What is the weather for Friday night high school football in Columbus and Auburn?

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Friday night football in the CNAW area will be warm and humid, from 82 degrees around kickoff in Columbus to 77 in Tuskegee, with rain chances near 53 percent on the Georgia side and about 35 percent around Auburn and Opelika. Friday night in the Valley will feel like September rather than October. Around kickoff, temperatures run from 77 degrees in Tuskegee, Notasulga and Clayton to 82 in Columbus, and they only slip three to five degrees by the fourth quarter. The wind will be 5 mph or less everywhere, which means nothing will be moving the humid air around. Leave the jacket at home and bring something that sheds water instead.

The wettest corner of the viewing area is the southwest. In Georgetown, where Quitman County plays, and in Cuthbert, home of Randolph Clay, showers and thunderstorms are likely, with a 57 percent rain chance at 81 degrees around kickoff and 76 by the fourth quarter. Stewart County in Lumpkin is close behind at 54 percent.

Columbus sits at the warm end of the night. In the stands at Kinnett Stadium and A.J. McClung Memorial Stadium, and at the fields where Shaw, Hardaway, Columbus, Spencer, Kendrick, Jordan, Carver, Northside, Calvary Christian, Pacelli and Brookstone play, look for 82 degrees around kickoff, 78 by the fourth quarter and a 53 percent chance of showers. Chattahoochee County in Cusseta matches Columbus almost exactly.

Around LaGrange, where LaGrange, Troup County and LaGrange Academy play, it will be 81 around kickoff and 76 by the fourth quarter with a 50 percent rain chance. Callaway in Hogansville has the same numbers. Harris County in Hamilton runs 80 and 76 with a 52 percent chance, and Manchester and Greenville are both near 80 early with rain chances around 50 percent.

The Alabama side is noticeably drier and a few degrees cooler. Auburn and Lee-Scott in Auburn, Opelika and Beauregard in Opelika, Valley and Beulah, and LaFayette and Chambers Academy all sit at 78 degrees around kickoff and 74 by the fourth quarter, with rain chances of 35 to 36 percent. Humidity there is in the mid 70s, so 78 will still feel close.

Lanett is the exception on that side of the river. Lanett and Springwood are looking at 81 degrees around kickoff, 77 late and a 51 percent chance of showers and storms — a Georgia-style night in an Alabama town. Central in Phenix City and Smiths Station and Glenwood are near 80 with chances closer to 37 percent, and Russell County in Seale lands in between at 79.

The coolest stands in the viewing area will be in Tuskegee, where Booker T. Washington plays. It will be 77 around kickoff and 73 by the fourth quarter, with calm air and humidity near 85 percent, so the number will feel warmer than it reads. Barbour County in Clayton and Notasulga are both 77 early and 74 late. Eufaula sits at 78 and 74 with no wind at all.

For scale on how quickly things change: the dew point in Columbus this morning was 46 degrees, the kind of dry air that makes an early-fall morning feel crisp. Friday night's air will hold far more moisture than that. Wear short sleeves, put a rain jacket or a poncho under your seat if you are watching a game in Georgia or in Lanett, and check radar on your phone before you leave the house.

Day	High	Low	Rain	Conditions
TODAY	83°	58°	0%	Sunny
TUE	86°	62°	0%	Sunny
WED	90°	68°	1%	Sunny
THU	89°	70°	12%	Sunny
FRI	88°	71°	54%	Chance Showers And Thunderstorms
SAT	86°	70°	58%	Showers And Thunderstorms Likely
SUN	81°	69°	56%	Showers And Thunderstorms Likely

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