ANOTHER PLEASANT WINTER DAY: With a mostly sunny sky, temperatures are in the 60s across Alabama this afternoon. The sky will stay mostly fair tonight with lows between 35 and 45 degrees.

The weather Thursday will stay dry with highs between 57 and 65 degrees.

On Friday, clouds will increase, and a band of showers will likely drop into north Alabama late in the day and into Friday night ahead of a cold front. The front will become stationary across the state, and that will set the stage for a wet weekend.

THE ALABAMA WEEKEND: Waves of rain and a few thunderstorms will move across Alabama Saturday and Sunday. Temperatures will stay mild, with highs between 67 and 72 degrees. Rain lingers into Monday as a surface low passes just north of the state. With good dynamic support, a few strong thunderstorms are very possible, but with very limited surface-based instability the chance of severe storms looks fairly low at this point.

Rain amounts of 2-3 inches are likely across much of Alabama Friday night through Monday, and this will effectively knock out the rest of the drought.

REST OF NEXT WEEK: The weather looks dry across Alabama Tuesday through Friday with seasonal temperatures — highs in the 50s and lows in the 30s. Global models suggest we could be setting up for yet another wet weekend Feb. 17-18.

LONG RANGE: The latest outlook from the Climate Prediction Center suggests temperatures will be below average across the Deep South Feb. 14-20, but there is no way to know the depth of the cold air at this point.

ON THIS DATE IN 1835: A Great Freeze took place Feb. 2-9 across southern Georgia, southeastern South Carolina and northern Florida. During this freeze, the St. Johns River was frozen, “several rods from the shore,” and people were able to walk a distance from the shore. Many citruses and other fruit trees were killed to the ground, never to grow again, when temperatures reached as low as 1 degree in Charleston and 8 degrees in Jacksonville.

ON THIS DATE IN 2018: Six short-lived tornadoes, all EF-0 or EF-1, touched down across central Alabama. An EF-1 moved through Gallion and Faunsdale in Marengo County, causing some structural damage.

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