Clearing skies and cooler temperatures moving in Thursday

A cold front has brought thunderstorms this afternoon and lingering showers this evening. Alpena picked up more than 1.5 inches of rainfall (as of 6 p.m. Wednesday), breaking the old record for daily rainfall on September 5 of 1.17 inches set in 2008. Other areas in Northeast Michigan have seen one-tenth to a half inch of rainfall.

The high heat is moving to the east, today’s high temperature reached 87 degrees in Alpena before the rain moved in. A much cooler airmass with daytime high temperatures close to 70 degrees is moving in from Minnesota.

Tropical storm Gordon has weakened to a tropical depression which is the weakest category of tropical system. It will continue to move northward, into the Midwest. It will produce some rain-showers in our area late Sunday and Monday.

Despite some morning cloud cover, the skies will clear tomorrow afternoon. For a change, high temperatures will reach only the lower 70s.

For tomorrow afternoon, high temperatures will reach 72 degrees in Alpena under partly cloudy skies. More sunshine is expected Friday, though the early-morning will start with temperatures in the upper 40s, then warming to a high near 70 degrees in the afternoon. Even cooler temperatures are forecast on Saturday with highs in the middle-to-upper 60s. For the rest of Northeast Michigan’s weather forecast, watch the latest weather video by clicking the weather tab at the top of the page.