CLEARING: The sky has cleared this afternoon over the northern half of Alabama, where temperatures have reached the 60s. Clouds linger over the southern counties; Dothan is still in the upper 40s at midafternoon. Those lingering clouds should move out this evening, and tonight will be fair and chilly, with a low in the 30s.

Dry weather is the story Tuesday through Thursday with mostly sunny, pleasant afternoons and fair, chilly nights; highs will be mostly in the 60s, with lows in the 30s and 40s. Clouds return Friday ahead of a cold front, and some rain will likely move into the northern half of the state. Highs remain in the 60s Friday.

THE ALABAMA WEEKEND: The weekend will feature unsettled weather with periods of rain both Saturday and Sunday. The most widespread rain will be across north and central Alabama, where amounts of 1 to 2 inches are possible. Amounts for the southern third of the state will be one-half inch or less for most communities. Highs hold in the 60s over the weekend.

NEXT WEEK: Global models suggest the chance of rain could linger into Monday. The rest of the week looks dry with seasonal temperatures — highs mostly in the 50s, lows in the 30s.LONG RANGE: Global models continue to suggest much colder air will return to the Deep South in 10-15 days, but there’s no way of knowing how low temperatures go or whether there will be any wintry precipitation.

ON THIS DATE IN 1887: San Francisco experienced its most significant snowstorm of record. Nearly 4 inches was reported in downtown San Francisco, and the western hills of the city received 7 inches. Excited crowds went on a snowball-throwing rampage.

ON THIS DATE IN 1909: A tornado tore through parts of Lowndes and Montgomery counties, killing three people. At least six small frame homes were destroyed near Burkville. At Stone’s Plantation about 9 miles west of Montgomery, at least eight homes and numerous farm implements were destroyed.

ON THIS DATE IN 1986: A supercell thunderstorm tracked through the Tomball area northwest of Houston, Texas, and produced four tornadoes along with damaging microburst winds and up to tennis-ball-sized hail. An F3 tornado killed two people, injured 80 others and devastated a mobile home park and the David Wayne Hooks Airport. In addition, 300 aircraft were either damaged or destroyed.

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