“Good riddance, July.”

So might be the thinking of Northeast Michigan residents who have seen all kinds of crazy records set this month when it comes to weather.

Earlier this month, the region sustained several back-to-back days of temperatures over 85 degrees. The sustained heat created fire hazards across the region because of the dry conditions.

This past Sunday was anything but dry, however.

On that day, a new record was set in Alpena, when 3.59 inches of rain fell on the area. The new record beat a previous one of 2.34 inches set back in 1960.

If it was just the rain we had to deal with on Sunday, that would have been one thing, but the humidity of that day was even worse. The folks at the National Weather Service in Gaylord said that the dewpoint in Alpena Sunday was 81 — setting another new record for that day.

Dewpoint is a measure of the amount of water in the air, with higher numbers representing a more humid feels outside. Any reading over 75 is considered “oppressive” by NWS officials.

All of us know snow and cold weather will return to the region soon enough. And most of us also realize that, because of that, we are thankful for whatever good weather we can enjoy each summer.

We must admit, however, that July had many more surprises than what we were expecting when it came to the weather.

(THE ALPENA NEWS)