THIS AFTERNOON: The sky has become mostly cloudy across Alabama this afternoon; temperatures are in the 60s. Some scattered light rain is over the far southern part of the state.

A cold front arrives tonight with a band of showers; moisture will be limited, and rain amounts will be light, mostly one-tenth of an inch or less. These showers will likely end very early Saturday, but clouds will linger through midday. The big story is a change to much colder air. Temperatures will hold in the 40s over the northern two-thirds of the state with a brisk north wind to make it feel even colder. Clearing will likely begin during the afternoon over the northern counties.

We begin the day Sunday with temperatures between 24 and 34 degrees; the day will be sunny with highs in the 50s.

NEXT WEEK: The warming trend continues Monday; with a good supply of sunshine, we expect highs in the 60s. A disturbance could bring a few sprinkles to the state Tuesday, but meaningful rain amounts are not expected. Another cold front will bring a chance of showers Thursday afternoon and night. Amounts will be light, and dry air will return Friday. Afternoon temperatures will be close to 70 Wednesday and Thursday, falling to near 60 Friday.

We still see no high-impact weather through the rest of February — no severe cold, snow, ice, severe storms, heavy rain or flooding.ON THIS DATE IN 1995: An upper-end F3 tornado moved through parts of Cullman and Marshall counties in north Alabama during the early morning, hitting the communities of Joppa and Arab hard. Six people were killed and another 130 were injured. Joppa Elementary School was destroyed.

The tornado warning was issued at the last minute, and many never received it because the Huntsville weather radio transmitter was knocked off the air by a lightning strike. The Huntsville National Weather Service had been scheduled to close as part of the modernization of the weather service. The National Weather Service in Birmingham had been scheduled to take over responsibility for the counties in north Alabama. The Arab tornado fomented an uproar against closing the Huntsville office.

Critics claimed the missed warning gave credence to their charge that 54 counties were too many for the Birmingham office. On Dec. 2, 1997, the Huntsville NWS Office closed. But under tremendous pressure from many people, led by U.S. Rep. Bud Cramer, a new National Weather Service Office would open in Huntsville. It has responsibility for 11 north Alabama counties and three counties in southern Tennessee. Cullman County emergency managers pushed to be a part of Huntsville’s County Warning Area (CWA), and their wish was granted.

However, the Cullman County situation within the weather enterprise still creates confusion; the county is in the Huntsville National Weather Service CWA but is in the Birmingham television market.

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