James Spann forecasts more record-setting heat for Alabama from Alabama NewsCenter on Vimeo.

TOO HOT: Alabama’s weather won’t change much through Friday — partly to mostly sunny days, fair nights and record heat levels. Highs will remain well up in the 90s each day. The average high for Birmingham on Oct. 2 is 80. Today’s record high is 93, set in 1904 and 1897; we should beat that by a few degrees.

We can’t rule out a few small showers during the heat of the day, but most communities will remain dry.

THE ALABAMA WEEKEND: The upper high finally begins to break down. Saturday will feature a mix of sun and clouds with a chance of showers, mainly over north and east Alabama. Highs will be in the low 90s. On Sunday, showers are more likely as moisture levels continue to rise and temperatures stay below 90 for a change, with more clouds than sun.

NEXT WEEK: A cold front moves into the state (a LONG-awaited front!), with periods of rain likely and temperatures in the 70s most of the day. Rain amounts of around one-half inch are likely — not a drought buster, but certainly it will settle the dust. Then, for the rest of the week the weather looks delightful with mostly sunny, pleasant days and fair, cool nights. Highs will be generally in the 70s, with lows in the 50s.

FOOTBALL WEATHER: For the high school games Friday night, the sky will be mostly fair with temperatures falling from the low 80s at kickoff into the upper 70s by the final whistle.

Saturday, Auburn travels to Gainesville to take on the Florida Gators (2:30 p.m. Central kickoff). The sky will be partly to mostly sunny with a kickoff temperature in the low 90s and just a 1 in 5 chance of a brief passing shower during the game.

Saturday evening UAB will host Rice at Birmingham’s Legion Field (kickoff at 6). There will be just an outside risk of a shower early in the game; otherwise it will be mostly fair with temperatures falling from near 90 at kickoff through the 80s during the game.

Jacksonville State will host Tennessee State Saturday evening (kickoff at 6). There will be a risk of showers mainly during the first half of the game. Temperatures fall from near 87 at kickoff into the low 80s by the fourth quarter.

TROPICS: Lorenzo is moving away from the Azores today and will become post-tropical Thursday as it approaches the United Kingdom. The National Hurricane Center is also monitoring two tropical waves — one east of the Bahamas that is not expected to develop, and another in the western Caribbean with only a low chance of development over the next five days.

HOTTEST OCTOBER DAY: Yesterday was the hottest October day on record for Alabama. Here are the official highs; they are all daily record highs, and represent the hottest temperatures on record for the month of October:

• Montgomery — 101
• Tuscaloosa — 100
• Calera (Shelby County Airport) — 100
• Huntsville — 99
• Muscle Shoals — 99
• Birmingham — 99
• Anniston — 98

The previous record October high at Birmingham was 94, established on Oct. 1, 1919; Oct. 5, 1927; Oct. 6, 1941, and Oct. 6, 1954.

ON THIS DATE IN 1858: The only hurricane to impact California struck San Diego on this day. Two researchers with NOAA, Michael Chenoweth and Christopher Landsea, reconstructed the path of the storm using accounts from newspapers of the high winds. They estimated that if a similar storm were to have hit in 2004, it would have caused around $500 million in damage.

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