James Spann forecasts a warm, dry weekend before a big temperature drop for Alabama from Alabama News Center on Vimeo.

STILL DRY: An upper ridge will continue to keep opportunities for rain west and north of Alabama today and over the weekend. We expect partly sunny, warm days and fair, pleasant nights through Sunday. Highs will be between 80 and 85 degrees, with lows mostly in the 60s.

NEXT WEEK: The coldest air so far this season will roll into Alabama. The front will slowly move through the state Monday, setting up a big temperature contrast. By mid to late afternoon, the Tennessee Valley will likely be in the upper 40s, with mid 80s over the counties south of the front. A few widely scattered showers or patches of light rain are possible as the front slides southward, but amounts will be very light and spotty.

The weather will be dry Tuesday through Friday with very cool days and cold nights. Highs will be in the 50s over the northern half of the state Tuesday and Wednesday, with 60s to the south. Many north Alabama communities will likely see their first freeze of the season by Wednesday and Thursday mornings, with lows between 28 and 34 degrees. A warming trend begins Thursday afternoon.

FOOTBALL WEATHER: The sky will be clear for the high school games across Alabama tonight with temperatures falling from the mid 70s at kickoff into the upper 60s by the fourth quarter.

For Saturday’s Magic City Classic in Birmingham (Alabama State vs. Alabama A&M, 2:30 p.m. kickoff at Legion Field), the sky will be partly to mostly sunny with temperatures in the low to mid 80s. It will be a warm October afternoon.

Auburn hosts Mississippi State (2:30 p.m. kickoff) at Jordan Hare Stadium. Dry, warm weather is the story, with temperatures between 81 and 84 degrees for most of the game. The sky will be partly to mostly sunny.

TROPICS: A strong extratropical cyclone (formerly Tammy) associated with an occluded front is a few hundred miles east of Bermuda. This system is forecast to become separated from the front later today, and environmental conditions are forecast to become more conducive over the northwestern Atlantic to the east of Bermuda through Saturday. Regardless of tropical redevelopment, the system is likely to bring gusty winds and heavy rainfall to Bermuda during the next couple of days. Interests on Bermuda should monitor the progress of this system.

A broad area of low pressure is forecast to develop over the southwestern Caribbean Sea during the next few days. Environmental conditions could support some slow development of this system early next week while it moves generally northward over western or central portions of the basin. The National Hurricane Center gives this feature a 30% chance of development over the next seven days.ON THIS DATE IN 1940: A late-season heat wave was underway across the Deep South thanks to a strong upper high. Birmingham’s high was 88 degrees, which still stands as the daily record high for Oct. 27.

ON THIS DATE IN 2006: An F1 tornado (waterspout) came ashore and caused significant damage on the west side of Apalachicola, Florida.

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