Heat Breaking Triangle Records

Record-breaking temperatures, more reminiscent of summer than fall, hit the Triangle Monday, and they were forecast again for Tuesday, as a high-pressure system moves through North Carolina.

Posted 3:45 p.m. Oct 8, 2007 — Updated 3:31 a.m. Oct 9, 2007

RALEIGH, N.C. — Record-breaking temperatures, more reminiscent of summer than fall, hit the Triangle Monday, and they were forecast again for Tuesday, as a high-pressure system moves through North Carolina.

The temperature at Raleigh-Durham International Airport reached a high of 93 degrees Monday– 20 degrees above the normal 73 degrees for this time of the year. Temperatures in Durham also reached 93, and they soared to 91 in Fayetteville.

Tuesday's high was forecast to be 92 degrees, and temperatures along the coast and the mountains were expected to be in the 80s.

Before Monday, the recorded highs at Raleigh-Durham International Airport were 87 degrees, for Oct. 8, and 88 degrees, for Oct. 9, both set in 1990.

"By the time you get into the middle of September you, typically, are almost done (with such warm temperatures)," WRAL meteorologist Elizabeth Gardner said. "We may end up with more than 80 days at 90-plus (degrees). The previous record was 72 (days). It really has been an exceptionally warm fall."

But a gradual cool-down could put temperatures closer to normal for the fall by the end of the week, WRAL Chief Meteorologist Greg Fishel said.

A long-range outlook prepared by the National Weather Service indicates temperatures could climb above normal again by mid-October.

"We've never seen temperatures that warm in October, at least since we started keeping records many, many years ago," Gardner said.

The 2007 heat wave also has broken a record for the most days with temperatures in the 90s in a single year, and Monday also was the latest day in the year that it reached 90 or above.

That record is likely to fall on Tuesday.

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