Weather Records on 4 December 1938

275 weather records were set or tied worldwide on 4 December 1938. Highest significance: Pottsville, US.

Key Facts for 4 December 1938

On 4 December 1938, 275 weather records were set or tied at long-record stations worldwide.
198 were record highs and 1 were record lows, counting maximum and minimum temperature.
By timescale, 0 were all-time records, 7 monthly and 268 daily.
Pottsville set a daily record precipitation of 43.4 mm (1.7 in) on 4 December 1938.
Across 166 earlier years (1796 to 2025) the same calendar date averaged 465 records.

Record Map

275 stations

275 station records on 4 December 1938 are marked on the map, coloured by record type. Dot size shows the significance score. Made with Natural Earth.

Weather records on 4 December 1938: highest significance records shown on the map
Station	Country	Type	Value	Significance
Pottsville	United States	Record daily precipitation	43.4 mm (1.7 in)	37 of 100 (Notable)
Pembroke Eddy Match	Canada	Record high maximum temperature	6.7 C (44.1 F)	30 of 100 (Routine)
Port Lincoln	Australia	Record high maximum temperature	36.1 C (97.0 F)	29 of 100 (Routine)
Lewiston	United States	Record high maximum temperature	13.3 C (55.9 F)	29 of 100 (Routine)
Pomona/Fairplex	United States	Record high maximum temperature	30.6 C (87.1 F)	28 of 100 (Routine)
Lakeview 2 NNW	United States	Record high minimum temperature	4.4 C (39.9 F)	27 of 100 (Routine)
Ny City Cntrl Park	United States	Record high minimum temperature	8.3 C (46.9 F)	26 of 100 (Routine)
Spearfish	United States	Record daily snowfall	5.1 cm (2.0 in)	25 of 100 (Routine)
Portland	United States	Record high maximum temperature	13.9 C (57.0 F)	24 of 100 (Routine)
Portland Rfc City	United States	Record high maximum temperature	15.6 C (60.1 F)	24 of 100 (Routine)
San Jacinto	United States	Record high maximum temperature	30.6 C (87.1 F)	22 of 100 (Routine)
Fitchburg 4 SE	United States	Record high maximum temperature	15.6 C (60.1 F)	22 of 100 (Routine)
Sussex 1 NW	United States	Record daily precipitation	36.8 mm (1.4 in)	22 of 100 (Routine)
Vytegra	Russia	Record high minimum temperature	3.7 C (38.7 F)	21 of 100 (Routine)
Sierra Madre Henszey	United States	Record high maximum temperature	30.0 C (86.0 F)	21 of 100 (Routine)
Albany 1 N	United States	Record high maximum temperature	15.0 C (59.0 F)	21 of 100 (Routine)
Grants Pass	United States	Record high maximum temperature	17.2 C (63.0 F)	21 of 100 (Routine)
Rochford 2 WNW	United States	Record daily precipitation	7.4 mm (0.29 in)	20 of 100 (Routine)
Quindalup	Australia	Record daily precipitation	16.3 mm (0.6 in)	20 of 100 (Routine)
Vytegra	Russia	Record daily precipitation	9.1 mm (0.36 in)	20 of 100 (Routine)
Deeside	Australia	Record daily precipitation	14.2 mm (0.6 in)	20 of 100 (Routine)
Svirica	Russia	Record daily precipitation	11.3 mm (0.4 in)	20 of 100 (Routine)
Boyanup	Australia	Record daily precipitation	13.0 mm (0.5 in)	20 of 100 (Routine)
Cooeearup	Australia	Record daily precipitation	13.2 mm (0.5 in)	20 of 100 (Routine)
Wentworth 2.5 WNW	United States	Record daily precipitation	10.2 mm (0.4 in)	20 of 100 (Routine)
