Climate averages 1991–2020
Raleigh weather
in December.
A cool, wet month: the 11th warmest and the joint 4th driest of the year.
Long-term climate patterns, not a forecast for a particular trip.
December is a cool month in Raleigh: daytime highs average 11.5°C and nights cool to about 2.9°C. By daytime temperature it is the 11th warmest of the 12 months.
Expect about 90 mm of rain on roughly 9 days, which makes December a wet month (the joint 4th driest of the 12 months). Daylight, from sunrise to sunset, lasts about 9 h 47 min on an average December day.
The nearest other city in this atlas is Cary (13 km away). In December its highs average 11.2°C, about as warm as Raleigh, with 90 mm of rain.
Among the 498 cities listed in the United States, Raleigh ranks joint 238th of 498 for the warmest December highs and joint 328th of 498 for the driest December (rainfall, lowest first). The mean December high of those 498 cities is 10.5°C; Raleigh is 0.9°C warmer than that mean.
From December to January, average highs fall by 1.6°C to 9.8°C, and monthly rainfall rises from 90 mm to 93 mm.
The annual picture
December 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
Raleigh climate table
| Month | Average highHigh / low | Average low | Rainfall mm/month | Rain days ≥1 mm/day | Daylight hours/dayDaylight h/day |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 9.8°C1.0°C | 1.0°C | 93 | 9.3 | 10.010 h |
| February | 11.9°C2.1°C | 2.1°C | 81 | 9.1 | 10.911 h |
| March | 16.0°C5.5°C | 5.5°C | 104 | 10.3 | 11.912 h |
| April | 21.4°C10.5°C | 10.5°C | 90 | 9.1 | 13.113 h |
| May | 25.7°C15.4°C | 15.4°C | 90 | 10.4 | 14.014 h |
| June | 29.5°C20.0°C | 20.0°C | 103 | 12.1 | 14.515 h |
| July | 31.3°C22.3°C | 22.3°C | 116 | 15.2 | 14.314 h |
| August | 30.1°C21.4°C | 21.4°C | 111 | 12.4 | 13.514 h |
| September | 26.9°C18.4°C | 18.4°C | 120 | 10.2 | 12.412 h |
| October | 21.5°C12.3°C | 12.3°C | 79 | 7.2 | 11.311 h |
| November | 15.8°C6.5°C | 6.5°C | 85 | 7.7 | 10.310 h |
| December, selected | 11.5°C2.9°C | 2.9°C | 90 | 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
December in nearby cities
- Cary in DecemberUnited States · 13 kmHigh 11.2°C · Low 2.7°C · 90 mm rain
- Durham in DecemberUnited States · 34 kmHigh 11.1°C · Low 1.9°C · 89 mm rain
- Fayetteville in DecemberUnited States · 83 kmHigh 12.8°C · Low 3.7°C · 93 mm rain
- Greensboro in DecemberUnited States · 109 kmHigh 10.1°C · Low 1.3°C · 91 mm rain
- Greenville in DecemberUnited States · 116 kmHigh 12.6°C · Low 3.7°C · 90 mm rain
- High Point in DecemberUnited States · 125 kmHigh 10.1°C · Low 1.3°C · 94 mm rain
- Winston-Salem in DecemberUnited States · 149 kmHigh 10.0°C · Low 1.0°C · 93 mm rain
- Concord (North Carolina), United States in DecemberUnited States · 180 kmHigh 11.2°C · Low 2.5°C · 94 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 Raleigh) is explained once on the Raleigh year overview and on the Sources, method and limits page.
Cary lies in the same rainfall cell, so its rainfall figures are identical to these; temperatures differ because they come from smaller 0.1° cells.