Bitterly cold temperatures are expected across Alabama this weekend, especially Friday night until Sunday morning.

Wind chill advisories and hard freeze warnings will be in effect for parts of the state both tonight and Saturday night, according to the National Weather Service. Icy roads could also continue to make travel hazardous in north Alabama.

But there is a thaw coming.

The weather service said the pattern will flip to warmer weather starting on Monday, and by Wednesday ALL of the state will be enjoying highs in the 60s — and there will be 70s in south Alabama.

By midweek the overnight low temperatures will be warmer than the highs expected over the weekend, according to forecasters.

Sunday will bring a slight increase in temperatures, but the true warmup will begin on Monday, according to forecasts from the weather service.

Here are the forecast highs on Monday:

Lows on Monday night may actually seem quite balmy after teens and single digits over the weekend. Here are the expected lows on Monday night into Tuesday morning:

Temperatures will continue to warm up on Tuesday, and by Wednesday the entire state will have highs in the 60s — even north Alabama (see the forecast for Wednesday at the top of this post).

A LOT OF RAIN POSSIBLE NEXT WEEK

There is a catch, however. Along with warmer temperatures there will also be increased chances for rain next week.

In fact, there could be enough rain that flooding could become a concern, according to the weather service.

Here is the seven-day precipitation outlook from the Weather Prediction Center. It shows that several inches of rain will be possible for much of Alabama next week, with west Alabama potentially seeing the most (3 inches or more):

So far NOAA’s Storm Prediction Center doesn’t have Alabama included in any severe weather risks all of next week, but the weather service said some storms will be possible and will be watching the forecast for Thursday especially.

WARMER THROUGH THE END OF THE MONTH?

Warmer temperatures are expected to hang around for a while, too. Both the six-to 10-day and eight- to 14-day temperature outlooks from the Climate Prediction Center show increased probabilities for above-average temperatures for all of Alabama (note that’s above average for January).

Here’s the six- to 10-day outlook:

And here’s the eight- to 14-day outlook: