“Enhanced probability of above normal temperature persists through July-August-September across much of the continental United States,” forecaster Johnna Infanti said.

La Nina conditions are expected to continue, according to the Climate Prediction Center. La Nina is the periodic cooling of the central Pacific Ocean that affects weather patterns around the globe.

For the Upper Peninsula, the CPC sees a 45% chance of warmer-than-average weather through September, and just a 22% chance of below-normal.

The precipitation outlook for summer is normal, after 4.16 inches of rain at Iron Mountain-Kingsford in May — 0.7 inches above average. The U.S. Drought Monitor shows no areas of concern in northeastern Wisconsin and the Upper Peninsula, apart from the far eastern U.P.

Accuweather, meanwhile, sees a moderate risk of severe weather in the region throughout the summer.

Locally, most days in May were cool, but the average temperature of 56 degrees at Iron Mountain-Kingsford was 2 degrees above the norm. Highs reached into the 80s from May 11 through May 15, skewing the overall average.

The warmest day was May 14 at 89 degrees. The lowest reading was 29 degrees on May 4, while temperatures also dipped below freezing May 23 at 31 degrees.

Daily highs last month stayed below 70 degrees on 20 of the 31 days, according to data from the Iron Mountain-Kingsford Wastewater Treatment Plant.

As of Friday, GreenCast put Iron Mountain’s 24-hour average soil temperature at 61 degrees, slightly below the 10-year norm.

Summer officially arrives at 4:13 a.m. Tuesday, June 21, as astronomers look forward to a unique alignment of five planets.

“Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn will appear in order in the pre-dawn sky throughout the second half of June,” Accuweather meteorologist Brian Lada said. “Friday, June 24, could be the best morning to view the alignment as the crescent moon will appear to fall in line directly between Venus and Mars.”

The planets can be seen with the naked eye, though Mercury will be the dimmest and the lowest in the sky. The planetary procession can best be seen about an hour before sunrise and won’t be repeated until August 2040.