BLUE SKY: With a sunny sky, temperatures are in the 50s across Alabama this afternoon, very close to average for late January. Tonight will be clear and cold, with a low between 25 and 35 degrees.

The weather will stay dry Saturday with a partly to mostly sunny sky; seasonal temperatures continue.

RAIN RETURNS: Clouds return Saturday night, and Sunday will be wet, with periods of rain and possibly a thunderstorm statewide. There is no surface-based instability and no risk of severe storms. Rain amounts Sunday will be around 1 inch for most places; temperatures will be generally in the 50s.

NEXT WEEK: Showers could linger into Monday morning, but a decent part of the day should be dry. We will deal with periods of rain Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, thanks to a stalled surface front nearby. Some flooding could develop in this wet pattern before the rain ends, but no severe storms are expected with a cool, stable air mass holding in place. Drier, colder air returns Friday with a clearing sky. Highs for most places will be in the 50s during the week.

There’s no sign of any bitterly cold air for Alabama through mid-February.

ON THIS DATE IN 1922: From Jan. 27 through Jan. 29, a significant snowstorm struck the East Coast from South Carolina to southeastern Massachusetts. Washington, D.C., reported 28 inches. The heavy snow on the Knickerbocker Theater’s flat roof put a significant strain on the structure. On the evening of Jan. 28, during a showing of the silent comedy “Get-Rich-Quick Wallingford,” the building collapsed, killing 98 people and injuring 130 others.

ON THIS DATE IN 1940: Alabama was locked in a severe cold wave; the north half of the state was under a heavy blanket of snow. The snow came Jan. 23-24. There was more than a foot in parts of north Alabama. One inch fell as far south as Montgomery. Bitter cold followed the snow.

Birmingham was covered with 7 inches of snow. There was ice skating on the Black Warrior River at Birmingport with ice on the river 4 inches thick. The ice was 7 inches thick on creeks running into the river. The Cullman area was very hard hit by the unusually severe winter storm. Over a 13-inch blanket of snow, the temperature plunged to a bitter 16 below zero. Anniston was buried under an 11-inch blanket of snow.

BEACH FORECAST: Click here to see the AlabamaWx Beach Forecast Center page.

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