It may only be the middle of June, but the weather this past weekend made it feel like mid-July.

Temperatures reached their peak Sunday when they reached 96 degrees at Alpena County Regional Airport, which broke the old record of 95 degrees from 2006.

According to National Weather Service meteorologist Keith Berger it was a humid heat which is not common for the Alpena area this time of year. He said a storm system on the west side of the state stalled and caused the air to become humid and when the temperature climbed it made for record setting temperatures and muggy conditions in Northeast Michigan.

“We had a warm front come through that set up a soupy air mass and then the sun came out and worked its magic,” he said. “Those things when combined made the weather kind of uncomfortable for some.”

The forecast leading up to the weekend was calling for rain and thunderstorms but by Friday the chance of rain diminished significantly and it never developed.

Berger said the few light showers Alpena received Monday were welcome, but more is needed and there really isn’t any forecasted until the weekend. Temperatures will remain close to historical averages this week, he said.

“It is going to be dry and much closer to normal than what we saw Sunday,” Berger said. “It will likely be in the upper 70s at the airport, but a little cooler by Lake Huron. Right now it looks like Saturday could be a rain event that will begin in the morning and continue on right until the evening. That will be much welcome though.”

There hasn’t been much rain this month, but Berger said it is only a dry spell and the area is not in a drought situation. He said a little over half way through the month, Alpena is only about three-quarters of an inch below the monthly average at this point. For the year, Berger said, precipitation is still above the norm.

“For the year we are about two inches above average and a lot of that is from the April snowstorm,” he said. “We are still in the ball park from where we are supposed to be, but we have just had a little dry spell and it is nothing to worry about.”

Bergman said ideally the area would receive a minimum of one-tenth of an inch of rain a week. He said that helps to reduce the risk of grass and wildfires as well as keeps plants healthy.

“It helps to keep things green and such,” he said.

Steve Schulwitz can be reached via email at sschulwitz@thealpenanews.com or by phone at 358-5689. Follow Steve on Twitter ss_alpenanews.