James Spann says Alabama stays mostly dry until Friday from Alabama News Center on Vimeo.

SUNNY MAY WEATHER CONTINUES: With a good supply of sunshine, we project a high between 88 and 91 degrees for most Alabama communities today. We will bring in some risk of widely scattered showers or thunderstorms across the Tennessee Valley of north Alabama Thursday, but the rest of the state will stay dry.

FRIDAY THROUGH THE HOLIDAY WEEKEND: A surface front will run out of gas just north of Alabama, the upper ridge over the region will be weaker and we will mention the chance of scattered, mostly afternoon and evening showers and thunderstorms over the northern half of the state Friday and Saturday. The chance of any one spot getting wet is 35-45%, and most of the showers (but not necessarily all) will come from about 2 until 10 p.m.

Sunday looks mostly dry, although again a few isolated afternoon showers can’t be totally ruled out.

Another front, this one with more southward push and more support, will bring showers and storms to Alabama late Sunday night into Monday. Memorial Day won’t be a washout; a decent part of the day will be dry. But where thunderstorms develop over north Alabama, they could be strong. Highs Friday through Monday will remain in the 87- to 91-degree range.

REST OF NEXT WEEK: Showers and storms will linger into Tuesday, especially the morning; then the rest of the week will feature a cooler, drier air mass. Highs drop into the low 80s by Wednesday, and many north Alabama communities will dip into the 50s by Thursday and Friday mornings.

SEC BASEBALL: Dry weather continues in Hoover for the SEC Baseball Tournament today and Thursday. A few random, scattered showers or storms are possible Friday through Sunday, but the weather will be dry most of the time with highs between 87 and 90 degrees. If a shower passes over the Hoover Met, the rain should last around 30-45 minutes before it moves on.

ON THIS DATE IN 2011: One of the most devastating tornadoes in the nation’s history directly killed 158 people and injured more than 1,000 in Joplin, Missouri. The Joplin EF5 tornado was the first single tornado to result in more than 100 fatalities since the June 8, 1953, tornado in Flint, Michigan.

The tornado devastated a large portion of Joplin, damaging almost 8,000 buildings and, of those, destroying more than 4,000. The damage — which included one of Joplin’s two hospitals as well as much of its basic infrastructure — amounted to $2.8 billion, making the Joplin tornado the costliest single tornado in U.S. history.

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