Yep, it’s warm outside. Raleigh breaks nearly 100-year temperature record
If your winter coats are gathering dust in your closet, there’s a good reason. It’s never been this warm on Dec. 17, in Raleigh, in recorded climate history.
Early Friday afternoon, Raleigh’s temperature was recorded at 73 degrees, breaking a record for the day, according to Raleigh’s National Weather Service, first reported by CBS 17.
The hottest temperature in Raleigh last recorded on Dec. 17 was 72 degrees in 1924.
“It’s always significant when you break a record at a long-running climate station like this one,” said Aaron Swiggett, a meteorologist at Raleigh’s National Weather Service office.
However, “the bigger (climate) picture in of itself is bigger than one day,” Swiggett said.
Friday was about 20 degrees hotter above normal, with the usual warm temperature on Dec. 17, being 54 degrees, data from the NWS shows.
“It represents something real happening to our climate system,” Kenneth Kunkel, a climatologist at N.C. State University’s climate office, told CBS 17. “It’s not just part of the random fluctuations that we would normally experience.”
The record-breaking mid-December temperature marks the eighth straight day of unseasonable warmer days, with high temperatures above average, according to ABC11, The News & Observer’s news partner.
The NWS’s climate data goes back to 1887, Swiggett said.
Will warm weather continue?
Clouds and showers this weekend will keep temperatures below records this weekend, ABC 11’s meteorologists said. A cold front will swing in after this weekend’s oddly warm days, with a high of 72 degrees on Saturday and a low of 58 degrees. The best chance of rain is on Saturday night, with a 30% probability.
Sunday will cool down to a high of 57 degrees with a 70% chance of rain.
After that, high temperatures next week will hover in the high 40s and low 50s with low temperatures around 30 degrees as winter begins on Tuesday, Dec. 21.
Will there be a white Christmas in Raleigh?
Sorry, but that’s doubtful. The cold front from the Midwest isn’t expected to bring severe weather to the Triangle, The N&O reported last week.
The National Weather Service in Raleigh posted a list on Twitter of major snowfalls in the Triangle over the years with only one of significance in December — 9.1 inches on Dec. 11, 1958. That represents the snowiest December day in Raleigh since the NWS began keeping records.
Here are dates with the biggest snowfalls in a single day in Raleigh, according to the National Weather Service.
▪ Jan. 25, 2000: 17.9 inches
▪ March 2, 1927: 17.8 inches
▪ Feb. 15, 1902: 11.5 inches
▪ Jan. 19, 1893: 11 inches
▪ Feb. 18, 1979: 10.3 inches
This story was originally published December 17, 2021 at 6:36 PM.
