COLDER: The cold front is pushing through the southeast corner of Alabama early this morning, where rain is still falling around Dothan; that rain will end soon. To the north, a few light snow flurries are reported over Madison and Jackson counties in the colder air, but temperatures are well above freezing and there is no impact.

The sky becomes partly to mostly sunny today with highs mostly in the 50s. A freeze is likely early Thursday morning over the northern half of the state, with lows between 27 and 32 degrees; south Alabama will see mid to upper 30s.

FRIDAY AND THE WEEKEND: Friday will be sunny with a high in the 50s for most of the state. The daytime Saturday will be dry for most places with clouds slowly increasing; the high Saturday afternoon will be between 58 and 65 degrees. We will mention a chance of some rain at times Saturday night into Sunday ahead of a surface front. Amounts should be light, mostly less than one-half inch, and the high Sunday will be in the low to mid 60s.

NEXT WEEK: Global models suggest some risk of a few showers Monday night and early Tuesday, and more meaningful rain on Thursday. Highs will be between 60 and 66 degrees Monday and Tuesday, followed by mostly 50s over the latter half of the week.

ON THIS DATE IN 1961: A tornado moved through Jacksonville, producing significant damage on the campus of Jacksonville State University. There were no injuries.

ON THIS DATE IN 1992: A complex storm system moved eastward from the Gulf Coast of Texas to eastern Georgia on Dec. 9-10. In the next 24 hours, the low-pressure system moved to the Chesapeake Bay and rapidly intensified. This system produced gale-force winds with gusts exceeding hurricane force, affecting not only the Mid-Atlantic coastline but also as far southwest as the southern Appalachians, where trees were downed and roofs damaged. This storm also produced 20- to 30-foot waves in Massachusetts on Dec. 12-13.

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