WINTRY WEEKEND: Temperatures are in the lower teens to the lower 20s this morning, and all 39 counties under National Weather Service Birmingham‘s coverage area are under a hard freeze warning until noon. The wind chill may drop as low as 5 degrees bel0w zero, and a wind chill advisory is up for Blount, Calhoun, Cherokee, Cleburne, Etowah, Fayette, Lamar, Marion, St. Clair, Walker and Winston counties until 9 a.m., and for all of National Weather Service Huntsville’s coverage area until 9 a.m. Sunday. Skies will be mainly sunny with highs ranging from the mid 20s to the lower 40s from northwest to southeast.

Another hard freeze warning will start Saturday evening for the same central Alabama counties and go until 9 a.m. Sunday as early-morning lows bottom out in the upper single digits to the upper teens. The good news is that we’ll have sunshine through the day on Sunday and highs will top out in the upper 30s to the mid 40s.

WARMING TREND WITH SOME RAIN: A pattern shift begins Monday as we transition from below-normal temperatures to above normal through the work week ahead. Skies will be mostly sunny to start on Monday, but clouds will begin to increase late and a stray shower will be possible after midnight. Highs will be in the upper 40s to the upper 50s.

With a southwesterly flow, we’ll have a few waves move into and across Alabama during the work week. Tuesday will feature mostly cloudy skies and a good chance of showers through the day. Rain will be likely during the evening and overnight with some thunder. Highs will be in the mid 50s to the mid 60s. Rain and a few storms will continue at times through the day on Wednesday, but highs will reach the lower 60s to the lower 70s. Thursday will be similar, with highs in the mid 60s to the lower 70s.

Rain will be likely again on Friday with some thunder possible. Highs back off just a tad but will stay mild, in the lower 60s to the lower 70s.

TEMPERATURE AND RAIN OUTLOOK: Beyond next week we do not see a big deviation in temperatures, as highs drop back only a few degrees into the 50s and 60s.

We look to get some decent rainfall as well. We see projections of 5-6 inches for a good portion of north and central Alabama, with the rest of the state looking at 3-4 inches. This will definitely help out in the drought.

ON THIS DATE IN 1990: Heavy rains drenched the central Gulf Coast states, with 4.23 inches reported at Centreville in 24 hours, while unseasonably warm weather continued across Florida. Five cities in Florida reported record-high temperatures for the date. Tampa equaled its record high for January of 85 degrees.

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