James Spann: Rain ends today over south Alabama; much colder air moving in

ON THE MAPS: A cold front bisects Alabama early this morning. Rain continues along and south of the front over parts of east and south Alabama; much colder air is moving into the state north of the front. Rain will gradually end over south Alabama later today; otherwise, the day will be mostly cloudy with temperatures holding in the 50s over the northern half of the state.
The sky will clear tonight, and colder spots over north Alabama could dip into the 30s early Tuesday morning. Tuesday will be mostly sunny and cool, with a high in the 60s for most places.
FROST/FREEZE POTENTIAL: The coldest morning of this-late season cold snap will come early Wednesday, with low to mid 30s over the northern and central counties of the state. Frost is likely, and colder spots will see a freeze. On the positive side, this will most likely be the last widespread freeze and frost threat of the season for most communities, and after Wednesday morning we are giving the green light to plant.
A disturbance has potential to bring a few light rain showers to the state late Thursday, Thursday night and Friday, but rain amounts will be generally less than one-quarter inch for most places. The high will be in the 70s Thursday, dropping back into the 60s Friday.
THE ALABAMA WEEKEND: The weekend will be cool and dry across the Deep South. Lows will be mostly in the 40s, with highs in the 60s Saturday and 70s Sunday.
At this point it looks like the weather will stay mostly dry next week as an upper ridge begins to rebuild; highs return to the low 80s.
STORM SURVEYS: National Weather Service Huntsville identified three EF-1 tornadoes from the weekend system; one at Sheffield, one at Tuscumbia and one near Aqua Vista and Elgin. Survey work will continue today.
WEEKEND RAIN TOTALS: Radar suggests that rain totals likely exceeded 1 foot around Spanish Fort in Baldwin County on the eastern shore of Mobile Bay. Other totals, in inches:
- Reeltown — 6.65
- Mobile — 6.51
- Carbon Hill — 5.77
- Coaling — 5.04
- Tuscaloosa (Five Points) — 4.95
- Blountsville — 4.7
- Oneonta — 3.89
- Chelsea — 3.74
- Montgomery — 3.56
- Birmingham (Oxmoor Valley) — 3.46
- Tuscaloosa (Airport) — 3.33
- Morris — 3.24
- Anniston — 2.93
- Troy — 2.85
- Huntsville — 2.08
ON THIS DATE IN 2007: The mercury plummeted across Alabama as one of the coldest April air masses in history affected parts of the Deep South. It was 26 at Muscle Shoals and 27 at Huntsville, both records for the date. A passing upper disturbance caused cloud cover over parts of the state overnight, limiting the temperature drop over central sections, where lows were closer to 30 degrees. It was 30 at Birmingham. A few snow flurries associated with the disturbance occurred over parts of north-central Alabama the night before.
For more weather news and information from James Spann and his team, visit AlabamaWx.