News Photo by Steve Schulwitz Erica Diehl takes her dog, Bluey, for a walk in downtown Alpena on Friday. Temperatures in Alpena were cool on Friday and even a few snowflakes fell at times. Last month, the Alpena area saw 12 days that were 70 degrees or warmer.

ALPENA — At several points last month, the temperature seemed more like summer than autumn and two temperature records fell.

In its monthly climatological summary for October, the National Weather Service said last month was unusually warm for this time of year in Alpena and well below the long-term average for precipitation.

The data for October shows that a pair of long-standing high temperature records were broken, as the month saw a whopping 12 days when local thermometers climbed to 70 degrees or higher.

On two days, temperatures eclipsed 80 degrees.

The first record fell on Oct. 21, when it reached 84 degrees in Alpena. That easily surpassed the prior record for that date of 78 degrees, established in 1920.

The second record to fall came on Oct. 30, when the high temperature in Alpena rose to 77 degrees, besting the previous record for the same day of 76 degrees, set in 1950.

For October, the average high temperature was 65.7 degrees, well above the 57.6-degree long-term average. The coldest day last month happened on Oct. 18, when overnight temperatures dipped to 26 degrees.

The overall average temperature last month was 52.2 degrees, again well above the long-term average for October at 47.4 degrees.

For several months, the Alpena area has received little rain and the weather in October followed that pattern.

Last month, weather officials measured just about three-quarters of an inch of rain, much less than the long-term 3.01-inch average for October.

The lack of rain through the summer and fall months has elevated all of Northeast Michigan into drought.

According to the U.S. Drought Monitor, the area is classified as D2, meaning severe drought. The area was bumped up from the moderate D1 category in the last two weeks.

Weather Service meteorologist Andy Sullivan, who works at the Weather Service’s Gaylord office, said the severe drought conditions may not last much longer.

He said the Alpena region could receive significant rain during the first half of next week. After that, Sullivan said, the forecast is tricky to read.

“We’ll have two or three days of pretty steady rain, and that will help the area, which has been very dry for several months,” he said. “I’m not sure if this is the beginning of a longer-term pattern or just a short burst of wet weather. It is still much-needed, though.”

On Friday, some light snow flurries were seen in the area. Sullivan said nothing would stick to the ground.

Looking at the long-term forecast, it could be some time before the Alpena area has snow on the ground, Sullivan said, because temperatures are expected to be warmer than normal for several weeks.

“The cold air is really bottled up in the Arctic and is remaining well north of Canada and northern Michigan,” Sullivan said. “For the next seven to 10 days — or maybe longer — it is going to remain pretty mild. I wouldn’t expect any accumulating snow anytime soon.”

Steve Schulwitz can be reached at 989-358-5689 at sschulwitz@thealpenanews.com. Follow him on X @ss_alpenanews.com.