ALPENA, MI

Overview:
On the shores of Lake Huron, Alpena lies along the mouth of the Thunder Bay River as it enters into Thunder Bay. Glacial impacts helped shape local geography, while forests surround the city in all directions. The distinct microclimate allows for specialty agriculture of overwintering fruits.

Like many communities along Michigan’s lakeshores, temperatures are often moderated by the lake influence. Lakes Michigan, Superior, and Huron can affect weather during the snow season as well as lake-effect snowfall. However, Alpena’s location upwind of Lake Huron decreases the amount of lake-effect snowfall it receives. The effects of the lakes on Alpena’s climate are the most pronounced before ice forms. During this time, minimum temperatures are higher than would be expected for this latitude but as ice forms temperatures below freezing become more common.

State/ Province ID: MI

Station ID: W00094849

Directory Name: ALPENA_CO_RGNL_AP__MI_W00094849

Elevation: 208.50m

The resources presented here were developed in cooperation with the Office of the Michigan State Climatologist using data from the National Centers for Environmental Information. For more information regarding our data sources, quality control, and methodology, please see our Historical Climatologies: Quality Control reference guide.

Jump

Recent Climate Summary, 1991-2020

Average Temperature44.2°F6.8°C
Average Low Temperature34.0°F1.1°C
Average High Temperature54.3°12.4°C
Days/Year that exceed 90°F5.0 
Days/Year that fall below 32°F160.2 
Lowest Annual Average Temperature40.9°F4.9°C
Highest Annual Average Temperature47.2°F8.4°C
Average Annual Total Precipitation29.6 in75.2 cm
Lowest Annual Precipitation Total20.3 in51.4 cm
Highest Annual Precipitation Total40.2 in102.1 cm
Days/Year that exceed 1.25" of Precipitation2.0 

Temperature

Click on the following links to be taken to the corresponding portion of the page.

  • Monthly Average Temperature
  • How Temperatures are Changing
    • Changes in Average Temperature – Includes a summary table of the average annual and seasonal temperature changes, and time series graphs of how the annual low, average, and high temperatures compare to the long term average plotted for every year on record.
    • Cold Temperatures – View time series plots of the number of days per year below 32°F and the number of heating degree days per year to see how cold days are changing.
    • Hot Temperatures – View time series plots of the number of days per year above 90°F and the number of cooling degree days per year to see how hot days are changing.
    • Growing Season Changes – View a time series of the annual number of days in the freeze-free period.

Monthly Average Temperature

Changes in Average Temperature, 1951-2025.

 °F°C
Annual average temperature2.91.6
Winter average temperature4.02.2
Spring average temperature2.71.5
Summer average temperature3.31.8
Fall average temperature2.21.2

Annual High and Low Temperature Departure

Cold Temperatures

¹Heating Degree Days (HDDs) are indexed units, not actual days, that roughly describe the demand to heat a building. HDDs accumulate on days colder than 65°F when heating is required. Every degree below 65°F is added to the annual total for an annual HDD value, which is plotted in the figure.

Hot Temperatures

²Cooling Degree Days (CDDs) are indexed units, not actual days, that roughly describe the demand to cool a building. CDDs accumulate on days warmer than 65°F when cooling is required. Every degree above 65°F is added to the annual total for an annual CDD value, which is plotted in the figure.

Growing Season Changes

Precipitation

Click on the following links to be taken to the corresponding portion of the page.

  • Monthly Average Precipitation – View a graph of the monthly low, average, and high precipitation climatology (average) of the past 30 years
  • How Precipitation is Changing
    • Changes in Total Precipitation – Includes a summary table of the average annual and seasonal precipitation changes.
    • Heavy Precipitation – View a bar chart of how annual number of days receiving more than 1, 1.25, 1.5, 1.75, and 2 inches of precipitation are changing over the period of record.

Monthly Average Precipitation

Changes in Average Precipitation, 1951-2025.

 in.cm.%
Annual total precipitation1.43.64.80
Winter total precipitation0.61.612.20
Spring total precipitation1.33.317.90
Summer total precipitation0.10.20.70
Fall total precipitation-0.2-0.5-2.40

Heavy Precipitation