Weather Records on 2 December 1938

335 weather records were set or tied worldwide on 2 December 1938. Highest significance: Columbia Wb City, US.

Key Facts for 2 December 1938

On 2 December 1938, 335 weather records were set or tied at long-record stations worldwide.
149 were record highs and 62 were record lows, counting maximum and minimum temperature.
By timescale, 0 were all-time records, 3 monthly and 332 daily.
Columbia Wb City set a daily record precipitation of 49.3 mm (1.9 in) on 2 December 1938.
Across 164 earlier years (1797 to 2025) the same calendar date averaged 472 records.

Record Map

335 stations

335 station records on 2 December 1938 are marked on the map, coloured by record type. Dot size shows the significance score. Made with Natural Earth.

Weather records on 2 December 1938: highest significance records shown on the map
Station	Country	Type	Value	Significance
Columbia Wb City	United States	Record daily precipitation	49.3 mm (1.9 in)	51 of 100 (Notable)
Donkerhoek (Skl)	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	49.0 mm (1.9 in)	46 of 100 (Notable)
Clinton	United States	Record daily precipitation	45.2 mm (1.8 in)	42 of 100 (Notable)
Boksburg (Mun)	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	55.9 mm (2.2 in)	39 of 100 (Notable)
Derby	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	45.0 mm (1.8 in)	39 of 100 (Notable)
Parys (Mun)	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	66.0 mm (2.6 in)	37 of 100 (Notable)
Hood Rvr Exp STN	United States	Record daily precipitation	39.6 mm (1.6 in)	36 of 100 (Notable)
Potchefstroom	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	37.1 mm (1.5 in)	35 of 100 (Notable)
Roodepoort (Mun)	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	45.5 mm (1.8 in)	34 of 100 (Routine)
Forest Grove	United States	Record daily precipitation	46.2 mm (1.8 in)	32 of 100 (Routine)
Salem AP (McNary Field)	United States	Record daily precipitation	37.8 mm (1.5 in)	32 of 100 (Routine)
Durban Roodepoort Deep Gm	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	45.5 mm (1.8 in)	31 of 100 (Routine)
Vancouver Interst Brg	United States	Record daily precipitation	40.6 mm (1.6 in)	31 of 100 (Routine)
Orleans	United States	Record daily precipitation	78.2 mm (3.1 in)	29 of 100 (Routine)
Howe	United States	Record daily precipitation	26.7 mm (1.1 in)	27 of 100 (Routine)
Randfontein (Gm)	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	36.6 mm (1.4 in)	26 of 100 (Routine)
Vancouver 4 NNE	United States	Record daily precipitation	33.5 mm (1.3 in)	26 of 100 (Routine)
Hambantota	Sri Lanka	Record high maximum temperature	32.4 C (90.3 F)	25 of 100 (Routine)
N Bend SW Oregon Rgnl AP	United States	Record daily precipitation	44.2 mm (1.7 in)	25 of 100 (Routine)
Shelbina	United States	Record daily precipitation	27.9 mm (1.1 in)	24 of 100 (Routine)
Huxley	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	25.1 mm (1.0 in)	23 of 100 (Routine)
New Burnside	United States	Record high minimum temperature	12.8 C (55.0 F)	23 of 100 (Routine)
Mc Minnville	United States	Record daily precipitation	42.2 mm (1.7 in)	23 of 100 (Routine)
Appleton City	United States	Record daily precipitation	25.7 mm (1.0 in)	22 of 100 (Routine)
Fort Chipewyan	Canada	Record high minimum temperature	-7.8 C (18.0 F)	21 of 100 (Routine)
