Showers thin out through Friday, and Alabama heads for the 90s this weekend

A cloudy damp night leads to one more cooler-than-usual day for North and Central Alabama before we ramp up the heat for the weekend. Check the video forecast for the latest.SHOWERS SHIFTING EAST THURSDAYMuggy. Steamy. Wet.Many words describe the sticky feel to the air, but 'summer' certainly does not fit the billing for the official start of the season. Birmingham's high of 83°F on Wednesday stands as the 11th-coolest high temperature on a summer solstice since 1895.Steamy? Yes. Hot? Not quite: a normal high for the first day of summer in Birmingham is around 90 degrees, and we still come up well short of that on Thursday.Expect a warm start in the 60s with a cloudy sky and a chance of some spotty light rain. Clouds break up at times letting some sunshine through, and that pushes the temperature upward in the afternoon: topping out in the lower to middle 80s west of Birmingham and middle to upper 70s to the east where the clouds remain thicker.The best chance of showers Thursday sets up over Alabama's eastern counties with only a hand full of downpours to the west.SUMMER HEAT SURGES SOONThe searing heat wave out west over Texas sent temperatures skyrocketing to the upper 90s and 100s Wednesday, and some of that hot air spreads east toward Alabama this weekend.A strong 'ridge' expanding over the Southern Plains and South increases the heat and decreases the odds of widespread rain for Friday, Saturday and Sunday. That kind of pattern supports the idea of highs in the lower to middle 90s and a heat index of 95°F+ through Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday. The only thing that can keep us short of 95°F early next week would be a round of heavy storms.STRONG STORMS AND HOT WEATHERSome of Alabama's most intense storms of the year typically happen over the next few weeks: incredible lightning, heavy rain, gusty winds, and torrential rain coming from what we simply know as scattered summertime storms.Birmingham gets more lightning from late June through July than any other time of year, and the heat is one of the biggest contributors to that. Hot, humid days lead to very unstable air, and storms that feed on that fuel grow very tall: sometimes higher than 50,000 feet above the ground where the air is very cold and a lot of ice forms in the clouds.It is so unstable that it only takes a small 'wave' (disturbance) to fire up some powerful thunderstorms, and that is where we find ourselves Sunday, Monday and Tuesday.The weekend ridge backs off slightly on Monday and Tuesday leading to a northwesterly wind several thousand feet above our heads. A series of disturbances tracks from the Plains toward the South in that pattern, and it could be enough for some intense storms around here through the first part of next week.Those storms may cause some local fluctuations in how high temperatures get early next week. A well-timed storm could cut down the heat some one day only to have it rebound to the mid-90s again the next day.Bottom line: get ready for hotter weather, a few storms, and more typical summer weather chaos around Alabama. TROPICAL ATLANTICTropical Storm Bret continues westward to the Caribbean late this week into the weekend. It could strengthen into a hurricane, but that kind of intensity may not last very long once it is south of Puerto Rico. It likely encounters significant wind shear that either tears it apart or carries it northward into the Atlantic next week. At this point, there is no concern for the Gulf of Mexico or East Coast of the United States through at least next Monday.CLICK TO SEE THE 7-DAY FORECAST—Stay weather awareGet the free WVTM 13 app and turn on the alerts for the latest weather updates.For the latest Birmingham weather information and central Alabama's certified most accurate forecast, watch WVTM 13 News.Current Weather ConditionsHourly Forecast | 10-Day ForecastInteractive RadarBirmingham SkycamsLive Doppler RadarSign Up For Email Weather AlertsDownload the WVTM 13 AppDon't forget to follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.