Weather Records on 31 January 1938

362 weather records were set or tied worldwide on 31 January 1938. Highest significance: Sydney (Observatory Hill), AU.

Key Facts for 31 January 1938

On 31 January 1938, 362 weather records were set or tied at long-record stations worldwide.
73 were record highs and 45 were record lows, counting maximum and minimum temperature.
By timescale, 2 were all-time records, 8 monthly and 352 daily.
Sydney (Observatory Hill) set a daily record precipitation of 147.1 mm (5.8 in) on 31 January 1938.
Across 162 earlier years (1800 to 2026) the same calendar date averaged 503 records.

Record Map

362 stations

362 station records on 31 January 1938 are marked on the map, coloured by record type. Dot size shows the significance score. Made with Natural Earth.

Weather records on 31 January 1938: highest significance records shown on the map
Station	Country	Type	Value	Significance
Sydney (Observatory Hill)	Australia	Record daily precipitation	147.1 mm (5.8 in)	71 of 100 (Major)
Kurrajong Heights (Bells Line	Australia	Record daily precipitation	142.2 mm (5.6 in)	61 of 100 (Major)
Doreen	Australia	Record daily precipitation	79.5 mm (3.1 in)	58 of 100 (Notable)
Parramatta	Australia	Record daily precipitation	89.7 mm (3.5 in)	56 of 100 (Notable)
Mullaley (Goolhi)	Australia	Record daily precipitation	73.4 mm (2.9 in)	55 of 100 (Notable)
Mullaley (Bando)	Australia	Record daily precipitation	86.9 mm (3.4 in)	53 of 100 (Notable)
Sydney Botanic Gardens	Australia	Record daily precipitation	157.5 mm (6.2 in)	51 of 100 (Notable)
Richmond - Uws Hawkesbury	Australia	Record daily precipitation	94.5 mm (3.7 in)	51 of 100 (Notable)
Pitt Town Lab.Farm (Scheyville	Australia	Record daily precipitation	100.8 mm (4.0 in)	51 of 100 (Notable)
Glenara	Australia	Record daily precipitation	122.7 mm (4.8 in)	50 of 100 (Notable)
Ashfield Bowling Club	Australia	Record daily precipitation	93.5 mm (3.7 in)	50 of 100 (Notable)
Sans Souci (Public School)	Australia	Record daily precipitation	137.2 mm (5.4 in)	50 of 100 (Notable)
St Marys Bowling Club	Australia	Record daily precipitation	103.6 mm (4.1 in)	50 of 100 (Notable)
Sutherland Mwsdb	Australia	Record daily precipitation	93.5 mm (3.7 in)	49 of 100 (Notable)
Riverview Observatory	Australia	Record daily precipitation	117.9 mm (4.6 in)	49 of 100 (Notable)
Bellbrook (East Street)	Australia	Record daily precipitation	88.9 mm (3.5 in)	48 of 100 (Notable)
Penrith Ladbury Avenue	Australia	Record daily precipitation	96.5 mm (3.8 in)	48 of 100 (Notable)
Neilrex (Caigan)	Australia	Record daily precipitation	64.8 mm (2.6 in)	47 of 100 (Notable)
Wee Waa (George St)	Australia	Record daily precipitation	81.8 mm (3.2 in)	46 of 100 (Notable)
Prospect Reservoir	Australia	Record daily precipitation	98.0 mm (3.9 in)	46 of 100 (Notable)
Toowoomba	Australia	Record daily precipitation	97.8 mm (3.9 in)	45 of 100 (Notable)
Uliman (Brentwood)	Australia	Record daily precipitation	50.8 mm (2.0 in)	45 of 100 (Notable)
Oakey Post Office	Australia	Record daily precipitation	88.9 mm (3.5 in)	44 of 100 (Notable)
Mullaley (Garrawilla)	Australia	Record daily precipitation	62.0 mm (2.4 in)	44 of 100 (Notable)
Merriwa (Cranbourne)	Australia	Record daily precipitation	62.2 mm (2.4 in)	43 of 100 (Notable)
