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Beyond the Forecast

April 16 in Raleigh

Weather forecasts run out after about two weeks. For any date further out than that, the honest answer isn't a single number — it's the range Raleigh actually delivers on this date, and how often.

On April 16, Raleigh, NC typically reaches 74°F, but has run anywhere from 61°F to 85°F in eight years out of ten. About 82% of April 16s see no measurable precipitation.

Daytime high74°F
61°F8 years in 10 land in here85°F
Overnight low51°F
40°F8 years in 10 land in here62°F

The odds on April 16

82%
Dry day
No measurable precipitation
1%
Freeze
Low at or below 32°F
1%
90°F or hotter
Daytime high

Odds computed from the last 30 years (19972026).

This date is moving

Highs around April 16 have warmed about 0.5°F per decade since 1970 — roughly 2.8°F across the record. The figures above are shifted along that trend to 2026, so they describe today's climate rather than the average of the last 56 years.

Where this comes from: 818 daily observations from RALEIGH STATE UNIV, covering 19702026. We pool every day within 7 days of April 16 — a single calendar date has only about 56 readings, far too few to place a 10th percentile you'd want to trust.

Why it's not a plain average: A climatology computed straight across 19702026 describes the middle of that period, not today, so as a statement about the present it runs cold. We fit a trend on year and shift each observation to 2026 before taking the range. The probabilities use the last 30 years instead — shifting a temperature along a trend is well defined, shifting “did it rain” is not.

What this is not: Not a forecast. It is what Raleigh, NC has actually done on this date, which is the only defensible answer once you're past the two-week horizon where real forecasts stop. Data: NOAA NCEI GHCN-Daily.

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