DRY: For many Alabama communities, today will be the 23rd consecutive day with no measurable rain, and the long dry spell continues this week with sunny days and fair nights. Afternoons will be warmer, and most of the state will see highs in the mid 80s by the end of the week, around 10 degrees above average.

A dry cold front will pass through the state early in the weekend and will bring cooler air back into the Deep South by Sunday. Temperatures reach the low 80s Saturday, but the high Sunday will be in the 70s.

There is still no signal for meaningful rain into at least the first half of next week. It looks like Birmingham will have the first October with no rain since 1924.

TROPICS: Tropical Storm Oscar, with winds of 50 mph, is over the eastern tip of Cuba this morning. It will move northeast this week into the open Atlantic and is no threat to the U.S. We see no risk of tropical storms or hurricanes for the Gulf of Mexico for the rest of October.

RAIN FOR THE YEAR: Here are rain totals since Jan. 1 across Alabama, and the departure from average:

• Mobile — 52.39 inches (3.28 inches below average)
• Troy — 47.39 (5.76 above average)
• Muscle Shoals — 47.11 (3.78 above average)
• Dothan — 44.47 (0.58 above average)
• Huntsville — 44.3 (1.43 above average)
• Anniston — 44.04 (2.3 above average)
• Montgomery — 43.37 (2.04 above average)
• Tuscaloosa — 41.87 (0.69 below average)
• Birmingham — 40.13 (6.17 below average)

ON THIS DATE IN 1988: Hurricane Joan, the last hurricane of the season, neared the coast of Nicaragua packing 125 mph winds. Joan claimed more than 200 lives as she moved over Central America, and total damage approached $1.5 billion.

ON THIS DATE IN 2010: Tornadoes do occur in South America. A tornado rampaged through Poza del Tigre, a northern Argentinean town, leaving at least six dead and more than 100 wounded.

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