Ogies (Pol)	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	41.9 mm (1.6 in)	21 of 100 (Routine)
Sfax El-Maou	Tunisia	Record high minimum temperature	15.0 C (59.0 F)	21 of 100 (Routine)
Nashua 2 NNW	United States	Record low minimum temperature	-18.9 C (-2.0 F)	21 of 100 (Routine)
Bandon 2 NNE	United States	Record daily precipitation	36.8 mm (1.4 in)	21 of 100 (Routine)
Port Orford 2	United States	Record daily precipitation	54.9 mm (2.2 in)	21 of 100 (Routine)
Willapa Harbor	United States	Record daily precipitation	36.1 mm (1.4 in)	21 of 100 (Routine)
Ottoshoop (Pol)	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	17.8 mm (0.7 in)	20 of 100 (Routine)
Colville	United States	Record daily precipitation	13.5 mm (0.5 in)	20 of 100 (Routine)
Belle Plaine	United States	Record daily precipitation	19.8 mm (0.8 in)	20 of 100 (Routine)
Bethany	United States	Record daily precipitation	19.6 mm (0.8 in)	20 of 100 (Routine)
Rooiberg	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	21.8 mm (0.9 in)	20 of 100 (Routine)
Conconully	United States	Record daily precipitation	12.2 mm (0.5 in)	20 of 100 (Routine)
Hatton 9 SE	United States	Record daily precipitation	9.9 mm (0.39 in)	20 of 100 (Routine)
Vilnius	Lithuania	Record high minimum temperature	6.1 C (43.0 F)	20 of 100 (Routine)
Klerkskraal (Pol)	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	37.3 mm (1.5 in)	20 of 100 (Routine)
Storrs	United States	Record low minimum temperature	-15.0 C (5.0 F)	20 of 100 (Routine)
Williamstown	United States	Record low maximum temperature	-6.7 C (19.9 F)	20 of 100 (Routine)
Louisiana Starks Nurse	United States	Record daily precipitation	25.4 mm (1.0 in)	20 of 100 (Routine)
Somerville 4 NW	United States	Record low minimum temperature	-12.8 C (9.0 F)	20 of 100 (Routine)
Heinersreuth-Vollhof	Germany	Record high maximum temperature	8.9 C (48.0 F)	19 of 100 (Routine)
Mqanduli (Tnk)	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	16.3 mm (0.6 in)	19 of 100 (Routine)
Charleston	United States	Record daily precipitation	20.1 mm (0.8 in)	19 of 100 (Routine)
Griggsville	United States	Record daily precipitation	18.3 mm (0.7 in)	19 of 100 (Routine)
Headworks Portland Wtr B	United States	Record daily precipitation	46.2 mm (1.8 in)	19 of 100 (Routine)
McKinley	United States	Record daily precipitation	44.7 mm (1.8 in)	19 of 100 (Routine)
Ellensburg	United States	Record daily precipitation	13.7 mm (0.5 in)	19 of 100 (Routine)
Park Rapids Muni AP	United States	Record daily precipitation	5.1 mm (0.20 in)	19 of 100 (Routine)
Walebing	Australia	Record high maximum temperature	42.2 C (108.0 F)	18 of 100 (Routine)
Burketown Post Office	Australia	Record high maximum temperature	39.4 C (102.9 F)	18 of 100 (Routine)
Stanwell Post Office	Australia	Record daily precipitation	35.8 mm (1.4 in)	18 of 100 (Routine)
Babuskin	Russia	Record daily precipitation	7.2 mm (0.28 in)	18 of 100 (Routine)
Albertvale	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	20.3 mm (0.8 in)	18 of 100 (Routine)
Rosherville (Pow)	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	31.0 mm (1.2 in)	18 of 100 (Routine)
Wilgerivier (Sar)	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	38.1 mm (1.5 in)	18 of 100 (Routine)
Haparanda	Sweden	Record high maximum temperature	4.8 C (40.6 F)	18 of 100 (Routine)

