Pool season · North Carolina
Durham Pool Season: the Year on One Bar
Last updated: July 25, 2026 · dates · water temp
Durham's whole pool calendar, condensed: when the water warms, when it cools, and where today falls between those edges. Use the opening guide and closing guide for the step-by-step work; keep this page for the dates.
Durham, NC — 105 swim days a yearReading it takes ten seconds: 52 dots, one per week. Solid teal is Durham's swim season; the hollow teal run before it (April 5 to April 26) is when to open; the hollow amber run after is when to close, with October 20 as the deadline; gray is the covered season. Today's marker shows where you stand in that cycle right now.
The Durham pool calendar
Opening — target April 12
Open by April 12 — a two-week head start on the April 26 crossing keeps startup chemistry small and beats the local service rush.
Closing — deadline October 20
The window opens October 10 once water leaves the algae zone; the model deadline is October 20, a week ahead of the November 4 freeze normal.
Estimated water temperature by month
Monthly averages of the site's water model run on Durham's own normals — the shape of a typical year, not a forecast. The widget above shows where the current year actually sits.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 40° | 39° | 45° | 54° | 63° | 70° | 77° | 77° | 73° | 65° | 53° | 45° |
The curve peaks near 78°F — comfortable-water months here usually involve a heater or a solar cover.
Every station tells its own story: compare this curve with Concord's pool season and Fayetteville's — neighboring normals stations can shift the windows by a week or more. The full ranking lives on the North Carolina season index.
Durham pool season FAQ
When should I open my pool in Durham, NC?
Target April 12. That date backs off two weeks from the day Durham's 7-day mean temperature reaches 61°F, so you start up in cold, algae-resistant water. Work the full checklist in the Durham opening guide.
When should I close my pool in Durham?
The closing deadline is October 20 — late enough that the water has cooled out of the algae zone, early enough to beat Durham's first-freeze normal by about a week. See the Durham closing guide for the winterizing steps.
How long is the swim season in Durham?
Durham averages 105 days a year with normal highs of 80°F or better — about 8 days later than the North Carolina median. The North Carolina season index ranks all 17 covered cities by the same metric.
How warm does pool water get in Durham?
An unheated pool near Durham typically peaks around 78°F in high summer and bottoms out near 38°F in winter, never quite reaching the 78°F comfort line without a heater or solar cover. The month-by-month curve above shows the whole cycle; the methodology page explains the ±5°F error bars.
Email me when Durham hits the closing window
Data: NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals via Durham (5.5 mi); live outlook by Open-Meteo. Attribution: sources · assumptions: methodology.