How extreme does Sanford's weather get?

The hottest, coldest, wettest and snowiest days Sanford has recorded — the outer limits of what its weather can do, and how far they sit beyond a normal day.

Based on 48 years of daily weather observations (1978–present), from the Pope Afb station 37 km away. Updated through June 2026 — an all-time extreme only changes when a more extreme day actually occurs, so some dates are old. That is normal, not stale data.

The four kinds of extreme

The hottest, coldest, wettest and snowiest single days Sanford has recorded — each shown against what a normal day that time of year looks like.

🔥 Hottest day

106°F Aug 18, 1988

That is about 16°F hotter than a normal August afternoon in Sanford (typical high near 90°F).

The three most extreme on record

1 106°F Aug 18, 1988

2 106°F Aug 24, 2002

3 105°F Aug 1, 1980

❄️ Coldest night

-1°F Jan 21, 1985

About 35°F colder than a normal January night in Sanford (typical low near 34°F).

The three most extreme on record

1 -1°F Jan 21, 1985

2 2°F Mar 7, 1989

3 4°F Jan 20, 1985

🌧️ Most rain in one day

5.62 in Jul 22, 1988

More rain in a single day than Sanford usually gets in the whole month of July (typical July total about 5.4 in).

The three most extreme on record

1 5.62 in Jul 22, 1988

2 4.80 in Apr 30, 1989

3 4.25 in Jun 26, 1992

⛄ Most snow in one day

9.3 in Mar 2, 1980

The three most extreme on record

1 9.3 in Mar 2, 1980

2 9.0 in Jan 25, 2000

3 8.5 in Feb 18, 1979

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.

normal range of daily temperatureshottest ever recordedcoldest ever recorded

Sanford's record heat sits well above even a hot day for the season — August's 106°F is about 16°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

In a normal year, Sanford's warmest days reach the low 90s°F and its coldest nights drop to the mid-30s°F. But across the record it has gone as high as 106°F and as low as −1°F. A single day has delivered over 6 inches of rain or close to 9 inches of snow. Those are the outer edges worth knowing if you are moving here, planning a trip, or thinking about a house.

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 56 km from the city centre.

How we build these numbers →

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