge at landfall, which leveled nearly all standing structures and collapsed the Sanibel Causeway and the Matlacha Bridge to Pine Island, entrapping those left on the islands for several days.

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