THE ALABAMA WEEKEND: Saturday started off very breezy, with possible wind gusts as high as 25 mph. After that, skies will be sunny, and we’ll need all the sunshine we can get to help us stay warm with highs only in the mid 40s to the lower 50s. We’ll go even colder on Sunday as a cold front starts to work into the state, bringing with it some clouds. Afternoon highs will range from the mid 30s in the northwest to the upper 50s in the southeast.

POTENTIAL WINTRY MISCHIEF: Showers will be possible early Monday for locations along and south of I-59, while snow showers will be possible with some sleet north of that. Highs will be in the lower 30s to the upper 50s from northwest to southeast, but once we lose the sunshine, temperatures will drop into the mid 20s to the mid 40s by midnight. Overnight lows will bottom out in the mid-teens to the mid 30s.

Tuesday will start off with some snow flurries over the northern part of the state, while there will be a transition zone just south of I-20 where the precipitation will change into sleet, freezing rain and eventually showers. It will remain very cold and become very breezy as well, even after the precipitation moves out and we’re left with partly cloudy skies. Highs will be only in the lower 20s to the mid 40s.

A winter storm watch has been issued for Colbert, Franklin, Jackson, Lauderdale, Lawrence, Limestone and Madison counties in north Alabama, and for Marion and Winston counties in central Alabama. The watch for the north Alabama counties goes into effect at midnight Sunday night and is set to expire at 6 a.m. Tuesday, while the watch for the central Alabama counties will start at 6 a.m. Monday and expire at 6 a.m. Tuesday. Up to 4 inches of snow can be expected along with difficult travel conditions in the watch area. The heaviest totals look to be over the northwest corner of the state and along the Alabama-Tennessee state line.

MIDWEEK THROUGH FRIDAY: Dangerous cold weather can be expected Wednesday morning, with early-morning lows ranging from the mid-single digits to the mid-teens. With mainly sunny skies, there will not be much of a recovery in those temperatures, as highs reach only the lower 30s to the lower 40s. Another system will start to form to our west on Thursday that will send clouds in our direction and the possibility of a few showers late. Showers, and maybe some sleet, will remain possible through the day on Friday until high pressure forces the system out of the state by evening. Thursday will be warmer but still cool, as highs reach the lower 40s to the lower 50s. However, the “polar plunge” occurs on Friday as highs reach only the mid 30s to the lower 50s.

ON THIS DATE IN 1989: Friday the 13th was bad luck for the south-central United States as an upper-level weather disturbance spread a mixture of snow, sleet and freezing rain across Texas and Oklahoma. Snowfall totals in central Oklahoma ranged up to 8.5 inches at Norman.

For more weather news and information from James Spann, Scott Martin and other members of the James Spann team, visit AlabamaWx.