News Photo by Steve Schulwitz Landen Hawley uses his plastic shovel to scoop up some debris at Starlite Beach in Alpena on Friday. Mild temperatures the last few days made local beaches and parks popular places to enjoy the weather.

ALPENA — Two weeks ago, the weather in Northeast Michigan seemed more like winter than spring.

But over the last few days, it has resembled summer more than spring, as high temperature records throughout the region were broken on Thursday, data from the National Weather Service shows.

Temperatures are expected to return to closer to normal over the next week to 10 days and Northeast Michigan could experience severe thunderstorms today.

Thursday in Alpena, a temperature of 89 degrees was recorded at the Alpena County Regional Airport, which surpassed the prior high temperature of 87 degrees set on May 12 in 2004.

New high temperatures were also recorded in Onaway and Atlanta where thermometers reached 94 degrees.

National Weather Service Meteorologist Sean Christensen said temperatures were cooler along the shoreline of Lake Huron, due to an onshore breeze, than those further inland. Christensen said, for most people, the warm weather offered an early glimpse of summer, but he added that the record setting temperatures aren’t sustainable yet.

“We’re going to see a cool down and actually be below normal for really the next couple weeks,” Christensen said. “We’ll have some warm days mixed with some cooler ones, so no, summer isn’t quite here yet.”

The Alpena area is considered by the National Weather Service a moderate risk for hazardous storms today, but Christensen said the likelihood of having storms that cause wide-spread damage is small.

“There is a small chance of winds over 40 miles per hour, one-inch hail, and tornadic activity, but that probably won’t happen,” he said. “But we’ll probably get some regular thunderstorms. Still, people should be prepared for any severe weather.”

Rain is needed in Northeast Michigan, as for the last several days a Red Flag Warning was issued as the heat, gusty winds, and low relative humidity made the risk of fire high.

Christensen said the extended forecast likely won’t lead to any more red-flag warnings for the Alpena area in the immediate future.