RADAR CHECK: Scattered showers and thunderstorms continue across Alabama this afternoon. The key word is scattered; it’s not raining everywhere, but some places are getting a good summer soaker. The showers are rotating around a broad upper low that formed over the state; they will diminish after dark. Temperatures are only in the 80s in most communities, a nice break from the heat in recent days.

Showers will likely be a little fewer across the state Friday; the chance of any one spot getting wet is 25-35% with a high in the low 90s.

THE ALABAMA WEEKEND: Expect pretty routine summer weather for the weekend — partly sunny days with scattered, mostly afternoon and evening showers and thunderstorms. The chance of any specific location seeing rain both days is 50-60%, and most (but not necessarily all) of the showers will come from about 1 until 10 p.m. The high will be in the low 90s Saturday, followed by mid 90s Sunday.

NEXT WEEK: Drier air moves into the state early in the week; we expect mostly sunny, hot days and fair nights Monday and Tuesday with only a small risk of a shower each day. Highs will rise into the mid to upper 90s. A pop-up afternoon storm is a bit more likely over the latter half of the week, but widespread rain isn’t especially likely.

TROPICS: A broad area of low pressure over the western Caribbean Sea is producing widespread but disorganized shower and thunderstorm activity while it moves west-northwestward at around 15 mph. Some development of this system is possible over the northwestern Caribbean Sea or the southwestern Gulf of Mexico during the next few days. The National Hurricane Center (NHC) gives it only a 20% chance of development for now; if anything happens to form, it will move into Mexico.

Of more interest is a tropical wave several hundred miles west-southwest of the Cabo Verde Islands that continues to produce disorganized shower and thunderstorm activity. Environmental conditions are forecast to be conducive, and development of this system is anticipated. A tropical depression or tropical storm is likely to form this weekend several hundred miles east of the Windward Islands while the system moves westward at 15 to 20 mph. Interests in the Lesser Antilles should monitor the progress of this system. The NHC gives it an 80% chance of development.

The reliable European global model suggests this system will keep moving generally westward, toward either Central America or Mexico, but it is too early to know the ultimate destination; it all depends on how the upper air pattern evolves in seven to 10 days. There will be no tropical storms or hurricanes for the central Gulf Coast (Gulf Shores to Panama City Beach) through next week.

ON THIS DATE IN 1957: Hurricane Audrey made landfall at Sabine Pass and Johnson Bayou, Louisiana. Audrey ranks as the seventh-deadliest hurricane to strike the United States (third-deadliest within Louisiana) in modern record keeping, with at least 500 deaths. The exact number will never be known, as many perished in the storm surge in Cameron and Vermilion parishes, and many missing persons were never found.

Along with Hurricane Alex in 2010, it was the strongest June hurricane ever recorded in the Atlantic basin as measured by pressure. The rapidly developing storm struck southwestern Louisiana as an intense Category 3 hurricane, destroying coastal communities with a powerful storm surge that penetrated as far as 20 miles inland.

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