The Triangle’s three-day heat wave was a record-breaker, according to weather data, with at least six records set by the baking temperatures that enveloped the region Friday and did not abate until Monday.
A big record is a measure of the streak itself: Friday through Sunday was the first time on record that Raleigh has seen three straight days of high temperatures that eclipsed 103 degrees or more.
“This one ranks No. 1,” said Terry Click, the information technology officer at the Raleigh bureau of the National Weather Service.
Other records:
• Friday’s high of 105 degrees set the record for that day of the year. The previous high for June 29 was 101, set in 1945.
• Saturday’s high of 105 also set that day’s record. It beat the old record of 102 degrees for June 30, set in 1959.
• The 105-degree days were the first ever that hot in June, and the first ever back-to-back days at that temperature. Those 105-degree days also tied the all-time high ever recorded in Raleigh.
• Sunday’s high of 103 degrees was a record for that day of the year. The old record for July 1 was 99 degrees, set in 2005.
• The Sunday low temperature of 75 degrees was the warmest low temperature on record for July 1.
North Carolina typically sees its hottest weather in July and August. The average high for June was 86.8 degrees, Click said.
The previous hottest streaks on record were three-day stretches that all eclipsed 102 degrees, in July 1952, August 2007 and July of last year.
The July 1952 streak was brutal, including a 105-degree day, and was followed a week later by back-to-back 104-degree days.
The heat wave isn’t unique to North Carolina, with temperature marks shattering from one end of the nation to the other. The heat has led to wildfire problems in the West, and it is adding to woes because of power outages from Ohio to the mid-Atlantic caused by a powerful storm, known as a derecho, that swept from Illinois to the Atlantic Ocean on Friday.
The forecast for Raleigh shows temperatures in the mid-90s for the rest of the week.
Curliss: 919-829-4840
