CLOUDS: We have a thin veil of clouds about 15,000-25,000 feet off the ground over Alabama this afternoon filtering the sun; temperatures are between 57 and 67 degrees. The average high for Birmingham on Feb. 8 is 58. The weather will stay dry tonight with lows in the 40s and 50s.

Friday will be mostly cloudy with highs between 67 and 73 degrees. Showers will creep into the northern quarter of the state late in the day and Friday night ahead of a cold front, but for many places the day will be generally dry.

WET WEEKEND: The front will become stationary across Alabama, setting the stage for a wet weekend. Look for occasional rain and a few thunderstorms Saturday and Sunday with highs between 67 and 72 degrees. The heaviest and most widespread rain will be over the northern half of the state Saturday and over central and south Alabama Sunday.

Rain will continue on Monday, and there could be a few strong thunderstorms as a surface low moves across Tennessee. But for now, the risk of severe storms looks low with very limited surface-based instability. Rain amounts between Friday night and Monday will be 2-3 inches over north and central Alabama and around 1 inch for the southern counties. A few flooding issues can’t be ruled out along the way, but all of this rain will likely knock out the remaining drought across Alabama.

REST OF NEXT WEEK: The rest of next week looks cool and dry, with highs mostly in the 50s and lows in the 30s, very close to seasonal averages. Global models suggest we will deal with yet another wet weekend Feb. 17-18.

DROUGHT MONITOR: The new drought monitor released this morning continues to show improvement across Alabama. Only 13% of the state is in drought, and that will likely vanish by next week thanks to the weekend rain.

ON THIS DATE IN 1956: From Feb. 1 through Feb. 8, heavy snow fell over the panhandle of Texas. Amounts included 43 inches in Vega, 24 inches in Hereford and 14 inches in Amarillo. The storm caused 23 deaths and numerous injuries. It snowed continuously for 92 hours in some locations.

ON THIS DATE IN 2010: Snow developed rapidly across northern Alabama. A narrow band of snow moved eastward from Lauderdale and Colbert counties through Limestone, Madison and into Jackson counties. Some locations in eastern Lauderdale County received upward of 6 inches of snow in just a few hours.

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