diff --git a/main.go b/main.go
index 71adcd661..7ea0347cf 100644
--- a/main.go
+++ b/main.go
@@ -54,10 +54,6 @@ var (
 	diskAppendQueueCapacity   = flag.Int("storage.queue.diskAppendCapacity", 1000000, "The size of the queue for items that are pending writing to disk.")
 	memoryAppendQueueCapacity = flag.Int("storage.queue.memoryAppendCapacity", 10000, "The size of the queue for items that are pending writing to memory.")
 
-	deleteInterval = flag.Duration("delete.interval", 11*time.Hour, "The amount of time between deletion of old values.")
-
-	deleteAge = flag.Duration("delete.ageMaximum", 15*24*time.Hour, "The relative maximum age for values before they are deleted.")
-
 	memoryEvictionInterval = flag.Duration("storage.memory.evictionInterval", 15*time.Minute, "The period at which old data is evicted from memory.")
 	memoryRetentionPeriod  = flag.Duration("storage.memory.retentionPeriod", time.Hour, "The period of time to retain in memory during evictions.")
 
diff --git a/storage/local/series.go b/storage/local/series.go
index 243dfbabb..4ee1045b9 100644
--- a/storage/local/series.go
+++ b/storage/local/series.go
@@ -158,20 +158,21 @@ func (s *memorySeries) add(v *metric.SamplePair, persistQueue chan *persistReque
 	}
 }
 
-func (s *memorySeries) evictOlderThan(t clientmodel.Timestamp) {
+func (s *memorySeries) evictOlderThan(t clientmodel.Timestamp) (allEvicted bool) {
 	s.mtx.Lock()
 	defer s.mtx.Unlock()
 
 	// For now, always drop the entire range from oldest to t.
 	for _, cd := range s.chunkDescs {
 		if !cd.lastTime().Before(t) {
-			break
+			return false
 		}
 		if cd.chunk == nil {
 			continue
 		}
 		cd.evictOnUnpin()
 	}
+	return true
 }
 
 // purgeOlderThan returns true if all chunks have been purged.
@@ -347,6 +348,14 @@ func (s *memorySeries) values() metric.Values {
 	return values
 }
 
+func (s *memorySeries) firstTime() clientmodel.Timestamp {
+	return s.chunkDescs[0].firstTime()
+}
+
+func (s *memorySeries) lastTime() clientmodel.Timestamp {
+	return s.head().lastTime()
+}
+
 func (it *memorySeriesIterator) GetValueAtTime(t clientmodel.Timestamp) metric.Values {
 	it.mtx.Lock()
 	defer it.mtx.Unlock()
diff --git a/storage/local/storage.go b/storage/local/storage.go
index 093b64275..d855e28bc 100644
--- a/storage/local/storage.go
+++ b/storage/local/storage.go
@@ -170,8 +170,19 @@ func (s *memorySeriesStorage) evictMemoryChunks(ttl time.Duration) {
 	s.mtx.RLock()
 	defer s.mtx.RUnlock()
 
-	for _, series := range s.fingerprintToSeries {
-		series.evictOlderThan(clientmodel.TimestampFromTime(time.Now()).Add(-1 * ttl))
+	for fp, series := range s.fingerprintToSeries {
+		if series.evictOlderThan(clientmodel.TimestampFromTime(time.Now()).Add(-1 * ttl)) {
+			if err := s.persistence.ArchiveMetric(
+				fp, series.metric, series.firstTime(), series.lastTime(),
+			); err != nil {
+				glog.Errorf("Error archiving metric %v: %v", series.metric, err)
+			}
+			delete(s.fingerprintToSeries, fp)
+			s.persistQueue <- &persistRequest{
+				fingerprint: fp,
+				chunkDesc:   series.head(),
+			}
+		}
 	}
 }
 
@@ -436,8 +447,13 @@ func (s *memorySeriesStorage) GetMetricForFingerprint(fp clientmodel.Fingerprint
 
 	series, ok := s.fingerprintToSeries[fp]
 	if ok {
-		// TODO: Does this have to be a copy? Ask Julius!
-		return series.metric
+		// Copy required here because caller might mutate the returned
+		// metric.
+		m := make(clientmodel.Metric, len(series.metric))
+		for ln, lv := range series.metric {
+			m[ln] = lv
+		}
+		return m
 	}
 	metric, err := s.persistence.GetArchivedMetric(fp)
 	if err != nil {