Average January high temperatures in North Carolina up almost 5 degrees since 1970

As we get ready to close out the month of January, the weather has certainly not been indicative of the winter season for the past several days.

We topped out at 70 degrees at RDU on January 25, with more warmth on the way for the weekend. Compare that with our normal high temperature for this time frame: 52 degrees.

As we look back at climate data over the years, we can see the average high temperatures are trending up.

When we look at the normal daily high temperature values for the month of January at RDU, we can see some unique trends going back to 1970. There have certainly been year-to-year fluctuations, but, on average, our daily high temperature average has gone up by almost 5 degrees for the month of January. In 1970, it was closer to the cooler upper 40s. The trend line on the above graphic helps us to statistically show the change of a dataset over time.

Our forecast has been above normal and continues to remain warm as we head into the weekend with highs still in the 60s on Saturday and Sunday. By next week, we should get closer to the normal of 52 degrees.

We should remain above normal, even slightly, into the first part of February. Cold lovers- this is certainly a warmer forecast than you may want to see! Don't worry, though, because we still have until March 19th before winter officially ends. There is still time to see some cold snaps!

The normal high for this time of year is 52 degrees, but we're at 73 degrees. In 1970, our average high was around 47 degrees, and that number has been trending up by 4.9 degrees over the past five decades.