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Shaded-relief map of Apex, North Carolina: rivers, roads, the city limits and where the water drains.
NORTH CAROLINA · WAKE COUNTY

Apex

75,977 people, 510 ft above sea level in Wake County.

510 ftElevation, city center
75,977People, 2024 estimate
27 sq miLand area
Sunny 54°
Sunny now Dew point 25° · WNW 12 mph · high 52°
City of Apex River Interstate 2 miles
Explore the plate Order a print

The Apex plate. Relief from Copernicus GLO-30; rivers and lakes from USGS NHD; watersheds from the USGS Watershed Boundary Dataset; roads and city limits from Census TIGER 2024.

MILE1
TODAY

Today in Apex

NWS forecast and National Blend of Models · updated 4:00 PM EST
RIGHT NOW Raleigh-Durham International Airport (KRDU) · 3:51 PM
Sunny
54° Sunny Feels like 54° · high of 52° near 4 PM
WindWNW 12 mphgusts 17
Humidity32%rising to 96% by morning
Pressure30.04 in →steady
Visibility10 mihaze-free
CloudsClear
UV index—no forecast
Dew point 25° · Dry38° by Monday: more humid
DryComfortableStickyMuggyOppressive
NEXT RAIN
Clear
Not this weeknone in the forecast for a week
LIKELY AMOUNT—nothing expected
LAST RAINNov. 61.07 in · 8 dry days
ALERTS & OUTLOOKS
! Freeze WarningFreeze Warning issued November 14 at 1:16PM EST until November 15 at 8:00AM EST by NWS Raleigh NC
NWS Raleigh and the Storm Prediction Center · checked 4:46 PM
SUN & MOON
↑ 6:50 AM5:09 PM ↓
10 h 19 m of daylight, 2 minutes less than yesterday
Waxing crescent, 26% lit. Next full moon: Nov. 24.
AIR & POLLEN
26
GOODAir quality index · ozone
Tomorrow: 38, good. No pollen source yet.

The next three days, hour by hour

Sky: clear, cloudy, night Rain likely National Blend of Models
SATURDAY, NOV. 14
SUNDAY, NOV. 15
MONDAY, NOV. 16
TUESDAY, NOV. 17
4p
7p
10p
1a
4a
7a
10a
1p
4p
7p
10p
1a
4a
7a
10a
1p
4p
7p
10p
1a
4a
7a
10a
1p
clear night
clear night
clear night
clear night
clear night
clear day
clear day
mostly sunny
mostly clear night
partly cloudy night
partly cloudy night
mostly clear night
mostly clear night
clear day
clear day
clear day
clear night
clear night
clear night
clear night
clear night
clear day
clear day
clear day
TEMPERATURE °F
52°
34°
57°
35°
57°
34°
CHANCE OF RAIN
50%
WIND, MPH
10
9
8
7
7
8
8
8
5
3
6
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5
5
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7
4
0
0
0
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HOW IT FEELS · DEW POINT
Dry: dew points 27 to 38° More humid: 36° by Tuesday

The next seven days, and how sure we are

Forecast, with the range 8 in 10 ensemble members agree on Normal, about 63° / 40°
SAT Nov. 14 Sunny Sunny
52° 33°
0% rain — NW 10 A
SUN Nov. 15 Mostly sunny Mostly sunny
57° 34°
0% rain — NW 8 A
MON Nov. 16 Sunny Sunny
57° 33°
0% rain — NNE 7 A
TUE Nov. 17 Partly cloudy Partly cloudy
60° 32°
0% rain — NE 5 A
WED Nov. 18 Sunny Sunny
63° 34°
0% rain — E 5 B
THU Nov. 19 Mostly sunny Mostly sunny
67° 36°
0% rain — SSE 5 B
FRI Nov. 20 Mostly sunny Mostly sunny
68° 38°
0% rain — NE 5 B
How sure are we? AModels agree: highs within 4° BSome spread: within 8° CWide spread: check back
Range from the National Blend of Models percentiles · graded on Forecast Scores
AIR MAIL

Where today’s air came from

The air arriving over Apex about 5,000 feet above the ground was over the Ozarks three days ago, and over the Ohio Valley a day ago, about 1,040 miles back along its path. Near the ground the air came from the Mid-Atlantic; at 10,000 feet, from the open Pacific. It feels humid. Traced back 72 hours through NOAA’s hourly RAP analyses and the GFS beyond them, nine paths at each of three heights.

THIS WEEK, EIGHT YEARS AGO Nov. 12–13, 2018

The wettest two days this week has seen

4.36 inches of rain fell in two days, the most for this week of the year since records began in 1887. The next wettest, 3.93 inches, fell in 1920.

