Weather Records on 21 October 1938

121 weather records were set or tied worldwide on 21 October 1938. Highest significance: Edeowie, AU.

Key Facts for 21 October 1938

On 21 October 1938, 121 weather records were set or tied at long-record stations worldwide.
65 were record highs and 8 were record lows, counting maximum and minimum temperature.
By timescale, 0 were all-time records, 0 monthly and 121 daily.
Edeowie set a daily record precipitation of 25.9 mm (1.0 in) on 21 October 1938.
Across 167 earlier years (1795 to 2025) the same calendar date averaged 422 records.

Record Map

121 stations

121 station records on 21 October 1938 are marked on the map, coloured by record type. Dot size shows the significance score. Made with Natural Earth.

Weather records on 21 October 1938: highest significance records shown on the map
Station	Country	Type	Value	Significance
Edeowie	Australia	Record daily precipitation	25.9 mm (1.0 in)	47 of 100 (Notable)
Nicosia	Cyprus	Record daily precipitation	36.3 mm (1.4 in)	32 of 100 (Routine)
Darwin Post Office	Australia	Record daily precipitation	74.7 mm (2.9 in)	29 of 100 (Routine)
Dawson	Canada	Record high maximum temperature	16.1 C (61.0 F)	26 of 100 (Routine)
Atlin	Canada	Record high minimum temperature	9.4 C (48.9 F)	23 of 100 (Routine)
Darwin Post Office	Australia	Record low minimum temperature	22.2 C (72.0 F)	22 of 100 (Routine)
Fort Simpson	Canada	Record high maximum temperature	12.2 C (54.0 F)	21 of 100 (Routine)
Sydney	Canada	Record daily precipitation	48.8 mm (1.9 in)	21 of 100 (Routine)
Nordby (Fano)	Denmark	Record high maximum temperature	15.5 C (59.9 F)	21 of 100 (Routine)
Grootvlei (Pol)	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	30.0 mm (1.2 in)	21 of 100 (Routine)
Stornoway Airport	United Kingdom	Record high minimum temperature	12.8 C (55.0 F)	21 of 100 (Routine)
Blinman (Wirrealpa)	Australia	Record daily precipitation	17.3 mm (0.7 in)	20 of 100 (Routine)
Broken Hill (Glen Lyon)	Australia	Record daily precipitation	24.6 mm (1.0 in)	20 of 100 (Routine)
Woomera (Arcoona)	Australia	Record daily precipitation	18.3 mm (0.7 in)	20 of 100 (Routine)
Boolcoomatta	Australia	Record daily precipitation	16.8 mm (0.7 in)	20 of 100 (Routine)
Broken Hill (Langawirra)	Australia	Record daily precipitation	5.1 mm (0.20 in)	20 of 100 (Routine)
Syktyvkar	Russia	Record daily precipitation	11.3 mm (0.4 in)	20 of 100 (Routine)
Atlin	Canada	Record high maximum temperature	12.8 C (55.0 F)	20 of 100 (Routine)
Vryburg (Pol)	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	3.6 mm (0.14 in)	20 of 100 (Routine)
Sloan 3 S	United States	Record high maximum temperature	31.1 C (88.0 F)	20 of 100 (Routine)
Sitka Magnetic Obsy	United States	Record high minimum temperature	11.7 C (53.1 F)	20 of 100 (Routine)
Rolfontein	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	19.3 mm (0.8 in)	19 of 100 (Routine)
Coondambo	Australia	Record daily precipitation	10.4 mm (0.4 in)	18 of 100 (Routine)
Cape Sorell	Australia	Record daily precipitation	17.8 mm (0.7 in)	18 of 100 (Routine)
