A few "illegal" showers today. Clearing weather the next few days. Temps running a touch cool.

Showers and storms are very spotty this afternoon, but they are a little bit more prevalent than they were supposed to be. The overall idea for bumping up rain chances for this afternoon when were looking at things overnight did turn out to be the right choice though! We've had one gusty little storm track near Athens toward Decatur this afternoon, but the rest of these have been spotty little showers with an occasional rumble of thunder. Even the strongest of these haven't gotten anywhere close to severe criteria.

These showers will be diminishing as we head into the evening as we lose daytime heating and also as drier air filters into the area. That drier air will allow some of our southern middle Tennessee communities to drop into the upper 60s as early as mid evening, and low to mid 70s through northern Alabama. Skies will continue to clear out overnight, and by daybreak Thursday, we look to be sitting under mostly clear skies to start the day, with temperatures ranging from the lower 60s to as cool as the mid/upper 50s in spots! Sunny skies will allow us to warm, but we will still be a good 7 to 10 degrees below average, with afternoon highs on Thursday only in the upper 70s and lower 80s.

Dry weather continues for the next few days as northerly winds continue. Clouds increase a bit toward Friday and Saturday, but we look to stay dry, although a shower can't be completely ruled out Saturday afternoon or Saturday night as winds become more southerly on the west side of high pressure and moisture moves back in. It will be Sunday before rain chances decently climb again as a cold front from the north brings a round of showers and thunderstorms to the area.

Temperatures look to run below average for at least the next five days. Our average high to start September is usually 89 to 90 degrees as we are still in late summer. Actual highs for the next five days look to range from the upper 70s to the mid 80s. Morning lows will be in the upper 50s and lower 60s through Saturday morning before moderating back into the mid 60s as we head toward the start of the new work week.

We continue to watch a few systems in the tropics. Tropical Depression Kate continues to spin out in the open Atlantic but is no threat to land. Tropical Storm Larry has developed in the eastern Atlantic. Larry is forecast to become a major hurricane over the next few days but is expected to turn northward out over the open ocean before ever getting a chance to come even as far westward as the Windward Islands. We are also watching a tropical wave in the southwest Caribbean that may move into the Bay of Campeche over the next few days. There is a low to medium chance of the development with it. As of now, there are no imminent threats to the United States, but we are rapidly approaching the peak of the Atlantic hurricane season, and we will be watching carefully.