On Sunday, Mary Stepanski is seen at Bay View Park with her dog Copper. Stepanski said Copper is six months old.

ALPENA — A summer-like start to October bolstered temperature data to well above the long-term averages last month.

The amount of precipitation last month was also slightly above the norm, according to preliminary weather data from the National Weather service.

Four days during the first week of October pushed the mercury to 80 degrees or more, with the high temperature for the month recorded on Oct.4 when the thermometer climbed to 89 degrees at the Alpena County Regional Airport.

For the month, the average high temperature was 62 degrees, which easily surpassed the 57.8 degree long-term average.

The lowest temperature last month in Alpena was recorded on Oct. 27 when it was a chilly 26 degrees during the overnight hours.

The average low temperature in October was 39.5 degrees, which was warmer than the 37.2 degree historical average.

Overall, the average temperature last month was 50.7 degrees, which eclipsed the 47.4 long-term average.

According to the weather data, Alpena received a total of 3.72 inches of precipitation at the airport. That total is slightly above the 3.01 historic average. Much of the precipitation came during three rain events last month. On Oct. 19 Alpena received 0.88 of an inch, on Oct. 6 it received 0.79 of an inch, and on Oct.18, Alpena received 0.87 of an inch.

Although temperatures cooled enough late at night and in the early morning hours, there was no snow recorded in Alpena last month.

Looking forward to early November, temperatures are expected to hover in the mid 50s for a good chunk of this week before things cool off this weekend when it could struggle to reach 40 degrees on Saturday and Sunday.

The only significant chance of rain this week is on Friday with a 75% chance of precipitation.

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