Astrakan	Russia	Record high minimum temperature	12.4 C (54.3 F)	18 of 100 (Routine)
Buckeye	United States	Record high minimum temperature	16.1 C (61.0 F)	18 of 100 (Routine)
Cream Hill	United States	Record daily precipitation	23.4 mm (0.9 in)	18 of 100 (Routine)
Bethlehem Lehigh UNIV	United States	Record daily precipitation	23.9 mm (0.9 in)	18 of 100 (Routine)
Woomera (Oakden Hills)	Australia	Record daily precipitation	6.4 mm (0.25 in)	17 of 100 (Routine)
Gammon Ranges (Wertaloona)	Australia	Record daily precipitation	11.4 mm (0.4 in)	17 of 100 (Routine)
Bucuresti Filaret	Romania	Record daily precipitation	12.9 mm (0.5 in)	17 of 100 (Routine)
Tot-Ma	Russia	Record daily precipitation	16.5 mm (0.6 in)	17 of 100 (Routine)
Barguzin	Russia	Record daily precipitation	0.9 mm (0.04 in)	17 of 100 (Routine)
Agassiz Cda	Canada	Record high minimum temperature	11.7 C (53.1 F)	16 of 100 (Routine)
Fort Simpson	Canada	Record high minimum temperature	2.8 C (37.0 F)	16 of 100 (Routine)
Poretskoye	Russia	Record high minimum temperature	9.1 C (48.4 F)	16 of 100 (Routine)
Kamennaja-Step	Russia	Record high minimum temperature	8.9 C (48.0 F)	16 of 100 (Routine)
Snowflake	United States	Record low minimum temperature	-7.2 C (19.0 F)	16 of 100 (Routine)
Ocala	United States	Record high maximum temperature	32.8 C (91.0 F)	16 of 100 (Routine)
Oregon	United States	Record high maximum temperature	27.8 C (82.0 F)	16 of 100 (Routine)
Kingston	United States	Record daily precipitation	9.9 mm (0.39 in)	16 of 100 (Routine)
University Exp STN	United States	Record high minimum temperature	2.8 C (37.0 F)	16 of 100 (Routine)
Helena Wb City	United States	Record snow depth	5.1 cm (2.0 in)	16 of 100 (Routine)
Champhai	India	Record daily precipitation	46.0 mm (1.8 in)	15 of 100 (Routine)
Leavenworth	United States	Record high maximum temperature	28.3 C (82.9 F)	15 of 100 (Routine)
Dandridge	United States	Record daily precipitation	11.4 mm (0.4 in)	15 of 100 (Routine)
Dawson	Canada	Record high minimum temperature	6.7 C (44.1 F)	14 of 100 (Routine)
Seleng	India	Record daily precipitation	30.0 mm (1.2 in)	14 of 100 (Routine)
Karasjok	Norway	Record snow depth	14.0 cm (5.5 in)	14 of 100 (Routine)
Kazan	Russia	Record high minimum temperature	8.9 C (48.0 F)	14 of 100 (Routine)
Grant City	United States	Record high maximum temperature	27.2 C (81.0 F)	14 of 100 (Routine)
Pahala 21	United States	Record high minimum temperature	20.0 C (68.0 F)	14 of 100 (Routine)
Beltana	Australia	Record daily precipitation	7.1 mm (0.28 in)	13 of 100 (Routine)
Curnomona (Curnamona)	Australia	Record daily precipitation	8.4 mm (0.33 in)	13 of 100 (Routine)
Rokeby (the Mall)	Australia	Record daily precipitation	6.6 mm (0.26 in)	13 of 100 (Routine)
Revelstoke	Canada	Record low minimum temperature	-5.0 C (23.0 F)	13 of 100 (Routine)
Aijal	India	Record daily precipitation	32.5 mm (1.3 in)	13 of 100 (Routine)
Tatarsk	Russia	Record daily precipitation	3.2 mm (0.13 in)	13 of 100 (Routine)
Salmon AP	United States	Record low maximum temperature	2.2 C (36.0 F)	13 of 100 (Routine)
Gage	United States	Record low maximum temperature	14.4 C (57.9 F)	13 of 100 (Routine)

