News Photo by Steve Schulwitz The shutes to the 9th Avenue dam were closed on Tuesday. Little snow this winter prevented a large runoff, which requires water to be released from the inland waterway into Lake Huron.

ALPENA — People who thought Ol’ Man Winter would return in March with a vengeance after a historically mild February couldn’t have been more wrong.

In Alpena, the mild weather and lack of snow in March put a cap on a winter that was above average for temperatures and well below average for snow.

However, Alpena could receive one to three inches of snow before Thursday, which will be accompanied with rain and high winds.

The extended forecast predicts a warming trend that could put the kibosh on this year’s winter and snow, but spring snowstorms in Northeast Michigan can occur into early May, the National Weather Service said.

Last month, the average high temperature was 44.1 degrees, which easily outpaced the 39.2 degree long-term average. The warmest day was on March 13, when the thermometer reached 66 degrees at the Alpena County Regional Airport.

The overall average temperature was 36.6 degrees, more than five degrees over the long-term average.

The coldest day was March 21 when the mercury dipped to 14 degrees during the overnight hours.

Alpena usually receives, on average, 10.3 inches of snow in March, but last month didn’t even come close. According to National Weather Service data, it received only 4.6 inches of snow last month, with the brunt of it falling during one weather event. On March 10, the area received 2.5 inches of snow and after that, only a handful of dustings were added to the total.

For March, the total amount of precipitation was above average at 2.18 inches last month and the long-term average being 1.74 inches.

On March 5, a record was set when rain measuring 0.99 of an inch fell in Alpena. That broke the 0.97 inch record set in 2004.

A storm predicted for Tuesday through Thursday could teeter between rain and snow, but Alpena is only expected to receive an inch or two. National Weather Service Meteorologist Keith Berger, who works at the post in Gaylord, said the key to how much snow or rain Alpena receives could come down to a degree or two.

“Temperatures will be hovering right at about 32 degrees, pretty much for the entire weather event,” Berger said. “If it drops one degree, then there will be more snow. If it climbs one degree, then it will be almost all rain. For Alpena, I suspect it will be more wet than white. The wind could be the biggest issue.”

Berger said winds out of the East in excess of 40-miles an hour with higher gusts up to 50- miles an hour could impact the Alpena area.

He said the forecast shows after this week’s winter system, the Alpena area will see a significant warm up. When asked if he believed the snow will be the area’s last, he chuckled and said there is no way to predict that.

“I would never utter that statement, even if I thought it was true,” he said. “We all know how the weather in Northern Michigan can be and that we can even get snow into May. I’d like to say this will be the last of that, but there is no way I will.”

The local warmup begins on Saturday when temperatures begin to move toward 50 degrees and could climb to about 60 degrees on April 10.

The forecast for Monday, when there will be a solar eclipse in Michigan, is for partly cloudy skies and a high temperature in the high 40s to low 50s.