SUNNY, COOL APRIL DAY: The sky is mostly sunny across Alabama this afternoon with temperatures in the 50s and 60s. Tonight will be the coldest night of the week; a clear sky and light wind will allow for very good radiational cooling. A freeze warning is in effect for north Alabama, where temperatures will drop into the 28- to 32-degree range for many communities.

Frost will be widespread Wednesday morning and is possible down into the central counties. Lows will be mostly in the low 40s over the southern third of the state. Temperatures rise into the upper 60s and low 70s Wednesday afternoon.

THURSDAY: A cold front will bring a few widely scattered showers and thunderstorms to the state late Thursday and Thursday night, but with limited moisture rain amounts will be light; some spots will see no rain at all. The Storm Prediction Center has defined a marginal risk of severe thunderstorms for north and central Alabama, but with weak wind fields and low instability, we aren’t very concerned about a severe weather threat at this point. The high will be in the 70s.

FRIDAY AND THE WEEKEND: Friday will be cooler with some lingering clouds. Some spotty, light rain is possible over the northern counties of Alabama as an upper trough passes through. Highs will be mostly in the 60s. The weekend will feature mostly sunny, pleasant days and clear, cool nights. Morning lows will be in the low 40s (some colder spots could see upper 30s); the high will be in the 60s Saturday, followed by 70s Sunday.

NEXT WEEK: The calm weather pattern continues; much of the week will be dry. We will mention some risk of a few showers Tuesday and Friday, but we see no risk of any heavy rain or severe storms.

ON THIS DATE IN 1998: An F5 tornado cut a 31-mile-long, three-quarter-mile-wide swath through Birmingham suburbs including Oak Grove, Sylvan Springs, Rock Creek, Pleasant Grove, Concord, Maytown, Pratt City and Edgewater before lifting in the western limits of the City of Birmingham. The worst of the destruction occurred across the Oak Grove, Rock Creek and McDonald Chapel areas.

Thirty-two people were killed in this tornado: three in Oak Grove, 11 near Rock Creek, four in Sylvan Springs, two in Wylam Heights, nine in Edgewater, two in McDonald Chapel and one in West Ensley. The same parent storm would drop another tornado that killed two more people in St. Clair County near Wattsville.

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