DRY DAYS: Showers will be very hard to find across Alabama through the weekend with partly to mostly sunny days and fair nights. There might be a few small, isolated showers today and Thursday, but the chance of any one spot getting wet is 10% or less.

Heat levels will rise, and afternoon highs will be close to 90 degrees Friday through Sunday.

NEXT WEEK: For now, much of the week looks dry, although the reliable European model suggests there could be some showers around midweek thanks to an approaching front. Expect highs mostly in the 80s.

TROPICS: There are no named systems in the Atlantic basin as of early this morning. There is a 60% chance (based on the latest National Hurricane Center outlook) the disturbance in the middle of the Atlantic (former Tropical Storm Gordon) will develop, but it will move northward far from land.

Closer to home, a broad area of low pressure could form this weekend over the northwestern Caribbean Sea. This will likely drift into the southern Gulf of Mexico next week; there is no way at this time of knowing whether this develops, where it goes or the intensity. It is simply an area to watch.

FOOTBALL WEATHER: The sky will be clear for the high school games across the state Friday night with temperatures falling into the 70s.

Saturday, Auburn hosts Arkansas (2:30 p.m. kickoff) at Jordan-Hare Stadium. The sky will be sunny with temperatures between 87 and 90 degrees during most of the game.

Jacksonville State hosts Southern Miss (2 p.m. kickoff) at AmFirst Stadium. Expect a sunny sky with temperatures in the upper 80s.

Troy hosts Florida A&M Saturday (6 p.m. kickoff). The sky will be clear with temperatures about 85 degrees at kickoff and mid 70s by the final whistle.

ON THIS DATE IN 1926: The great Miami Hurricane produced winds of 138 mph that drove ocean waters into the Biscayne Bay, drowning 135 people. The eye of the hurricane passed over Miami, at which time the barometric pressure reached 27.61 inches. Tides up to 12 feet high accompanied the storm, which claimed 372 lives.

ON THIS DATE IN 2003: Hurricane Isabel made landfall on the Outer Banks of North Carolina. Although Isabel had been a Category 5 hurricane at its peak, it struck the United States as a Category 2 storm. Still, it caused more than $5 billion in damage to the Mid-Atlantic states and killed 16 people directly.

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