A day after RDU weather station sets heat records, ‘excessive heat’ again in forecast

Adam Wagner
·4 min read

The National Weather Service has issued an “excessive heat warning” for 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday in much of North Carolina, one day after Raleigh hit the highest temperature and heat index in recorded history.

The high temperature Saturday is expected to be about 98, but the heat index — the “feels like” temperature that reflects both temperature and humidity — may be 110 degrees or higher, NWS said in its Saturday morning forecast.

Temperatures that extreme could bring significant increases in heat-related illnesses, NWS said, and it point out that with overnight low temperatures in the upper 70s, there has been “little to no overnight relief.”

Thunderstorms, some possible severe, are also in the forecast for Saturday and Sunday, mostly in the evening hours.

The weather service is not calling for another day of record heat, though, following a day that shattered records.

At 1:37 p.m. Friday, the weather station at Raleigh-Durham International Airport recorded an air temperature of 106 degrees Fahrenheit, according to the National Weather Service. That’s the highest temperature at RDU since the station began recording in 1945.

The weather station at Raleigh-Durham International Airport also set an all-time record for heat index on Friday, meaning it has not felt hotter there since the station started recording data.

At 2 p.m., the airport recorded a heat index of 117.8 degrees Fahrenheit. Heat index is a measurement that mixes relative humidity and air temperature to determine what conditions will feel like to the human body.

The previous all-time high heat index for the station was 115 .1 degrees, set on Aug. 15, 2023, according to the Southeast Regional Climate Center.

RDU’s previous all-time temperature record before was 105 degrees, which had been reached six times. The last time RDU was that hot was July 8, 2012, according to the Southeast Regional Climate Center.

On X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, the NWS Raleigh office posted that a technician was on-site at the weather station when the record was set and confirmed the reading with “a hand-held calibration device.” A weather observer noted similar readings on two other devices, the NWS account wrote.

Climate change is “very likely” to increase heat index values because of increasing humidity and “likely” to increase the number of hot and very hot days, the N.C. Climate Science report found.

The report also found it very likely that the number of warm and very warm nights, defined as low temperatures that do not dip below 70 and 75 degrees, are likely to increase. Overnight temperatures Wednesday into Thursday and Thursday into Friday both remained above 75 degrees, higher than the average lows of 70 degrees for both days.

After reaching the record highs Friday, the station quickly saw both the temperature and heat index fall.

At 3 p.m., the temperature was 102.9 and the heat index was 110.7 degrees. By 4 p.m., the temperature had dipped to 95 and the heat index to 103.8 degrees.

July 5’s average high temperature is 90.8 degrees at the station, according to the National Weather Service. The previous daily high was 102 degrees, set in 1999.

RDU has reached a temperature at least 104 degrees on 14 other occasions since records started being kept there in 1945.

The first time the weather station reached that threshold was in 1952, when it happened twice. The most recent time before Friday was in 2012, when it happened three times, according to data from the N.C. State Climate Office.

Friday was the second day in a row that temperatures at RDU tied or broke daily records.

Thursday’s 101 degrees tied a record that had been set in 2012, The News & Observer previously reported.

Other weather stations in the Triangle also saw high temperatures and heat indexes at 2 p.m., but not quite as hot as the one at RDU. A station at the North Durham Water Reclamation Facility recorded a temperature of 98.2 degrees and a heat index of 108.2 degrees, while one at the Lake Wheeler Road Field Laboratory in Southwest Raleigh recorded a 95.4 degree temperature and 107.8 degree heat index.

Friday was the first day since 1945 the heat index at Raleigh-Durham International Airport has reached 117 degrees Fahrenheit. The 2 p.m. reading reached 117.8 degrees, with the air temperature setting a new daily record of 104 degrees.
Friday was the first day since 1945 the heat index at Raleigh-Durham International Airport has reached 117 degrees Fahrenheit. The 2 p.m. reading reached 117.8 degrees, with the air temperature setting a new daily record of 104 degrees.

This story was produced with financial support from the Hartfield Foundation and Green South Foundation, in partnership with Journalism Funding Partners, as part of an independent journalism fellowship program. The N&O maintains full editorial control of the work. If you would like to help support local journalism, please consider signing up for a digital subscription, which you can do here.

  • Up next
  • Up next
  • Up next
  • Up next

Latest Stories

  • 'Nobody has these stories': Canada's longest river at record low levels

    Canada's longest river is at historically low levels, stranding communities that rely on it for essential goods and alarming First Nations along its banks who have never known the mighty Mackenzie to be so shallow.

  • Motorcycle tour of Death Valley turns fatal as thermometer cracks 128 degrees

    As the temperature climbed to a record 128 degrees in Death Valley National Park, a group of motorcyclists was sickened by the heat, and one died.

  • Persistent heat wave in the US shatters new records, causes deaths in the West and grips the East

    LOS ANGELES (AP) — A long-running heat wave that has already shattered previous records across the U.S. persisted on Sunday, baking parts of the West with dangerous temperatures that caused the death of a motorcyclist in Death Valley and held the East in its hot and humid grip.

