Weather StoryAlmanac, microseasons, and the day's weather story.

Highlands, North Carolina Weather

Cicadas claim the scorching afternoon. Day 15 of summer. Read this microseason across nine climate regions →

Highlands weather forecast — hour by hour, 7-day outlook, NOAA radar

Highlands, NC
Sunday, July 5 at 3:17 PM
79
°
Mostly Clear
Feels like
86°
Humidity
53%
Wind
3 mph
Sunrise
2:24 AM
Sunset
4:50 PM
Highlands, NC
Hour by hour · 24h
24-Hour ForecastHighlands, NC: 24-hour forecast. Temperatures range from 64 to 80 degrees Fahrenheit with a 43% chance of precipitation at 3 PM.
L 64°H 80°
Highlands, NC
7-day forecast
  1. Today
    Jul 5
    Heavy Rain
    43%
    0.34″
    80°64°
  2. Monday
    Jul 6
    Light Showers
    36%
    0.06″
    76°64°-4°
  3. Tuesday
    Jul 7
    Drizzle
    54%
    78°62°+2°
  4. Wednesday
    Jul 8
    Light Drizzle
    18%
    83°61°+5°
  5. Thursday
    Jul 9
    Drizzle
    15%
    81°62°-2°
  6. Friday
    Jul 10
    Light Drizzle
    20%
    79°60°-2°
  7. Saturday
    Jul 11
    Light Drizzle
    34%
    82°61°+3°
Highlands, NC
Anemometer · 24h winds · from true
NESW
From · True
SSW
200° · backing 18°
Direction
SSW
200°
Sustained
3
mph
Gust
3
mph
Peak 24h
13
avg 5
Beaufort · 1 · LIGHT AIR
0
CALM
<1
1
LIGHT AIR
1–3
2
LIGHT BRZ
4–7
3
GENTLE BRZ
8–12
4
MOD BRZ
13–18
5
FRESH BRZ
19–24
6
STRONG BRZ
25–31
7
NEAR GALE
32–38
24h · sust vs gust · mph
avg 5 · pk 13 @ 11:00p
01020MPHB1B2B3B4B5-21h-18h-15h-12h-9h-6h-3h-24hNOWpk 228SUSTGUST
−24h−18h−12h−6hnow
A whisper of wind — leaves barely shift on the trees.
Highlands, NC
Barometer · 24h pressure · mb
STORMRAINCHANGEFAIRDRY9901000101010201030
Pressure · mb
887.6
-1.4 mb in 3h · falling · 26.21 inHg
Now
887.6
mb
3h
-1.4
mb
12h
+1.6
mb
24h
-2.2
mb
Regime · STORM
STORM
RAIN
CHANGE
FAIR
DRY
24h · Pressure · mb
range 885890
880885890895-21h-18h-15h-12h-9h-6h-3h-24hNOW889.8885.2887.6
−24h−18h−12h−6hnow
Deep low still deepening — rough seas, strong wind, persistent rain.
Highlands, NC
Air quality
40
AQI
Good
-5 in 6h

AQI 40 (Good), driven by Ozone. AQI down 5 over the last 6 hours (gradual decline). Ozone at AQI 47 — peak already passed at 1 PM under clear skies. Levels should ease through evening.

OK No precautions needed for the general population; unusually sensitive individuals may consider limiting prolonged outdoor exertion.

PM 2.5Good
8.3μg/m³
PM 10Good
9μg/m³
NO₂Good
0μg/m³
OzoneDRIVERModerate
99μg/m³
UV IndexModerate
4.7

What's driving it

Ozone × UV × Sky

Ozone at AQI 47 — peak already passed at 1 PM under clear skies. Levels should ease through evening.

Present
AQI 47
UV peak
4.5 at earlier today
Sky at peak
clear
Projected peak
AQI 47

PM × Wind × Precip

PM2.5 at 8.3 µg/m³ (AQI 46) with a 0.90 fine-to-coarse ratio and 3 mph wind — combustion smoke trapped in calm air, not road dust.

