Pool season · North Carolina
Raleigh Pool Season: the Year on One Bar
Last updated: July 25, 2026 · dates · water temp
Raleigh'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.
Raleigh, NC — 133 swim days a yearReading it takes ten seconds: 52 dots, one per week. Solid teal is Raleigh's swim season; the hollow teal run before it (March 27 to April 17) is when to open; the hollow amber run after is when to close, with October 27 as the deadline; gray is the covered season. Today's marker shows where you stand in that cycle right now.
The Raleigh pool calendar
Opening — target April 3
Open by April 3 — a two-week head start on the April 17 crossing keeps startup chemistry small and beats the local service rush.
Closing — deadline October 27
The window opens October 17 once water leaves the algae zone; the model deadline is October 27, a week ahead of the November 8 freeze normal.
Estimated water temperature by month
Monthly averages of the site's water model run on Raleigh'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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 43° | 42° | 48° | 56° | 65° | 73° | 79° | 80° | 76° | 67° | 56° | 48° |
Warmest water typically July–August (peaking near 80°F); heaters and covers shift any month up.
Every station tells its own story: compare this curve with Jacksonville's pool season and Wilmington's — neighboring normals stations can shift the windows by a week or more. The full ranking lives on the North Carolina season index.
Raleigh pool season FAQ
When should I open my pool in Raleigh, NC?
Target April 3. That date backs off two weeks from the day Raleigh's 7-day mean temperature reaches 61°F, so you start up in cold, algae-resistant water. Work the full checklist in the Raleigh opening guide.
When should I close my pool in Raleigh?
The closing deadline is October 27 — late enough that the water has cooled out of the algae zone, early enough to beat Raleigh's first-freeze normal by about a week. See the Raleigh closing guide for the winterizing steps.
How long is the swim season in Raleigh?
Raleigh averages 133 days a year with normal highs of 80°F or better — right on the statewide median. The North Carolina season index ranks all 17 covered cities by the same metric.
How warm does pool water get in Raleigh?
An unheated pool near Raleigh typically peaks around 80°F in high summer and bottoms out near 42°F in winter, spending roughly 2 months at or above the 78°F comfort line most swimmers prefer. The month-by-month curve above shows the whole cycle; the methodology page explains the ±5°F error bars.
Email me when Raleigh hits the closing window
Data: NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals via Raleigh State University (4.2 mi); live outlook by Open-Meteo. Attribution: sources · assumptions: methodology.