3.93″
4.36″
19202018
Source: NOAA RCC-ACIS, the Raleigh Area threaded record since 1887.
MILE2
THE GROUND

What Apex stands on

Apex’s center stands about 510 ft above sea level. Within three miles the land runs from 310 ft to 510 ft, a difference of 200 ft: gently rolling country. The highest named summit within 15 miles is Edwards Mountain, about 700 ft, 14 miles northwest.

The section below crosses 8 rock units mapped at the surface.

Apex, cut in half from west to east

A section west to east, 24 miles through the town center
200 ft300 ft400 ft500 ft APEX510 ftNew Hope Creekabout 210 ft ← WE →

Heights every 0.1 mile from the Copernicus GLO-90 surface model; vertical exaggeration about 63×. The colored band under the surface is the rock the state geologic map shows at the surface, not a picture of what lies beneath.

Rock at the surface along the line

Newark Supergroup, Chatham Group; Chatham Group, Undivided

Conglomerate, sandstone, mudstone. Age: Triassic, 202 to 252 million years old. About 12 mi of the line.

Felsic Mica Gneiss

Gneiss, mica-schist. Age: Neoproterozoic to Cambrian, 487 to 1,000 million years old. About 4 mi of the line.

Metavolcanic-Epiclastic Rock

Metasedimentary. Age: Neoproterozoic to Cambrian, 487 to 1,000 million years old. About 3 mi of the line.

Injected Gneiss

Gneiss, biotite-schist. Age: Neoproterozoic to Cambrian, 487 to 1,000 million years old. About 2 mi of the line.

Felsic Metavolcanic Rock

Metadacite, metarhyolite, metavolcanic. Age: Neoproterozoic to Cambrian, 487 to 1,000 million years old. About 0.9 mi of the line.

Lineated Felsic Mica Gneiss

Gneiss. Age: Neoproterozoic to Cambrian, 487 to 1,000 million years old. About 0.9 mi of the line.

From the USGS State Geologic Map Compilation (Horton and others, 2017), the states’ geologic maps joined at a common scale. 2 smaller units along the line are not listed.

Heights from Copernicus GLO-90 (a surface model: it includes buildings and tree canopy); summits from USGS GNIS; rivers from USGS NHDPlus HR; rock from the USGS State Geologic Map Compilation.

MILE3
THE WATER

Where Apex’s rain goes

A raindrop that lands in Apex reaches the Atlantic Ocean by way of Beaver Creek, the New Hope, the Haw and the Cape Fear: about 210 river miles.

THE WAY DOWN, TO SCALE
Apex≈ 210 mi · the Atlantic Ocean
FROM THE CENTER OF APEX ≈ 210 mi to the Atlantic Ocean Beaver Creek → New Hope → Haw → Cape Fear

Traced down the USGS NHDPlus V2.1 river network from the Census center point of Apex; river miles along the main stem, rounded.

MILE5
THE ALMANAC

Apex’s year

1991–2020 normals · records since 1887 · Raleigh-Durham International Airport, 12 mi north-northeast

Apex has a humid subtropical climate. Summer afternoons average 91° in July; winter nights fall to about 32° in January. A normal year brings about 5 inches of snow; with the rain, that comes to about 46 inches of water.

52°32°56°34°63°40°73°49°80°58°87°66°91°70°89°69°82°63°73°50°63°40°55°34° JANFEBMARAPRMAYJUNJULAUGSEPOCTNOVDEC 123 TODAY APEX 46.1 in rain and snowmelt
Normal high to low, by month Record high to low, by day Rain by month Freezing
July, average91° / 70°high / low, the warmest month
January, average52° / 32°high / low, the coldest month
Rain and melted snow46.1 inwettest months: September and July
Snow a year5.2 insnowiest: January
Hottest on record106°FJuly 5, 2024
Coldest on record−9°FJanuary 21, 1985
Wettest day on record6.45 inOctober 8, 2016
Snowiest day on record17.9 inJanuary 25, 2000
90° days a year52about 2 of them 100° or more
Nights at or below 32°65and 2 days that stay below freezing
Climate typeHumid subtropicalKöppen Cfa

AROUND THE RING

1Freeze seasonfrom the first fall freeze, about Nov. 3, to the last in spring, about April 6 (median dates)
2Highs of 90° and upJune 25 to Aug. 10; normal highs reach 90°
3Lows below freezingDec. 30 to Feb. 3; normal lows fall below 32°
NOVEMBER 14 IN THE RECORD

On November 14 Apex normally reaches 63° and falls to 40°. The record high is 81°, in 1999; the record low 20°, in 1977. The most rain on this date, 1.57 in, fell in 1940.