Potts Hill Reservoir	Australia	Record daily precipitation	72.4 mm (2.9 in)	43 of 100 (Notable)
Jimbour State School	Australia	Record daily precipitation	61.0 mm (2.4 in)	41 of 100 (Notable)
Warwick Post Office	Australia	Record daily precipitation	69.1 mm (2.7 in)	41 of 100 (Notable)
Centennial Park	Australia	Record daily precipitation	200.7 mm (7.9 in)	41 of 100 (Notable)
Murphys Creek Post Office	Australia	Record daily precipitation	115.1 mm (4.5 in)	40 of 100 (Notable)
Gowrie Junction	Australia	Record daily precipitation	74.2 mm (2.9 in)	40 of 100 (Notable)
Pittsworth	Australia	Record daily precipitation	70.6 mm (2.8 in)	40 of 100 (Notable)
Spring Bluff Railway STN	Australia	Record daily precipitation	137.2 mm (5.4 in)	39 of 100 (Notable)
Dillalah	Australia	Record daily precipitation	47.0 mm (1.9 in)	39 of 100 (Notable)
Wollar (Barrigan St)	Australia	Record daily precipitation	102.9 mm (4.1 in)	39 of 100 (Notable)
Concord Walker Hospital	Australia	Record daily precipitation	91.4 mm (3.6 in)	39 of 100 (Notable)
Cubbaroo	Australia	Record daily precipitation	71.1 mm (2.8 in)	38 of 100 (Notable)
Malakoff Post Office	Australia	Record daily precipitation	73.7 mm (2.9 in)	37 of 100 (Notable)
Boolcarrol	Australia	Record daily precipitation	49.5 mm (1.9 in)	37 of 100 (Notable)
Lidcombe (Carnarvon Golf Club)	Australia	Record daily precipitation	57.7 mm (2.3 in)	37 of 100 (Notable)
Ryde Pumping Station	Australia	Record daily precipitation	76.7 mm (3.0 in)	37 of 100 (Notable)
Wee Waa (Pendennis)	Australia	Record daily precipitation	53.6 mm (2.1 in)	36 of 100 (Notable)
Helidon Post Office	Australia	Record daily precipitation	65.5 mm (2.6 in)	35 of 100 (Notable)
Premer (Eden Moor)	Australia	Record daily precipitation	35.6 mm (1.4 in)	35 of 100 (Notable)
Copmanhurst Post Office	Australia	Record daily precipitation	91.7 mm (3.6 in)	35 of 100 (Notable)
Jondarayan Station	Australia	Record daily precipitation	100.6 mm (4.0 in)	34 of 100 (Routine)
Mullaley Post Office	Australia	Record daily precipitation	57.2 mm (2.3 in)	33 of 100 (Routine)
Raleigh Post Office	Australia	Record daily precipitation	109.2 mm (4.3 in)	33 of 100 (Routine)
Mosman (Bapaume Road)	Australia	Record daily precipitation	131.1 mm (5.2 in)	33 of 100 (Routine)
Curlewis (Pine Cliff)	Australia	Record daily precipitation	41.9 mm (1.6 in)	32 of 100 (Routine)
Aberfoyle	Australia	Record daily precipitation	53.6 mm (2.1 in)	31 of 100 (Routine)
Binnaway (Wattle St)	Australia	Record daily precipitation	83.8 mm (3.3 in)	31 of 100 (Routine)
Jandowae Post Office	Australia	Record daily precipitation	46.5 mm (1.8 in)	30 of 100 (Routine)
Wiluna	Australia	Record daily precipitation	46.7 mm (1.8 in)	29 of 100 (Routine)
Comboyne Post Office	Australia	Record daily precipitation	66.0 mm (2.6 in)	29 of 100 (Routine)
Georgetown Post Office	Australia	Record daily precipitation	64.5 mm (2.5 in)	28 of 100 (Routine)
Warra Post Office	Australia	Record daily precipitation	67.6 mm (2.7 in)	28 of 100 (Routine)
Hunters Hill (the Bungalow)	Australia	Record daily precipitation	66.0 mm (2.6 in)	27 of 100 (Routine)
Glenfield (Macquarie)	Australia	Record daily precipitation	46.7 mm (1.8 in)	27 of 100 (Routine)
Clifton Post Office	Australia	Record daily precipitation	66.0 mm (2.6 in)	26 of 100 (Routine)

