Climate averages 1991–2020
Durham weather
in August.
A hot, wet month: the 2nd warmest and the 9th driest of the year.
Long-term climate patterns, not a forecast for a particular trip.
August is a hot month in Durham: daytime highs average 30.2°C and nights cool to about 21.0°C. By daytime temperature it is the 2nd warmest of the 12 months.
Expect about 99 mm of rain on roughly 12 days, which makes August a wet month (the 9th driest of the 12 months). Daylight, from sunrise to sunset, lasts about 13 h 31 min on an average August day.
The nearest other city in this atlas is Cary (25 km away). In August its highs average 29.8°C, about as warm as Durham, with 111 mm of rain.
Among the 498 cities listed in the United States, Durham ranks joint 221st of 498 for the warmest August highs and joint 394th of 498 for the driest August (rainfall, lowest first). The mean August high of those 498 cities is 29.9°C; Durham is 0.3°C warmer than that mean.
From August to September, average highs fall by 3.3°C to 26.9°C, and monthly rainfall rises from 99 mm to 112 mm.
The annual picture
August in context
Monthly rainfall
Average total · mmAverages from hourly ERA5 reanalysis data. Actual weather varies from year to year. How these numbers are calculated
Every month, side by side
Durham climate table
| Month | Average highHigh / low | Average low | Rainfall mm/month | Rain days ≥1 mm/day | Daylight hours/dayDaylight h/day |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 9.5°C0.1°C | 0.1°C | 92 | 9.4 | 10.010 h |
| February | 11.6°C1.2°C | 1.2°C | 81 | 8.9 | 10.911 h |
| March | 15.8°C4.6°C | 4.6°C | 108 | 10.5 | 11.912 h |
| April | 21.1°C9.7°C | 9.7°C | 89 | 9.3 | 13.113 h |
| May | 25.4°C14.7°C | 14.7°C | 88 | 10.6 | 14.114 h |
| June | 29.4°C19.4°C | 19.4°C | 98 | 12.0 | 14.615 h |
| July | 31.4°C21.9°C | 21.9°C | 110 | 14.9 | 14.314 h |
| August, selected | 30.2°C21.0°C | 21.0°C | 99 | 11.6 | 13.514 h |
| September | 26.9°C17.9°C | 17.9°C | 112 | 9.4 | 12.412 h |
| October | 21.4°C11.6°C | 11.6°C | 79 | 7.5 | 11.311 h |
| November | 15.5°C5.6°C | 5.6°C | 85 | 7.7 | 10.310 h |
| December | 11.1°C1.9°C | 1.9°C | 89 | 9.1 | 9.810 h |
Rainfall is the average of the 30 separate monthly totals. A rain day is a local calendar day with at least 1 mm of precipitation. Daylight is the calculated sunrise-to-sunset length, not measured sunshine.
Compare places
August in nearby cities
- Cary in AugustUnited States · 25 kmHigh 29.8°C · Low 21.1°C · 111 mm rain
- Raleigh in AugustUnited States · 34 kmHigh 30.1°C · Low 21.4°C · 111 mm rain
- Greensboro in AugustUnited States · 81 kmHigh 29.7°C · Low 20.4°C · 97 mm rain
- High Point in AugustUnited States · 100 kmHigh 29.7°C · Low 20.3°C · 99 mm rain
- Fayetteville in AugustUnited States · 105 kmHigh 30.5°C · Low 21.9°C · 125 mm rain
- Winston-Salem in AugustUnited States · 122 kmHigh 29.9°C · Low 20.2°C · 91 mm rain
- Greenville in AugustUnited States · 145 kmHigh 29.9°C · Low 21.7°C · 137 mm rain
- Lynchburg in AugustUnited States · 159 kmHigh 29.8°C · Low 20.0°C · 74 mm rain
Read the numbers correctly
Climate, not a promise.
These patterns help compare months. They cannot tell you the weather on a specific day of your trip.
Sources, method and limitsHow these numbers are made (what the highs, lows and rain days mean, the sources and the model cell used for Durham) is explained once on the Durham year overview and on the Sources, method and limits page.