News Photo by Julie Goldberg With cooler temperatures on Thursday, the beaches at Lake Huron were empty. Temperatures will remain in the lower 70s through early next week and then temperatures will rise to the upper 70s by the end of next week.

ALPENA – August was one of the hottest months on record for the area and it’s going to remain warm through next week.

Jeff Lutz, meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Gaylord, said this August was the fifth-hottest August on record and this summer has been the third-hottest summer on record.

Lutz said the average maximum temperature for August was 81.5 degrees, which is over four degrees warmer than normal. The mean temperature for August was 70.4 degrees.

“It was abnormally warm,” he said.

There were 29 of 31 days in August on which the temperature was above the average temperature for that day.

Alpena got 3.09 inches of rain in August, which was below the normal value of 3.23 inches. The greatest rainfall total for a day was Aug. 28, when 0.96 inches of rain fell.

“The rainfall was slightly below the monthly rate and the total doesn’t make the top 10,” Lutz said. “The area was under a drought until recently.”

The rainfall on Wednesday set a record, with 1.58 inches of rain, surpassing the 2008 record of 1.17 inches.

Lutz said that, so far in September, Alpena is over its precipitation rate for the month and Alpena has already gotten 2.61 inches of rain this month.

Most of northern Michigan got lots of rain, with Marquette getting 2.83 inches of rain and Iron Mountain getting 1.64 inches of rain.

For the summer, the rainfall total was 6.14 inches, 2.74 inches below what Alpena normally gets in a summer.

Looking forward, Lutz said Alpena will stay in the mid-60s for the weekend, then up to the mid-70s, and then be closer to 80 degrees by Thursday.

Lutz said there’s a chance for a little rain on Monday. He said moisture from Tropical Storm Gordon will come over the lower part of the Great Lakes.

“That should only be a tenth of an inch or two-tenths of an inch,” Lutz said. “That’s the only chance of rain for next week.”

Julie Goldberg can be reached at jgoldberg@thealpenanews.com or 989-358-5688.

August weather, by the numbers

Highest temp: 94 degrees on Aug. 14

Lowest temp: 43 degrees on Aug. 31

Average maximum temp: 81.5 degrees

Total precipitation: 3.09 inches