BLUE SKY: Temperatures are in the 40s and 50s across Alabama this afternoon with a cloudless sky. Tonight will be clear and cold, with a low between 25 and 35 degrees for most places.

Tuesday will be dry, although clouds will increase by afternoon; the high will be between 55 and 62 degrees.

WINTRY MIX: A broad low in the northern Gulf will bring a cold rain to much of Alabama after midnight Tuesday night into Wednesday morning. Precipitation over the northern quarter of the state will be a wintry mix of some light snow, sleet and freezing rain, generally north of a line from Hamilton to Cullman to Scottsboro. With temperatures there between 28 and 32 degrees at daybreak Wednesday, some light icing is possible, mainly on bridges. The best chance of some light snow accumulation (one-half inch or less) is north of the Tennessee River, especially around Florence and Muscle Shoals.

Precipitation will end by late morning Wednesday, and a surge of very cold Arctic air will move into the Deep South Wednesday night. Temperatures will drop into the teens over north Alabama Thursday and Friday mornings, and a freeze is likely down to the Gulf Coast both mornings. Colder spots over north Alabama will be between 10 and 15 degrees at daybreak Friday. The air will be dry and the sky mostly sunny.

THE ALABAMA WEEKEND: A warming trend begins with highs in the 50s Saturday and Sunday. The American global model hints at some light rain across the state Sunday, but the reliable European model keeps the weather dry, and we will base the forecast on the drier solution for now.

NEXT WEEK: The warm-up continues; temperatures will reach 70 degrees for much of Alabama by Wednesday. Some scattered light rain is possible with a surface front Wednesday night, but moisture will be very limited.

STORM SURVEYS: Four tornadoes have been identified by National Weather Service survey teams from the weekend event; one EF-2 in Franklin County, and three that were rated EF-1. Those were in Colbert County (downtown Tuscumbia), Hale County (Newbern) and Marshall County (Mount Hebron). Straight-line wind damage was extensive across the state as hundreds of trees were blown down.

ON THIS DATE IN 2008: A total of 13 tornadoes touched down across Alabama, including an EF-3 that moved through Prattville and Millbrook that injured at least 50 people.

ON THIS DATE IN 2022: An EF-1 tornado moved along the Jefferson-Shelby County border from near Greystone and Highland Lakes to Leeds.

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