RADAR CHECK: Again this afternoon we have a few small, isolated showers and thunderstorms across the northern half of Alabama, generally near I-59 from near Tuscaloosa to Fort Payne. These are moving very little and will dissipate once the sun sets. Otherwise, the sky is mostly sunny across Alabama with temperatures between 89 and 94 degrees for most communities.

THE ALABAMA WEEKEND: Hot, mostly dry weather continues. Any afternoon showers will be few and far between, and the sky will be partly to mostly sunny both days. Highs will be in the mid-90s; the average high for Birmingham on Aug. 8-9 is 91.

NEXT WEEK: Moisture levels rise and the air aloft will be a bit cooler, meaning we will see the return of random, scattered, mostly afternoon and evening showers and thunderstorms through the week. Days will be sunny with highs mostly in the low 90s.

TROPICS: A tropical wave several hundred miles west-southwest of the Cabo Verde Islands is accompanied by minimal shower activity. Slow development of this system is possible during the next couple of days as it moves slowly westward. After that time, environmental conditions are expected to become less conducive for development. The rest of the Atlantic basin is quiet, and there are no systems threatening the Gulf of Mexico for at least the next five days.

ON THIS DATE IN 1980: Hurricane Allen bottomed out at 899 millibars (26.55 inches of mercury) while moving through the Yucatan Channel in the southeastern Gulf of Mexico. Allen was the second-lowest pressure ever recorded in the Western Hemisphere up to that time. Allen’s winds at the time were sustained at 190 mph.

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