Counts by Type and Timescale

335 records

Records set or tied on 2 December 1938 by type: Highest daily maximum 39, Lowest daily maximum 18, Highest daily minimum 110, Lowest daily minimum 44, Heaviest daily rainfall 116, Heaviest daily snowfall 6, Deepest snow cover 2.

Records on 2 December 1938 by type
Record type	Records
Highest daily maximum	39
Lowest daily maximum	18
Highest daily minimum	110
Lowest daily minimum	44
Heaviest daily rainfall	116
Heaviest daily snowfall	6
Deepest snow cover	2

Records on 2 December 1938 by timescale: all-time 0, monthly 3, daily 332.

How Much Records Were Beaten By

274 broken records

Margins by which the 274 broken records beat the old ones, in degrees Celsius for temperature and millimetres for precipitation and snow; the largest margin was 42.4. Ties are not counted.

Top 20 by Significance

2 December 1938

Top 20 records on 2 December 1938 by significance
Date	Station	Record	Value	Beat old record by	Old record stood	Significance
2 December 1938	Columbia Wb City, US	daily rain	49.3 mm (1.9 in)	35.6 mm (1.4 in)	36 years	51 of 100 (Notable)
2 December 1938	Donkerhoek (Skl), ZA	daily rain	49.0 mm (1.9 in)	42.4 mm (1.7 in)	33 years	46 of 100 (Notable)
2 December 1938	Clinton, US	daily rain	45.2 mm (1.8 in)	38.3 mm (1.5 in)	16 years	42 of 100 (Notable)
2 December 1938	Boksburg (Mun), ZA	daily rain	55.9 mm (2.2 in)	37.6 mm (1.5 in)	8 years	39 of 100 (Notable)
2 December 1938	Derby, ZA	daily rain	45.0 mm (1.8 in)	37.6 mm (1.5 in)	31 years	39 of 100 (Notable)
2 December 1938	Parys (Mun), ZA	monthly rain	66.0 mm (2.6 in)	19.5 mm (0.8 in)	19 years	37 of 100 (Notable)
2 December 1938	Hood Rvr Exp STN, US	daily rain	39.6 mm (1.6 in)	20.8 mm (0.8 in)	41 years	36 of 100 (Notable)
2 December 1938	Potchefstroom, ZA	daily rain	37.1 mm (1.5 in)	27.4 mm (1.1 in)	29 years	35 of 100 (Notable)
2 December 1938	Roodepoort (Mun), ZA	daily rain	45.5 mm (1.8 in)	26.7 mm (1.1 in)	28 years	34 of 100 (Routine)
2 December 1938	Forest Grove, US	daily rain	46.2 mm (1.8 in)	24.9 mm (1.0 in)	28 years	32 of 100 (Routine)
2 December 1938	Salem AP (McNary Field), US	daily rain	37.8 mm (1.5 in)	17.5 mm (0.7 in)	42 years	32 of 100 (Routine)
2 December 1938	Durban Roodepoort Deep Gm, ZA	daily rain	45.5 mm (1.8 in)	25.7 mm (1.0 in)	28 years	31 of 100 (Routine)
2 December 1938	Vancouver Interst Brg, US	daily rain	40.6 mm (1.6 in)	28.2 mm (1.1 in)	16 years	31 of 100 (Routine)
2 December 1938	Orleans, US	daily rain	78.2 mm (3.1 in)	37.8 mm (1.5 in)	4 years	29 of 100 (Routine)
2 December 1938	Howe, US	daily rain	26.7 mm (1.1 in)	15.3 mm (0.6 in)	25 years	27 of 100 (Routine)
2 December 1938	Randfontein (Gm), ZA	daily rain	36.6 mm (1.4 in)	21.9 mm (0.9 in)	21 years	26 of 100 (Routine)
2 December 1938	Vancouver 4 NNE, US	daily rain	33.5 mm (1.3 in)	17.8 mm (0.7 in)	8 years	26 of 100 (Routine)
2 December 1938	Hambantota, LK	daily high max	32.4 C (90.3 F)	0.2 C (0.4 F)	58 years	25 of 100 (Routine)
2 December 1938	N Bend SW Oregon Rgnl AP, US	daily rain	44.2 mm (1.7 in)	19.6 mm (0.8 in)	24 years	25 of 100 (Routine)
2 December 1938	Shelbina, US	daily rain	27.9 mm (1.1 in)	16.0 mm (0.6 in)	36 years	24 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

1797 to 1938

Records set or tied on this calendar date in each year from 1797 to 1938. 1938 had 335 records.

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

Records on 12-02 in each year
Year	Records
1797	2
1807	2
1810	2
1817	1
1823	1
1828	1
1829	2
1846	1
1847	1
1852	1
1856	4
1857	1
1858	1
1859	1
1863	2
1867	1
1870	3
1871	1
1872	4
1873	1
1874	2
1875	4
1876	5
1878	1
1879	9
1884	2
1886	2
1887	2
1888	1
1889	1
1890	4
1892	1
1893	4
1894	3
1895	2
1896	3
1897	4
1898	10
1899	5
1900	1
1901	5
1902	6
1903	9
1904	1
1905	17
1906	10
1907	8
1908	15
1909	37
1910	18
1911	56
1912	81
1913	67
1914	101
1915	19
1916	169
1917	40
1918	50
1919	99
1920	43
1921	113
1922	59
1923	28
1924	168
1925	156
1926	167
1927	460
1928	77
1929	545
1930	272
1931	305
1932	525
1933	485
1934	194
1935	143
1936	331
1937	265
1938	335
1939	345
1940	551
1941	752
1942	835
1943	179
1944	276
1945	222
1946	198
1947	633
1948	211
1949	254
1950	598
1951	629
1952	614
1953	482
1954	317
1955	561
1956	594
1957	217
1958	442
1959	412
1960	410
1961	341
1962	1,144
1963	250
1964	726
1965	496
1966	1,117
1967	804
1968	753
1969	548
1970	1,232
1971	764
1972	547
1973	1,031
1974	1,019
1975	721
1976	920
1977	723
1978	1,056
1979	862
1980	1,428
1981	739
1982	3,111
1983	1,041
1984	701
1985	3,666
1986	887
1987	1,118
1988	613
1989	981
1990	616
1991	1,970
1992	719
1993	632
1994	632
1995	1,002
1996	1,180
1997	816
1998	1,732
1999	706
2000	735
2001	639
2002	615
2003	554
2004	798
2005	944
2006	1,388
2007	1,704
2008	871
2009	1,013
2010	1,602
2011	730
2012	1,265
2013	557
2014	546
2015	818
2016	269
2017	737
2018	1,152
2019	615
2020	534
2021	1,988
2022	771
2023	591
2024	715
2025	889

Download the Data

Data for records on 1938-12-02: 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).

Histogram of margins by which records were beaten on 2 December 1938
Margin	Records
0 to 10	233
10 to 20	24
20 to 30	10
30 to 40	6
40 to 50	1