Record Longevity
The oldest standing records, the longest lived records that fell and retrospective near misses. The oldest, at Milan, has stood for 263 years.
Data as of . Last revised (2026-10-12).
Key Facts
- The oldest standing record in the list is a daily low maximum temperature of -2.4 C (27.7 F) at Milan, set on 1763-03-13 and standing for 263 years.
- The longest lived record that fell had stood for 241 years: a daily high maximum temperature of 22.8 C (73.0 F) at Milan, set on 2006-11-01.
- Among 270,462 records broken between 8 September 2025 and 12 October 2026, half had stood for 25 years or less.
- Near misses are retrospective: they show records that this year's values came close to, and they are not forecasts.
Oldest Standing Records
Years since the record was setEach bar is the oldest standing record at one station, for example a daily low maximum temperature, labelled by station, the date it was set and the record type.
Longest Lived Records That Fell
How Long Records Last
Survival curve| Years stood | Records that stood at least this long | Share |
|---|---|---|
| 0 | 270462 | 100.0% |
| 6 | 232820 | 86.1% |
| 12 | 202403 | 74.8% |
| 18 | 172359 | 63.7% |
| 24 | 142060 | 52.5% |
| 30 | 111525 | 41.2% |
| 36 | 91809 | 33.9% |
| 42 | 73364 | 27.1% |
| 48 | 61740 | 22.8% |
| 54 | 50181 | 18.6% |
| 60 | 41752 | 15.4% |
| 66 | 31543 | 11.7% |
| 72 | 24632 | 9.1% |
| 78 | 18107 | 6.7% |
| 84 | 14731 | 5.4% |
| 90 | 11238 | 4.2% |
| 96 | 9200 | 3.4% |
| 102 | 7322 | 2.7% |
| 108 | 5925 | 2.2% |
| 114 | 4238 | 1.6% |
| 120 | 2706 | 1.0% |
| 126 | 1341 | 0.5% |
| 132 | 389 | 0.1% |
| 138 | 172 | 0.1% |
| 144 | 89 | 0.0% |
| 150 | 50 | 0.0% |
| 156 | 32 | 0.0% |
| 162 | 18 | 0.0% |
| 168 | 17 | 0.0% |
| 174 | 8 | 0.0% |
| 180 | 4 | 0.0% |
| 186 | 4 | 0.0% |
| 192 | 3 | 0.0% |
| 198 | 2 | 0.0% |
| 204 | 2 | 0.0% |
Near Misses
Retrospective, not a forecast| Station | Record | Set | Years stood | Missed by |
|---|
A near miss is a standing record that this year's highest or lowest value came within a small margin of, but did not beat. It looks back at what happened. It does not say a record is about to fall.
Download the Data
Source: NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Global Historical Climatology Network Daily (GHCN-Daily). Records are computed by World Extreme Weather Monitor and are not official NOAA products. (US Government open data (NOAA NCEI)) Data as of 2026-10-12. Records are computed by this site and are not official.