PM2.5/PM10
0.90
Wind
calm
Recent rain
0h in last 6h
Pattern
stagnant smoke
Highlands, NC
Sky cover · visibility · 24h
Cloud cover
25%
MOSTLY CLEAR
100%0%−24h−18h−12h−6hnow

Visibility
76.0mi
UNLIMITED
76 mi0 mi−24h−18h−12h−6hnow
Earth · GOES-19 ABI
Full Disk · Visible · GeoColor
GOES-19 full disk Visible · GeoColor
True-color daytime, blue/IR sandwich at night
19:17 UTC · Highlands, NC · NOAA NESDIS / STAR · up to 10848 px
Continental US · GOES-19 ABI
CONUS Sector · Visible · GeoColor
GOES-19 CONUS Visible · GeoColor
Daytime true-color, blue-light/IR sandwich at night
19:17 UTC · Highlands, NC · NOAA NESDIS / STAR · 5-min cadence · up to 10000 px
Highlands, NC
Satellite · infrared · animated
Highlands, NC
Loading IR frames…
IR · cloud-top temp© RainViewer · Carto
Highlands, NC
Almanac · Sunday, July 5
If the first of July be rainy weather, 'twill rain more or less for four weeks together.
Civil dawn
5:55 AM
Sunrise
2:24 AM
Daylight
14h 26m
Sunset
4:50 PM
Civil dusk
9:21 PM
Planting note
Harvest early potatoes. Begin drying onions on the surface.
Highlands, NC
The moon
Waning Gibbous
70% illuminated
Moonrise
11:47 PM
Moonset
11:45 AM
In sign
♓︎ Pisces
Highlands, NC
Microseason
Jul 1–5

Cicadas claim the scorching afternoon

plant
Jan 151% of the yearDec 31

Read this microseason across nine climate regions →

Highlands at a glance

  • Today vs. normal: 79°F — typical for the season
  • Last frost: March 17 (climatological average for this latitude)
  • Microseason: Jul 1–5
  • Planting window: Harvest early potatoes. Begin drying onions on the surface.

ZIP code: 28741

16-Day Forecast — Highlands

  1. Sun80°64°43%
  2. Mon76°64°36%
  3. Tue78°62°54%
  4. Wed83°61°18%
  5. Thu81°62°15%
  6. Fri79°60°20%
  7. Sat82°61°34%
  8. Sun83°62°51%
  9. Mon85°63°29%
  10. Tue77°53°19%
  11. Wed78°48°17%
  12. Thu80°57°32%
  13. Fri82°61°35%
  14. Sat77°60°45%
  15. Sun78°60°44%
  16. Mon80°58°61%

Forecast data from Open-Meteo (CC BY 4.0).

Right now in the garden

Peak growing season

As of July 5, the growing season is at its peak — frost is months away. Continue succession-planting beans and summer squash. Start fall brassicas (broccoli, cabbage, kale) from seed indoors for transplanting in late summer.

SPC Convective Outlook

Storm Prediction Center — Highlands

SPC has placed Highlands in the Marginal Risk category for severe thunderstorms today.

  • TODAYMRGLMarginal Risk
  • TOMORROWTSTMGeneral Thunderstorms
  • DAY 3TSTMGeneral Thunderstorms

Isolated severe storms possible. Limited threat for hail or damaging wind.

Source: NOAA / NWS Storm Prediction Center categorical convective outlook. Outlooks are re-issued multiple times per day; this page reflects the most recent SPC polygons covering the city’s coordinates.

ZIP codes in Highlands

  • 28741

Climate normals from the Open-Meteo Climate API. Köppen approximation from NOAA NCEI U.S. Climate Regions. See methodology for data sources, editorial rules, and corrections. Maintainer: Brian Tighe.