Ridgway	United States	Record daily precipitation	12.4 mm (0.5 in)	20 of 100 (Routine)
Nannup	Australia	Record daily precipitation	16.5 mm (0.6 in)	20 of 100 (Routine)
Mason City	United States	Record daily precipitation	10.9 mm (0.4 in)	20 of 100 (Routine)
Minot Exp STN	United States	Record snow depth	5.1 cm (2.0 in)	20 of 100 (Routine)
Lake Muir	Australia	Record daily precipitation	15.7 mm (0.6 in)	20 of 100 (Routine)
Jerome	United States	Record high minimum temperature	8.9 C (48.0 F)	20 of 100 (Routine)
Denair 3 NNE	United States	Record high minimum temperature	10.6 C (51.1 F)	20 of 100 (Routine)
Goldfield	United States	Record high minimum temperature	6.7 C (44.1 F)	20 of 100 (Routine)
Plymouth	United States	Record high maximum temperature	10.0 C (50.0 F)	20 of 100 (Routine)
Prospect 2 SW	United States	Record high minimum temperature	6.1 C (43.0 F)	20 of 100 (Routine)
Spearfish	United States	Record daily precipitation	2.0 mm (0.08 in)	20 of 100 (Routine)
Grafton 1 NE	United States	Record high maximum temperature	18.9 C (66.0 F)	20 of 100 (Routine)
Hakalau 142	United States	Record high maximum temperature	29.4 C (84.9 F)	20 of 100 (Routine)
Beaver Lake	Canada	Record daily precipitation	21.6 mm (0.9 in)	19 of 100 (Routine)
Kargopol	Russia	Record high minimum temperature	1.5 C (34.7 F)	19 of 100 (Routine)
El Cajon 2 E	United States	Record high maximum temperature	31.1 C (88.0 F)	19 of 100 (Routine)
Independence	United States	Record high maximum temperature	21.1 C (70.0 F)	19 of 100 (Routine)
Independence	United States	Record high minimum temperature	7.8 C (46.0 F)	19 of 100 (Routine)
Blue Hill Coop	United States	Record high maximum temperature	13.3 C (55.9 F)	19 of 100 (Routine)
Setauket Strong	United States	Record high minimum temperature	7.8 C (46.0 F)	19 of 100 (Routine)
Jacksonville	United States	Record high minimum temperature	6.1 C (43.0 F)	19 of 100 (Routine)
Flandreau	United States	Record daily precipitation	7.6 mm (0.30 in)	19 of 100 (Routine)
Vancouver 4 NNE	United States	Record high maximum temperature	15.6 C (60.1 F)	19 of 100 (Routine)
Bella Coola	Canada	Record daily precipitation	54.6 mm (2.1 in)	18 of 100 (Routine)
Rumford	United States	Record high maximum temperature	10.0 C (50.0 F)	18 of 100 (Routine)
Amherst	United States	Record high maximum temperature	13.3 C (55.9 F)	18 of 100 (Routine)
Forest Grove	United States	Record high maximum temperature	14.4 C (57.9 F)	18 of 100 (Routine)
Klamath Falls 2 SSW	United States	Record high minimum temperature	2.2 C (36.0 F)	18 of 100 (Routine)
Harrisburg River Gage	United States	Record daily precipitation	16.0 mm (0.6 in)	18 of 100 (Routine)
Port Townsend	United States	Record high maximum temperature	13.3 C (55.9 F)	18 of 100 (Routine)
Bridgetown Comparison	Australia	Record daily precipitation	10.2 mm (0.4 in)	17 of 100 (Routine)
Cape Naturaliste	Australia	Record daily precipitation	8.6 mm (0.34 in)	17 of 100 (Routine)
Farmington	United States	Record high maximum temperature	9.4 C (48.9 F)	17 of 100 (Routine)
Mt Pocono 2 N	United States	Record high maximum temperature	11.7 C (53.1 F)	17 of 100 (Routine)
Howard	United States	Record daily precipitation	4.3 mm (0.17 in)	17 of 100 (Routine)

