What are the best weather days for the NC State Fair? Here’s when to go
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More coverage of the 2023 NC STATE FAIR
From food to rides to exhibits and more, here’s where we’ll drop everything you need to know to attend -- and make the most of -- the 2023 North Carolina State Fair.
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You can count on the N.C. State Fair to bring at least two things when it comes to town each October: hot fried food and cooler weather.
As it almost always seems to do, this year’s State Fair is expected to herald a drop in temperatures, a decisive shift from Indian Summer — or whatever it’s called when we’re drinking pumpkin lattes with the air conditioning on full blast — to less humid days and jacket-worthy autumnal evenings.
From opening day to final fireworks, the fair runs from Oct. 12-22. But not all weather forecasts look that far out, so we’ll update the online story as information becomes available.
There’s some consensus that rain is possible Thursday night and Friday morning, so remember there is plenty to do indoors, including fruit and vegetable competitions in the Expo Center; livestock shows and scheduled milking demonstrations in the Graham Building and the Expo Center; the arts and crafts display in the Kerr Scott Building; the 4-H displays in the Education Building; and arts and crafts for sale in the Village of Yesteryear.
Chance of chili dogs and Howling Cow ice cream is nearly 100%.
The Farmer’s Almanac
The magazine publishes its weather forecast in August, before there’s even a hint of the smell of fried dough in the air, but the writers claim uncanny accuracy.
Their forecast:
▪ Oct 12-15: Showery, then fair, blustery weather (this suggests the arrival of the cold front that usually arrives sometime during the N.C. State Fair).
▪ Oct. 16-19: A pleasant spell of early fall weather
▪ Oct. 20-23: Rain moves in, then quickly clears away, then fair, cold conditions (suggesting a second cold front).
The National Weather Service
The National Weather Service is relatively conservative in its forecasting, limiting its outlook to a week into the future. So at the moment, we have them weighing in on Raleigh’s weather only through the fair’s first Sunday.
Oct. 12: Sunny with a high near 76, then turning cloudy at night with a low of 57 degrees.
Oct. 13: Mostly cloudy with a chance of rain in the afternoon. High near 75 degrees.
Oct. 14: A chance of rain in the morning, then partly sunny with a high near 76. Nighttime low around 53 degrees.
Oct. 15: Mostly sunny with a high near 67 degrees.
Oct. 16-17: Partly to mostly sunny with highs in the mid-60s, low in the upper 40s
Weather Underground
▪ Oct. 12: Partly cloudy and summery, with a high 80 degrees and a low around 60 degrees.
▪ Oct. 13: Showers likely with a high around 75 degrees, low around 60 degrees.
▪ Oct. 14: Showers in the morning and cooler, with a high around 70 degrees, low in the upper 40s.
▪ Oct. 15-20: Partly cloudy to mostly sunny each day, with highs from 66 degrees to 70 degrees, lows in the mid-to-upper 40s.
The Weather Channel
▪ Oct. 12: Partly cloudy and breezy, high of 79 degrees, low of 61 degrees.
▪ Oct. 13: Rainy and breezy, high of 74 degrees, a low of 60 degrees.
▪ Oct. 14: Showers in the morning and cooler, high around 70 degrees, low of 49 degrees.
▪ Oct. 15-22: Partly cloudy to mostly sunny each day, with highs from 66 degrees to 72 degrees, lows in the mid-to-upper 40s.
Advance tickets for the fair are available online through Thursday, Oct. 12.
This story was originally published October 10, 2023 at 8:10 AM with the headline "What are the best weather days for the NC State Fair? Here’s when to go."
