Soak up today while we have it. We're in the low 70s this afternoon with plenty of sunshine. Just off to our north, a significant ice storm is shaping up across Kentucky and west Tennessee. It is with this system that our rain chances start to pick up late tonight and all day Thursday. We will NOT see any winter weather with this system, just plain rain.

Rain begins in northwest Alabama late this evening and spreads eastward through the region overnight. Several waves of rain will pass through before starting to taper off Thursday evening. Heavy downpours and a few embedded thunderstorms can't be ruled out. We are not concerned about flooding or severe weather at this point. Temperatures crash to only near 50 Thursday. Rainfall totals will hover right around one inch for all of North Alabama.

The active weather pattern is not going anywhere. Friday will be a transition day as one system moves out and another moves in. Temperatures will only reach the upper 40s with mostly cloudy skies. Later in the evening, scattered showers will be on the increase from the south. Showers will continue most of Saturday. Some data sources try to have a very brief transition to a rain/snow mix, but impacts will be minimal should that materialize.

Long term, we are starting to watch closely the potential for more winter weather early next week (Monday - Tuesday). Too early for specifics, but we will continues to monitor the forecast for early next week closely. The deep Arctic air seems to be delayed yet again. While the worst of the Arctic air looks to stay north of our area, this weekend will still be chilly. Highs temperatures will struggle to reach 40 degrees with overnight lows in the mid 20s.