Counts by Type and Timescale

275 records

Records set or tied on 4 December 1938 by type: Highest daily maximum 112, Highest daily minimum 86, Lowest daily minimum 1, Heaviest daily rainfall 72, Heaviest daily snowfall 3, Deepest snow cover 1.

Records on 4 December 1938 by type
Record type	Records
Highest daily maximum	112
Lowest daily maximum	0
Highest daily minimum	86
Lowest daily minimum	1
Heaviest daily rainfall	72
Heaviest daily snowfall	3
Deepest snow cover	1

Records on 4 December 1938 by timescale: all-time 0, monthly 7, daily 268.

How Much Records Were Beaten By

203 broken records

Margins by which the 203 broken records beat the old ones, in degrees Celsius for temperature and millimetres for precipitation and snow; the largest margin was 51.0. Ties are not counted.

Top 20 by Significance

4 December 1938

Top 20 records on 4 December 1938 by significance
Date	Station	Record	Value	Beat old record by	Old record stood	Significance
4 December 1938	Pottsville, US	daily rain	43.4 mm (1.7 in)	34.5 mm (1.4 in)	16 years	37 of 100 (Notable)
4 December 1938	Pembroke Eddy Match, CA	daily high max	6.7 C (44.1 F)	1.7 C (3.1 F)	71 years	30 of 100 (Routine)
4 December 1938	Port Lincoln, AU	daily high max	36.1 C (97.0 F)	5.5 C (9.9 F)	44 years	29 of 100 (Routine)
4 December 1938	Lewiston, US	daily high max	13.3 C (55.9 F)	7.7 C (13.9 F)	38 years	29 of 100 (Routine)
4 December 1938	Pomona/Fairplex, US	monthly high max	30.6 C (87.1 F)	1.2 C (2.2 F)	42 years	28 of 100 (Routine)
4 December 1938	Lakeview 2 NNW, US	daily high min	4.4 C (39.9 F)	4.4 C (7.9 F)	50 years	27 of 100 (Routine)
4 December 1938	Ny City Cntrl Park, US	daily high min	8.3 C (46.9 F)	0.5 C (0.9 F)	64 years	26 of 100 (Routine)
4 December 1938	Spearfish, US	daily snowfall	5.1 cm (2.0 in)	5.1 cm (2.0 in)	44 years	25 of 100 (Routine)
4 December 1938	Portland, US	daily high max	13.9 C (57.0 F)	2.8 C (5.0 F)	46 years	24 of 100 (Routine)
4 December 1938	Portland Rfc City, US	daily high max	15.6 C (60.1 F)	1.2 C (2.2 F)	52 years	24 of 100 (Routine)
4 December 1938	San Jacinto, US	daily high max	30.6 C (87.1 F)	2.8 C (5.0 F)	44 years	22 of 100 (Routine)
4 December 1938	Fitchburg 4 SE, US	daily high max	15.6 C (60.1 F)	6.2 C (11.2 F)	25 years	22 of 100 (Routine)
4 December 1938	Sussex 1 NW, US	daily rain	36.8 mm (1.4 in)	5.0 mm (0.20 in)	46 years	22 of 100 (Routine)
4 December 1938	Vytegra, RU	monthly high min	3.7 C (38.7 F)	0.8 C (1.4 F)	24 years	21 of 100 (Routine)
4 December 1938	Sierra Madre Henszey, US	monthly high max	30.0 C (86.0 F)	0.6 C (1.1 F)	20 years	21 of 100 (Routine)
4 December 1938	Albany 1 N, US	daily high max	15.0 C (59.0 F)	1.7 C (3.1 F)	44 years	21 of 100 (Routine)
4 December 1938	Grants Pass, US	daily high max	17.2 C (63.0 F)	2.2 C (4.0 F)	41 years	21 of 100 (Routine)
4 December 1938	Rochford 2 WNW, US	daily rain	7.4 mm (0.29 in)	5.6 mm (0.22 in)	36 years	20 of 100 (Routine)
4 December 1938	Quindalup, AU	daily rain	16.3 mm (0.6 in)	12.0 mm (0.5 in)	8 years	20 of 100 (Routine)
4 December 1938	Vytegra, RU	daily rain	9.1 mm (0.36 in)	3.4 mm (0.13 in)	20 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

1796 to 1938

Records set or tied on this calendar date in each year from 1796 to 1938. 1938 had 275 records.

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

Records on 12-04 in each year
Year	Records
1796	2
1797	1
1810	2
1823	1
1829	2
1846	1
1847	1
1849	1
1850	1
1852	3
1854	1
1855	5
1856	2
1858	1
1859	1
1860	1
1861	1
1865	1
1866	1
1867	1
1868	2
1870	3
1872	1
1873	1
1875	2
1876	1
1878	1
1879	7
1882	3
1883	2
1885	1
1886	4
1887	1
1888	1
1889	1
1891	4
1892	9
1896	2
1897	5
1898	9
1899	3
1900	13
1901	7
1902	15
1903	7
1904	6
1905	16
1906	25
1907	5
1908	8
1909	45
1910	7
1911	27
1912	46
1913	59
1914	61
1915	61
1916	95
1917	31
1918	27
1919	94
1920	54
1921	60
1922	72
1923	142
1924	129
1925	266
1926	174
1927	184
1928	143
1929	432
1930	221
1931	411
1932	265
1933	524
1934	149
1935	330
1936	637
1937	148
1938	275
1939	443
1940	600
1941	1,326
1942	450
1943	259
1944	377
1945	332
1946	515
1947	577
1948	504
1949	120
1950	852
1951	583
1952	269
1953	738
1954	689
1955	811
1956	692
1957	350
1958	529
1959	212
1960	628
1961	570
1962	574
1963	285
1964	1,195
1965	590
1966	1,047
1967	428
1968	775
1969	366
1970	933
1971	768
1972	1,973
1973	1,124
1974	651
1975	757
1976	669
1977	654
1978	1,582
1979	943
1980	976
1981	638
1982	2,138
1983	1,284
1984	796
1985	1,239
1986	549
1987	624
1988	764
1989	1,541
1990	1,164
1991	1,178
1992	1,075
1993	708
1994	1,029
1995	972
1996	684
1997	654
1998	2,549
1999	930
2000	895
2001	974
2002	1,478
2003	595
2004	721
2005	1,075
2006	1,510
2007	1,005
2008	652
2009	1,114
2010	1,874
2011	1,252
2012	1,482
2013	1,227
2014	629
2015	428
2016	533
2017	607
2018	563
2019	522
2020	424
2021	942
2022	437
2023	736
2024	590
2025	535

Download the Data

Data for records on 1938-12-04: 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 10	193
10 to 20	7
20 to 30	0
30 to 40	1
40 to 50	0
50 to 60	2