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Does it hit 100 a lot? Also any natural disasters?
The temperatures can hit 100 a few times a year. It is more common to have daytime highs in the high 90's for weeks.
Tornadoes can strike randomly, but I don't recall one in Raleigh recently. Hurricanes occasionally sweep through inland as far as Raleigh, but they would mostly cause heavy rain.
Does it hit 100 a lot? Also any natural disasters?
Sometimes. The days it hits 100 aren't as bad as the days in the low 90s with 70% humidity. Usually when the temp is over 100 the air is dryer. The worst are the nights on the high humidity days. Temps stay in the mid to upper 70s, humidity hits 100%, going outside is like walking into a wall of water. Glasses fog up, sucks your breath away.
Natural disasters are few and far between. Some thunderstorms, occasional tropical storm remnants, been 20 years since the last hurricane made it this far inland, tornadoes are rare but do happen. Lots of clear, Carolina blue skies.
Climate data is available on Wikipedia. For a week or two, sometimes the temperatures will exceed 100 but usually summer temperatures are 90s or high 80s. Usually 70s overnight. It is humid throughout the summer and those are the months with the most rainfall, although not by much.
There's an infrequent hurricane or tropical storm, but Raleigh is over 100 miles from the coast so the risk is far less than in a coastal city. There's an occasional tornado but nothing like Texas, Oklahoma, or even Alabama. Virtually no earthquakes, mudslides, etc.
The climate is very different from California. I don't think you can compare Raleigh to the Bay Area or the Central Valley. It's very unlike either one. It's a very mild climate for the east coast. New Yorkers and New Jerseyers are moving here in droves to escape the cold winters they have.
However, it does snow here a time or two a year, sometimes a light dusting, occasionally a lot (we once got over 20 inches) usually about 3 inches, and we can occasionally have freezing rain which is terrible. It weighs down the trees (we are covered with 'em) and causes them to break and land on power lines causing widespread power outages, not to mention damaging cars and homes if they fall on them. That's certainly not an every winter scenario, but the threat is always there. We also have a lot of sunny days suitable for folks to play golf.
The summers are hot and humid, but my favorite time of year because I like it hot. I'd much rather be hot than cold. But our hot is in no way comparable to desert California hot. It's a different animal. More like the bathroom right after you've showered and it's all steamed up and less like when you open the oven door to check on your cupcakes. We get lots of sunny days in the summer that are great for going to the pool or grilling out in the backyard.
We can also have severe thunderstorms throughout the summer. I think most people didn't mention that because it's so old hat here we don't even think about it. We just had one yesterday here where I am that had hail in it. Mostly severe thunderstorms don't cause much damage, but they can cause flooding if we have enough days in a row or it rains long enough. They can knock down a few trees (like maybe one on your house or car if you're really unlucky), but rarely cause widespread damage. They can spawn tornados very occasionally, but that's pretty unusual. A lot of lightning also accompanies them which can be cool or scary depending on your perspective. Can be deadly if it strikes you, but that's again unusual, but not unheard of. I think someone gets struck by lightning every year in NC, but it's usually just one or two people so driving your car around the block is statistically much more dangerous.
Overall compared to the rest of the country, yes, it's a very mild climate. No heat like Phoenix in the summer, no cold like Minnesota in the winter. But compared to the Bay Area, I think we're a little more variable.
We also have a lot of sunny days suitable for folks to play golf.
The summers are hot and humid, but my favorite time of year because I like it hot. I'd much rather be hot than cold. But our hot is in no way comparable to desert California hot. It's a different animal. More like the bathroom right after you've showered and it's all steamed up and less like when you open the oven door to check on your cupcakes. We get lots of sunny days in the summer that are great for going to the pool or grilling out in the backyard.
We can also have severe thunderstorms throughout the summer.
Sounds like heaven to me.
Lots of rainbows too, I'm sure with all those thunderstorms? I lived in Florida for a time and saw more rainbows there from the afternoon t-storms than the rest of my life that I've spent in NY.
Depends on (1) when you ask and (2) what you're used to.
Also depends on WHO you ask. For me, being from New England, I consider the climate to be mild. While it can get cold in winter, the average temp hovers around 50 and can be much warmer. The summer is hot but not intolerable. Spring and Autumn are perfect!!!!!! We do get about 3 weeks of pine pollen blowing around in late March/early April which is not pleasant.
We get some rainbows, Greenie, but we have so many trees sometimes it's hard to see them unless you're in a field or a parking lot or some other big open space. I see my friends post rainbow pictures on facebook and think why didn't I get to see that one!
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