MONTH BY MONTH
JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Normal high52°56°63°73°80°87°91°89°82°73°63°55°
Normal low32°34°40°49°58°66°70°69°63°50°40°34°
Rain and melt, in3.432.784.103.533.383.895.024.715.153.373.323.39
Snow, inches2.61.40.30.00.00.00.00.00.00.00.10.8
Record high80° (2002)85° (2023)94° (1907)95° (1980)99° (1941)105° (2012)106° (2024)105° (2007)104° (1954)100° (2019)88° (1950)81° (2007)
Record low−9° (1985)−2° (1899)11° (1980)23° (1985)29° (1963)38° (1977)48° (1975)46° (1965)37° (1983)19° (1962)11° (1970)0° (1917)

Normals 1991–2020 and records since 1887 from the Raleigh Area threaded record (Raleigh-Durham International Airport, 12 miles north-northeast, 120 ft lower). NOAA, through RCC-ACIS.

MILE7
ON THE NETWORK

Around Apex on the Forecast Network

Neighboring plates

Raleigh NC · 15 MI 15 miles northeast Durham NC · 17 MI 17 miles north Greensboro NC · 59 MI 59 miles northwest Winston-Salem NC · 82 MI 82 miles west Charlotte NC · 116 MI 116 miles west Chesapeake VA · 158 MI 158 miles northeast
FORECASTCITY
Map of Apex, North Carolina. Explore the plate
NORTH CAROLINA · WAKE

Apex

75,977 people, 510 ft above sea level in Wake County.

510 ftElevation
75,977People
27 sq miLand
Sunny 54°
SunnyDew point 25°
1

Today in Apex

NEXT 15 HOURS
Now clear day 52° 0%
7p clear night 44° 0%
10p clear night 41° 0%
1a clear night 38° 0%
4a clear night 36° 0%
7a clear day 34° 0%
Clear
NEXT RAINNone this week
→
Sat0%
Sunny Sunny
33
52
A
Sun0%
Mostly sunny Mostly sunny
34
57
A
Mon0%
Sunny Sunny
33
57
A
Tue0%
Partly cloudy Partly cloudy
32
60
A
Wed0%
Sunny Sunny
34
63
B
Thu0%
Mostly sunny Mostly sunny
36
67
B
Fri0%
Mostly sunny Mostly sunny
38
68
B
Letters show how sure the forecast is: A, models agree; B, some spread; C, check back. Sample data.
THIS WEEK, EIGHT YEARS AGO · NOV. 12–13, 2018

4.36 inches in two days, the most for this week since 1887.

2

What Apex stands on

Apex’s center stands about 510 ft above sea level. Within three miles the land runs from 310 ft to 510 ft, a difference of 200 ft: gently rolling country. The highest named summit within 15 miles is Edwards Mountain, about 700 ft, 14 miles northwest.

Apex, west to east Apex510 ftNew Hope Creekabout 210 ft ← WE → 24 miles through the town center; vertical exaggeration about 121×. Colors: rock at the surface.
Elevation, center510 ft
Within 3 miles310 to 510 ft
Lie of the landGently rolling (200 ft of relief)
High point nearbyEdwards Mountain, 700 ft, 14 mi northwest
5

Apex’s year

Apex has a humid subtropical climate. Summer afternoons average 91° in July; winter nights fall to about 32° in January. A normal year brings about 5 inches of snow; with the rain, that comes to about 46 inches of water.

JANFEBMARAPRMAYJUNJULAUGSEPOCTNOVDEC 123 46.1 in
July, average91° / 70° · high / low, the warmest month
January, average52° / 32° · high / low, the coldest month
Rain and melted snow46.1 in · wettest months: September and July
Snow a year5.2 in · snowiest: January
Hottest on record106°F · July 5, 2024
Coldest on record−9°F · January 21, 1985
Wettest day on record6.45 in · October 8, 2016
Snowiest day on record17.9 in · January 25, 2000
90° days a year52 · about 2 of them 100° or more
Nights at or below 32°65 · and 2 days that stay below freezing
Climate typeHumid subtropical · Köppen Cfa
1Freeze season · from the first fall freeze, about Nov. 3, to the last in spring, about April 6 (median dates)
2Highs of 90° and up · June 25 to Aug. 10; normal highs reach 90°
3Lows below freezing · Dec. 30 to Feb. 3; normal lows fall below 32°
NOVEMBER 14 IN THE RECORD

On November 14 Apex normally reaches 63° and falls to 40°. The record high is 81°, in 1999; the record low 20°, in 1977. The most rain on this date, 1.57 in, fell in 1940.

Normals 1991–2020 and records since 1887 from the Raleigh Area threaded record (Raleigh-Durham International Airport, 12 miles north-northeast, 120 ft lower). NOAA, through RCC-ACIS.
3

Where the rain goes

≈ 210 mito the Atlantic OceanBeaver Creek → New Hope → Haw → Cape Fear

A raindrop that lands in Apex reaches the Atlantic Ocean by way of Beaver Creek, the New Hope, the Haw and the Cape Fear: about 210 river miles.