PLEASANT SPRING AFTERNOON: We have a mix of sun and clouds across Alabama this afternoon. We note one small shower over Sumter County at midafternoon; otherwise, there’s nothing on radar despite a surface front over the central counties. Tonight will be mostly fair with a low in the 50s.

THURSDAY THROUGH THE WEEKEND: The front will drift north Thursday and basically dissipate. A few isolated showers can’t be ruled out, but most communities will stay dry with a high in the low to mid 80s. The weather stays warm and generally dry Friday through the weekend, with partly sunny days and highs between 81 and 85 degrees. The chance of a shower each day is very small.

NEXT WEEK: A weak surface front will bring the chance of a few showers to Alabama late Monday, Monday night and Tuesday, but rain amounts will be light, and it won’t rain everywhere. The rest of the week looks warm and dry, with highs holding in the 80s. An upper ridge will deflect most of the big rain and storm producers west and north of the state. There’s still no sign of any high-impact weather (flooding, severe thunderstorms) for the next seven to 10 days.

ON THIS DATE IN 1908: A long-track tornado, estimated at F4 strength, moved from near Dora (Walker County) to near Sylvania (DeKalb County) around 4:10 p.m. This tornado may have been associated with a family of tornadoes or was one single path. The estimated single tornado damage path would be at least 100 miles long. Thirty-five people were killed; the hardest-hit communities were Dora, Warrior and Albertville. A nine-ton oil tank was reportedly carried around one-half mile near Albertville.

ON THIS DATE IN 2010: Seven tornadoes touched down across Alabama, including an EF-3 that tore through Parrish and Cordova in Walker County. Along the path, 70-80 homes and other buildings were damaged, including one home that was destroyed. Between 800 and 1,000 trees were snapped or uprooted as well. One year later, on April 27, 2011, two more tornadoes would move through Cordova, including an EF-4.

This was part of a regional severe thunderstorm outbreak that produced 142 tornadoes. A long-lived twister left a trail of destruction extending more than 149 miles from Louisiana through Mississippi, resulting in 10 deaths and 75 injuries. This EF4 storm, which grew to a width of 1.75 miles, sported the fourth-longest track in Mississippi history and destroyed part of Yazoo City.

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