Much of Alabama woke up to slightly “cooler” temperatures on Thursday as Alabama’s so-called “fake fall” drew to a close.

Temperatures as of 6 a.m. Thursday ranged from the low to mid-60s in north Alabama to the mid-70s in southeast Alabama.

The National Weather Service is forecasting temperatures to start to climb over the weekend, and next week looks very hot and mostly dry.

It could be hot enough for some areas to see the triple digits again by mid-week.

Today’s temperatures are expected to climb into the upper 80s and low 90s across the state (see the forecast for today at the top of this post).

Today could also bring the best rain chances for the state of this week. There was even a rouge severe thunderstorm early this morning in eastern Alabama’s Bullock County.

No widespread severe weather is expected today, according to forecasts from NOAA’s Storm Prediction Center, but there could be scattered rain and storms.

Here’s the thunderstorm outlook for today:

Enjoy the slightly cooler temperatures over the next day or two, because forecasters expect the mercury to climb even higher next week, and parts of Alabama could hit the 100-degree mark again.

The weather service’s long-range forecasts go out to next Wednesday, which looks to be the hottest of the next seven days. Highs next Wednesday, Aug. 28, could hit 100 degrees in some spots, and many others will come close.

Here is the forecast for Aug. 28:

Look for temperatures to start feeling hotter by Sunday, when all of the state will have highs in the 90s, even mid-90s.

Rain chances — after today — are expected to remain on the low side. South Alabama will have the best chance of seeing any rain through next week, but even there chances will be under 40 percent, according to weather service forecasts.

The outlook beyond next week continues to trend hotter, with above-average temperatures favored for Alabama through the first few days of September (which, by the way, marks the start of meteorological fall):