September was slightly warmer, with a new daily rainfall record
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ALPENA - September finished slightly warmer and noticeably drier than normal across Alpena County, with one daily rainfall record and a dry stretch through much of the second half of the month, according to the National Weather Service.
The county's average temperature for the month was 59.9 degrees, compared with a normal of 59 degrees. National Weather Service meteorologist Eleanor Delizio, based at the agency's Gaylord office, said the departure was modest.
"It was almost a degree above normal for average temperature," Delizio said.
The month opened on its warmest note. The high temperature reached 86 degrees on Sept. 1. Delizio said that reading was above normal for the date, though well short of the historical mark.
"That was above normal but the record for that day was 99 degrees, which was set in 1953," she said.
The coolest reading of the month came late, when the temperature fell to 37 degrees on Sept. 26. That low was well above the record low for September in Alpena, which stands at 23 degrees and was set in 1942. The gap between the month's extremes (an early-September afternoon in the mid-80s and a late-month morning in the upper 30s) fit a typical seasonal transition, even as the monthly average stayed just on the warm side of normal.
Precipitation provided a clearer indication of a departure from the average. Alpena recorded 2.03 inches of rain for the month. The normal September total is 2.84 inches, leaving the county 0.81 inches short. Delizio said the monthly figure also ranks among the drier Septembers on record.
"That is 0.81 inches below normal. It is also the 31st lowest precipitation total on record," she said.
The range of September rainfall in the local record is wide. The wettest September on record produced 10.4 inches in 1937. The driest produced just 0.28 inches in 1979. This year's total sits well below the long-term normal and far from either extreme, but on the dry side of the historical distribution.
Most of the month's rain was not evenly spaced. Delizio said the pattern included lighter amounts early, a single heavy day in the middle of the month, and then a prolonged dry stretch.
"The rain was fairly spread out; we had a little bit at the beginning of the month. Our record-breaking rain arrived on September 15, and then we were pretty dry for the last half of the month," she said.
That mid-month storm set a daily record. Alpena measured 1.24 inches on Sept. 15, topping the previous record for the date of 1.17 inches set in 1954. The single-day total accounted for more than half of the entire month's rainfall. After that system moved through, measurable rain was scarce until the calendar turned. Delizio said the county did pick up a small amount on the final day.
"We did get 0.2 inches of rain on the last day of the month," she said.
Despite the below-normal monthly total and the dry second half, Alpena County is not in drought. Delizio said current conditions do not show drought anywhere in the county.
"No areas of Alpena County are currently experiencing drought conditions. The closest area experiencing drought is the northern portion of Presque Isle County," she said.
Looking at the month as a whole, Delizio described a season that stayed close to average on temperature and ran short on rain, with the deficit concentrated after the middle of the month.
"For September in Alpena County, overall, it was just slightly above normal with the temperatures. The area was slightly below normal with precipitation; we did have a stretch of dry weather at the end of the month," she said.
The combination left September warmer by a fraction of a degree and drier by a little more than three-quarters of an inch, bookended by an 86-degree start and a 37-degree low late in the month.
Josh Jambor can be reached at jjambor@thealpenanews.com.