Counts by Type and Timescale

121 records

Records set or tied on 21 October 1938 by type: Highest daily maximum 47, Lowest daily maximum 3, Highest daily minimum 18, Lowest daily minimum 5, Heaviest daily rainfall 46, Deepest snow cover 2.

Records on 21 October 1938 by type
Record type	Records
Highest daily maximum	47
Lowest daily maximum	3
Highest daily minimum	18
Lowest daily minimum	5
Heaviest daily rainfall	46
Heaviest daily snowfall	0
Deepest snow cover	2

Records on 21 October 1938 by timescale: all-time 0, monthly 0, daily 121.

How Much Records Were Beaten By

99 broken records

Margins by which the 99 broken records beat the old ones, in degrees Celsius for temperature and millimetres for precipitation and snow; the largest margin was 26.0. Ties are not counted.

Top 20 by Significance

21 October 1938

Top 20 records on 21 October 1938 by significance
Date	Station	Record	Value	Beat old record by	Old record stood	Significance
21 October 1938	Edeowie, AU	daily rain	25.9 mm (1.0 in)	21.8 mm (0.9 in)	8 years	47 of 100 (Notable)
21 October 1938	Nicosia, CY	daily rain	36.3 mm (1.4 in)	16.0 mm (0.6 in)	28 years	32 of 100 (Routine)
21 October 1938	Darwin Post Office, AU	daily rain	74.7 mm (2.9 in)	18.3 mm (0.7 in)	35 years	29 of 100 (Routine)
21 October 1938	Dawson, CA	daily high max	16.1 C (61.0 F)	8.9 C (16.0 F)	31 years	26 of 100 (Routine)
21 October 1938	Atlin, CA	daily high min	9.4 C (48.9 F)	5.0 C (9.0 F)	32 years	23 of 100 (Routine)
21 October 1938	Darwin Post Office, AU	daily low min	22.2 C (72.0 F)	0.9 C (1.6 F)	35 years	22 of 100 (Routine)
21 October 1938	Fort Simpson, CA	daily high max	12.2 C (54.0 F)	4.4 C (7.9 F)	36 years	21 of 100 (Routine)
21 October 1938	Sydney, CA	daily rain	48.8 mm (1.9 in)	7.7 mm (0.30 in)	31 years	21 of 100 (Routine)
21 October 1938	Nordby (Fano), DK	daily high max	15.5 C (59.9 F)	0.7 C (1.3 F)	44 years	21 of 100 (Routine)
21 October 1938	Grootvlei (Pol), ZA	daily rain	30.0 mm (1.2 in)	16.0 mm (0.6 in)	7 years	21 of 100 (Routine)
21 October 1938	Stornoway Airport, GB	daily high min	12.8 C (55.0 F)	1.7 C (3.1 F)	33 years	21 of 100 (Routine)
21 October 1938	Blinman (Wirrealpa), AU	daily rain	17.3 mm (0.7 in)	12.7 mm (0.5 in)	35 years	20 of 100 (Routine)
21 October 1938	Broken Hill (Glen Lyon), AU	daily rain	24.6 mm (1.0 in)	13.9 mm (0.5 in)	54 years	20 of 100 (Routine)
21 October 1938	Woomera (Arcoona), AU	daily rain	18.3 mm (0.7 in)	13.7 mm (0.5 in)	21 years	20 of 100 (Routine)
21 October 1938	Boolcoomatta, AU	daily rain	16.8 mm (0.7 in)	12.7 mm (0.5 in)	20 years	20 of 100 (Routine)
21 October 1938	Broken Hill (Langawirra), AU	daily rain	5.1 mm (0.20 in)	5.1 mm (0.20 in)	50 years	20 of 100 (Routine)
21 October 1938	Syktyvkar, RU	daily rain	11.3 mm (0.4 in)	4.6 mm (0.18 in)	12 years	20 of 100 (Routine)
21 October 1938	Atlin, CA	daily high max	12.8 C (55.0 F)	3.4 C (6.1 F)	32 years	20 of 100 (Routine)
21 October 1938	Vryburg (Pol), ZA	daily rain	3.6 mm (0.14 in)	2.3 mm (0.09 in)	45 years	20 of 100 (Routine)
21 October 1938	Sloan 3 S, US	daily high max	31.1 C (88.0 F)	2.2 C (4.0 F)	37 years	20 of 100 (Routine)

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

1795 to 1938

Records set or tied on this calendar date in each year from 1795 to 1938. 1938 had 121 records.

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

Records on 10-21 in each year
Year	Records
1795	1
1802	2
1805	1
1808	1
1810	1
1834	1
1835	1
1840	1
1845	1
1847	1
1850	1
1851	2
1854	1
1859	1
1863	1
1864	1
1866	3
1867	1
1868	3
1869	2
1871	1
1872	1
1873	1
1874	1
1876	4
1877	2
1878	1
1880	3
1881	1
1883	1
1886	1
1888	2
1889	2
1890	3
1891	6
1892	6
1893	1
1894	1
1895	2
1896	5
1898	6
1899	3
1900	2
1901	9
1902	2
1903	3
1904	30
1905	15
1906	11
1907	35
1908	35
1909	19
1910	21
1911	10
1912	18
1913	59
1914	35
1915	43
1916	70
1917	208
1918	18
1919	102
1920	149
1921	58
1922	78
1923	81
1924	389
1925	150
1926	77
1927	187
1928	78
1929	200
1930	492
1931	217
1932	165
1933	733
1934	407
1935	707
1936	407
1937	132
1938	121
1939	491
1940	537
1941	644
1942	258
1943	421
1944	367
1945	538
1946	297
1947	977
1948	266
1949	1,015
1950	438
1951	382
1952	848
1953	1,579
1954	279
1955	481
1956	276
1957	511
1958	322
1959	410
1960	408
1961	553
1962	359
1963	725
1964	457
1965	465
1966	425
1967	472
1968	174
1969	881
1970	548
1971	498
1972	813
1973	464
1974	866
1975	509
1976	1,467
1977	451
1978	616
1979	1,958
1980	378
1981	667
1982	870
1983	786
1984	1,872
1985	776
1986	814
1987	852
1988	696
1989	1,668
1990	807
1991	877
1992	1,095
1993	845
1994	670
1995	1,120
1996	1,581
1997	915
1998	711
1999	688
2000	771
2001	610
2002	1,241
2003	2,066
2004	1,674
2005	949
2006	1,057
2007	916
2008	610
2009	713
2010	710
2011	662
2012	703
2013	440
2014	716
2015	493
2016	734
2017	750
2018	440
2019	757
2020	1,135
2021	574
2022	629
2023	890
2024	1,138
2025	364

Download the Data

Data for records on 1938-10-21: 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 2026-10-14 (14 October 2026). Records are computed by this site and are not official.

Data as of 2026-10-12. Last revised 12 October 2026 (2026-10-12).

Margin	Records
0 to 5	72
5 to 10	14
10 to 15	6
15 to 20	5
20 to 25	1
25 to 30	1