Counts by Type and Timescale

362 records

Records set or tied on 31 January 1938 by type: Highest daily maximum 34, Lowest daily maximum 24, Highest daily minimum 39, Lowest daily minimum 21, Heaviest daily rainfall 233, Heaviest daily snowfall 8, Deepest snow cover 3.

Records on 31 January 1938 by type
Record type	Records
Highest daily maximum	34
Lowest daily maximum	24
Highest daily minimum	39
Lowest daily minimum	21
Heaviest daily rainfall	233
Heaviest daily snowfall	8
Deepest snow cover	3

Records on 31 January 1938 by timescale: all-time 2, monthly 8, daily 352.

How Much Records Were Beaten By

316 broken records

Margins by which the 316 broken records beat the old ones, in degrees Celsius for temperature and millimetres for precipitation and snow; the largest margin was 127.0. Ties are not counted.

Top 20 by Significance

31 January 1938

Top 20 records on 31 January 1938 by significance
Date	Station	Record	Value	Beat old record by	Old record stood	Significance
31 January 1938	Sydney (Observatory Hill), AU	daily rain	147.1 mm (5.8 in)	66.1 mm (2.6 in)	78 years	71 of 100 (Major)
31 January 1938	Kurrajong Heights (Bells Line, AU	daily rain	142.2 mm (5.6 in)	107.9 mm (4.2 in)	47 years	61 of 100 (Major)
31 January 1938	Doreen, AU	daily rain	79.5 mm (3.1 in)	59.2 mm (2.3 in)	46 years	58 of 100 (Notable)
31 January 1938	Parramatta, AU	daily rain	89.7 mm (3.5 in)	39.9 mm (1.6 in)	78 years	56 of 100 (Notable)
31 January 1938	Mullaley (Goolhi), AU	daily rain	73.4 mm (2.9 in)	48.5 mm (1.9 in)	49 years	55 of 100 (Notable)
31 January 1938	Mullaley (Bando), AU	daily rain	86.9 mm (3.4 in)	66.6 mm (2.6 in)	28 years	53 of 100 (Notable)
31 January 1938	Sydney Botanic Gardens, AU	daily rain	157.5 mm (6.2 in)	121.4 mm (4.8 in)	20 years	51 of 100 (Notable)
31 January 1938	Richmond - Uws Hawkesbury, AU	daily rain	94.5 mm (3.7 in)	73.7 mm (2.9 in)	20 years	51 of 100 (Notable)
31 January 1938	Pitt Town Lab.Farm (Scheyville, AU	monthly rain	100.8 mm (4.0 in)	36.0 mm (1.4 in)	27 years	51 of 100 (Notable)
31 January 1938	Glenara, AU	daily rain	122.7 mm (4.8 in)	100.6 mm (4.0 in)	20 years	50 of 100 (Notable)
31 January 1938	Ashfield Bowling Club, AU	daily rain	93.5 mm (3.7 in)	72.4 mm (2.9 in)	20 years	50 of 100 (Notable)
31 January 1938	Sans Souci (Public School), AU	daily rain	137.2 mm (5.4 in)	110.5 mm (4.4 in)	20 years	50 of 100 (Notable)
31 January 1938	St Marys Bowling Club, AU	daily rain	103.6 mm (4.1 in)	80.0 mm (3.1 in)	20 years	50 of 100 (Notable)
31 January 1938	Sutherland Mwsdb, AU	daily rain	93.5 mm (3.7 in)	68.1 mm (2.7 in)	20 years	49 of 100 (Notable)
31 January 1938	Riverview Observatory, AU	daily rain	117.9 mm (4.6 in)	85.9 mm (3.4 in)	20 years	49 of 100 (Notable)
31 January 1938	Bellbrook (East Street), AU	daily rain	88.9 mm (3.5 in)	51.1 mm (2.0 in)	30 years	48 of 100 (Notable)
31 January 1938	Penrith Ladbury Avenue, AU	daily rain	96.5 mm (3.8 in)	55.9 mm (2.2 in)	20 years	48 of 100 (Notable)
31 January 1938	Neilrex (Caigan), AU	daily rain	64.8 mm (2.6 in)	49.6 mm (2.0 in)	20 years	47 of 100 (Notable)
31 January 1938	Wee Waa (George St), AU	daily rain	81.8 mm (3.2 in)	67.3 mm (2.6 in)	4 years	46 of 100 (Notable)
31 January 1938	Prospect Reservoir, AU	daily rain	98.0 mm (3.9 in)	69.6 mm (2.7 in)	4 years	46 of 100 (Notable)