  • Beryl's remnants could impact southern Ontario this week

    Beryl will be making it's landfall across Texas Monday morning. As it loses energy inland, we could see some of its remnants reach southern Ontario by Wednesday. Heavy rainfall from the tropical moisture will be the main impact. The Weather Network's Melinda Singh has the full forecast.

  • Beryl's lingering impacts to reach southern Ontario and Quebec this week

    Southern Ontario and Quebec could feel the lingering impacts of Beryl this week after the record-breaking storm makes its final landfall.

  • One of the worst invasive species threatens WA waters. Here’s what to do if you see it

    There’s a hotline that beachgoers can call if they find one of the creatures.

  • Death Valley sets a new daily record with a searing 128 degrees as West Coast heat wave drags on

    Extremely dangerous heat is dragging on in the West along with heat and humidity in the eastern US.

  • Province orders conservation authorities to drop wetlands mapping plans

    The Ontario government has ordered three conservation authorities in the eastern part of the province to suspend plans for updated wetlands mapping after some landowners complained the process caught them by surprise. One of the conservation authorities had appeared to cite new provincial regulations as an impetus for the project. But in an emailed statement to CBC last week, Ontario's Ministry of Natural Resources said mapping updates were never the intention of the regulatory changes. The prov

  • Heat records tumble in B.C. as forecast brings new wildfire concerns

    VANCOUVER — It was so hot on Sunday in Cache Creek, B.C., that only a "big, cold shower" could bring relief, Chandrika Dasi said.

  • 'Unbelievable I survived': Yukon woman attacked by bear speaks out

    Vanessa Leegstra is still recovering after a bear attack in Haines Junction, Yukon on June 30. Speaking from hospital, she said she's still in a lot of pain. Leegstra was on a run with her dog near the Pine Lake campground at around 10 p.m. that day when she spotted a group of bears. "I was trying to give them space before my dog noticed, but she either saw or smelt them... and she took off towards them," she said. Leegstra's dog was leashed, but upon seeing the bears it broke free and chased aw

  • Heat warnings expand in British Columbia as heat wave intensifies

    VANCOUVER — A heat wave has settled in, bringing scorching temperatures across more than 40 regions in British Columbia.

  • Long-duration heat event ramps up in B.C. with hotter temperatures

    Folks across B.C. are feeling the heat as temperatures have rapidly climbed to high levels, and will stay that way into this week

  • Hurricane warnings issued as Beryl swirls toward Texas

    A stretch of the Texas coast is now under a hurricane warning as Beryl is expected to strengthen in the Gulf of Mexico

  • After death of beloved bear in B.C., experts look for lessons

    In the spring of 2023, a Parks Canada team strung electric fence along a section of the Trans Canada Highway from Lake Louise to the boundary between B.C. and Alberta.It was part of an attempt to help keep animals including a beloved white grizzly bear named Nakoda away from the dangers of the road.But tragedy struck last month when Nakoda's two cubs were struck and killed by a vehicle, followed by their mother, killed in a second collision about 12 hours later.The deaths in British Columbia's Y

  • Where are Beryl's remnants headed next? Flooding rain; tornadoes possible

    By Tuesday, Beryl should weaken from a tropical storm to a tropical depression as it moves over east Texas and into Arkansas and Missouri.

  • Tourists stranded by storm Beryl pack Cancun airport

    STORY: :: July 6, 2024::Stranded tourists flock to Cancun airportafter Hurricane Beryl causes flight cancellations::Fabiana, Tourist from Florida"It was a little hard. We had to change our flights two times, but it was okay, it wasn't that bad."::Lynn Hayes, Tourist from Kansas"Friday was obviously scary. Thursday night, scary. But the hotel did an amazing job of preparing the hotel and the guests for whatever was to come and kept us fed and kept us safe. And it was great. We commend them."::Cancun, MexicoTravelers crowded in front of airline check-in counters to try and get flights after more than 300 flights were canceled, waiting in long lines as the airport slowly returned to operational mode on Saturday.Beryl weakened to a tropical storm as it passed over Mexico's top beach destinations on Friday (July 5), bringing strong winds and heavy rain but without doing major damage, after forging a deadly trail of destruction across the Caribbean.Mexico's civil protection agency said on Friday, there were zero reports of casualties as a result of the storm.

  • Heat warning not keeping people away from first weekend of Stampede

    Downtown Calgary's Stampede Park is packed with Stetson-wearing festival goers this weekend, in spite of an Environment Canada heat warning. More than 161,000 people jammed into the grounds for the Stampede's opening day – just short of 2023's best-ever opening day attendance of 164,939.Stampede CEO Joel Cowley said about 340,000 people showed up over the first two days, putting the festival about two thousand admissions behind last year's record-setting pace. "Our concerts are toward the end of

  • Why hurricane-stricken Jamaica can't tap into $150 million of natural-disaster insurance

    The air pressure level required for a payout wasn't reached, despite the catastrophic storm.

  • Deer infestation plagues island residents

    CNN’s Mike Valerio reports on the impact a non-native deer species has had on South Korea’s Anma Island.

  • See the storm surge and wind in Texas after Beryl makes landfall

    Beryl has made landfall near Matagorda, Texas, as a Category 1 hurricane. It is the first storm in the Atlantic hurricane season to make landfall in the US. CNN’s Derek Van Dam reports on the wind and storm surge.