James Spann: Unsettled weather, numerous showers for Alabama today from Alabama NewsCenter on Vimeo.

TROPICAL SHOWERS: The upper low that has been drifting westward along the Gulf Coast is over Louisiana this morning, but our weather still won’t change much today. Very high dew points, lots of clouds and occasional showers. Highs in the upper 80s for most places. But the heaviest rain will be southwest of here; flash flood watches remain in effect for the Central Gulf Coast.

TOMORROW THROUGH THE WEEKEND: With the upper ridge rebuilding across the Deep South, the weather will trend brighter and hotter, with afternoon temperatures returning to the low 90s. Showers and storms remain possible, but they will be random, scattered and mostly during the afternoon and evening.

NEXT WEEK: Fairly typical August weather continues Monday and Tuesday, but the ridge breaks down again later in the week, and global models suggest an increase in the number of showers and storms again Wednesday through Friday, with highs dropping back into the 80s.

AT THE BEACH: Mostly cloudy weather continues through tomorrow on the Gulf Coast from Gulf Shores to Panama City Beach, with occasional rain and thunderstorms. A flash flood watch is up from Dauphin Island to Orange Beach to Destin, and dangerous rip tides are likely. Weather conditions will gradually improve this weekend and early next week with increasing amounts of sun and fewer showers. See a detailed Gulf Coast forecast here.

TROPICS: Still very quiet for mid-August; no tropical storm formation is expected across the Atlantic basin through next week.

PERSEID METEOR SHOWER: The Perseid meteor shower will peak late tonight; the best viewing is from midnight until 5 tomorrow morning. There’s potential for 200 meteors per hour, double the usual rate. But clouds will be an issue for Alabama. More details here.

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