News Photo by Darby Hinkley The blue sky matches the blue water of the Thunder Bay River in this photo taken on Tuesday evening in Alpena. The former DPI plant is seen across the river.

ALPENA — The weather in Northeastern Michigan on Tuesday seemed more like October than late August and the chilly late-summer cool off is expected to remain for the balance of the week.

On Tuesday, some people may have had to fire up their heaters to stave off the chill in the air or wear a jacket while venturing out to work or school. During the overnight hours from Monday to Tuesday, temperatures dipped into the low 50s and high 40s in some areas in the Alpena area, which is unseasonably cold.

Overnight temperatures are expected to remain in the low 50s and high 40s for pretty much the balance of the week. Daytime high temperatures are expected to hover in the low to mid 60s until Saturday.

There will be a slight warm up for Labor Day weekend and early next week, before cold air settles back into the area in early September.

Sean Christensen, a meteorologist for the National Weather Service in Gaylord, said the cooler weather was probably a shock to some people, as for the most part, it has been a warm and dry summer.

He said the degree of the sudden cold spell is slightly uncommon but nowhere near record-breaking. Christensen said shoreline communities will not be as cold as those that are further inland, but at least for the next week or so, it will seem cooler than normal for this time of year.

“At times in August we see cool air settle in and the temperatures in August do begin to trend down from July,” Christensen said. “There aren’t going to be any records broken in Northeast Michigan, but it is still going to feel cool because we are coming off of a heat wave.”

Christensen said there are some eye-popping low temperature records for the end of August and early September. He said the record low temperature for Aug. 30 is 29 degrees, set back in 1934. The current cold spell will be nowhere near that, Christensen said.

“That isn’t in the cards, thank goodness,” he said.

Christensen said the weather for Labor Day weekend will be moderate to chilly. He said in Alpena, temperatures will be in the high 60s to low 70s on Saturday and climb to the mid 70s on Sunday. On Labor Day, temperatures could climb into the upper 70s.

There is little to no rain in the forecast for Labor Day weekend, so people should be able to enjoy time camping and grilling outdoors. Still, Christensen said, the nighttime and overnight hours will be more chilly than normal.

Labor Day is recognized by many people as the last unofficial day of summer, but Christensen said people shouldn’t give up hope that more warm or even hot weather may be on the way. He said it is likely there will be nice weather in September and even in early October.

“Everyone is spooked that summer is over, but there is plenty of time for warm weather and maybe some hot days,” he said. ” People shouldn’t put away their shorts and T-shirts and break out their winter coats just yet.”

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