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Weather extremes
How extreme does Durham's weather get?
The hottest, coldest, wettest and snowiest days Durham has recorded — the outer limits of what its weather can do, and how far they sit beyond a normal day.
The four kinds of extreme
The hottest, coldest, wettest and snowiest single days Durham has recorded — each shown against what a normal day that time of year looks like.
That is about 18°F hotter than a normal August afternoon in Durham (typical high near 88°F).
The three most extreme on record
About 37°F colder than a normal January night in Durham (typical low near 29°F).
The three most extreme on record
More rain in a single day than Durham usually gets in the whole month of July (typical July total about 4.8 in).
The three most extreme on record
Close to a whole typical January's snow in one day (Durham averages about 2 in across the month).
The three most extreme on record
How hot and cold it gets, month by month
The shaded band is the normal range of daily temperatures for each month. The dots show the most extreme it has ever been — so you can see how far beyond a normal day the records really sit.
Durham's record heat sits well above even a hot day for the season — August's 106°F is about 18°F beyond a normal hot afternoon. Its record cold is just as far below a normal winter night — the dots mark how rare each extreme really is.
In plain terms
Methodology & sources
Temperature & precipitation — the official 1991–2020 climate normals from NOAA's U.S. Climate Normals, measured at Raleigh State Univ (NOAA GHCN station USC00317079), about 29 km from the city centre.