Significance is a score from 0 to 100 combining margin, the age of the old record and the length of the station's record. How it is computed.

The Same Date in Other Years

1800 to 1938

Records set or tied on this calendar date in each year from 1800 to 1938. 1938 had 362 records.

Counts for years before the ledger starts come from the same station rules.

Records on 01-31 in each year
Year	Records
1800	1
1801	1
1830	2
1843	1
1846	1
1850	1
1852	1
1853	2
1854	2
1862	1
1863	2
1868	1
1869	2
1870	1
1873	1
1875	1
1877	1
1878	2
1880	1
1882	1
1883	1
1884	5
1885	1
1886	2
1887	1
1888	3
1889	3
1890	2
1892	1
1893	9
1894	1
1895	3
1896	1
1897	2
1898	7
1899	7
1900	5
1901	4
1902	10
1903	3
1904	6
1905	21
1906	17
1907	8
1908	36
1909	27
1910	10
1911	52
1912	20
1913	49
1914	36
1915	115
1916	94
1917	190
1918	150
1919	14
1920	113
1921	29
1922	55
1923	152
1924	203
1925	134
1926	204
1927	64
1928	47
1929	263
1930	83
1931	326
1932	153
1933	212
1934	597
1935	431
1936	830
1937	309
1938	362
1939	323
1940	361
1941	354
1942	273
1943	698
1944	232
1945	943
1946	359
1947	788
1948	600
1949	1,058
1950	1,022
1951	1,192
1952	519
1953	879
1954	744
1955	383
1956	434
1957	563
1958	692
1959	237
1960	349
1961	475
1962	686
1963	928
1964	402
1965	696
1966	1,295
1967	637
1968	524
1969	703
1970	209
1971	1,506
1972	426
1973	714
1974	1,128
1975	1,110
1976	569
1977	781
1978	844
1979	1,995
1980	757
1981	687
1982	1,287
1983	1,078
1984	610
1985	1,725
1986	616
1987	787
1988	1,582
1989	1,718
1990	821
1991	617
1992	1,573
1993	856
1994	1,049
1995	1,122
1996	1,594
1997	898
1998	641
1999	938
2000	1,115
2001	1,061
2002	3,080
2003	1,281
2004	1,392
2005	767
2006	722
2007	713
2008	704
2009	552
2010	1,311
2011	741
2012	1,037
2013	1,397
2014	986
2015	663
2016	1,147
2017	575
2018	564
2019	1,426
2020	1,031
2021	504
2022	255
2023	907
2024	1,117
2025	827
2026	839

Download the Data

Data for records on 1938-01-31: CSV or JSON. Field meanings are on the data page.

Sources: 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)) Made with Natural Earth. Public domain map data. Borders are Natural Earth's de facto depiction. Data as of 2026-10-17 (17 October 2026). Records are computed by this site and are not official.

Data as of 2026-10-15. Last revised 15 October 2026 (2026-10-15).

Margin	Records
0 to 20	238
20 to 40	40
40 to 60	22
60 to 80	9
80 to 100	2
100 to 120	3
120 to 140	2