Turning much warmer; storms Friday night

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (WSFA) - Happy first full day of spring! We may have started the morning off feeling the exact opposite of spring-like weather, but that very cold start has already given way to noticeably warmer temperatures across the state. Afternoon highs climbed into the 60s thanks to a good bit of dry air in our atmosphere and a lot of sunshine; compared to the 50s of yesterday, you will likely notice the difference!

Highs will go from the 60s today to the upper 70s tomorrow with plenty of sunshine. You can also say goodbye to the 30s after this morning! While a few upper 30s are possible tonight, most of us should stay at or above 40°, which is still a bit cooler than normal for this time of year.

Plenty of sun is again in the forecast for Thursday and Friday... some afternoon clouds will mix in, sure, but there will be a good deal of blue sky. This will boost temperatures into the middle 80s each afternoon with a southerly breeze around 10-20 mph. Both days will be a little on the humid side, especially Friday.

A cold front will push in from Mississippi Friday night, bringing a line of showers and thunderstorms with it. Some strong storms are looking increasingly likely with this system given the ingredients we will have in place across Alabama.

A couple of those could turn severe with damaging wind gusts and a tornado both being possible. Everyone has a chance of seeing a severe storm, but not everyone will. It should be confined to a few problematic areas Friday night as the most significant severe threat stays just to our north and west.

Drier air will push in behind the rain for the weekend as highs stay warmer than normal around 80 degrees. The sky will feature plenty of sunshine on Saturday, followed by some additional cloudiness on Sunday.

We can’t rule out a few showers and thunderstorms on Sunday as Gulf of Mexico air surges northward across Alabama. Right now those chances are at 40%. The pattern should continue to support scattered wet weather Sunday night into early next week.

With sufficient warmth and mugginess in place, the chance of a few stronger storms does exist during this period. Right now it does not look like a big severe weather event, though it is something we will watch closely!

As always, remember to download the free WSFA 12 News First Alert Weather app. That way you can gain the latest weather information from the First Alert Weather Team wherever you go. Just search WSFA Weather in the Apple App Store or Google Play store today.

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