Weather Records on 5 December 1938

279 weather records were set or tied worldwide on 5 December 1938. Highest significance: Beito, NO.

Key Facts for 5 December 1938

On 5 December 1938, 279 weather records were set or tied at long-record stations worldwide.
180 were record highs and 1 were record lows, counting maximum and minimum temperature.
By timescale, 1 were all-time records, 9 monthly and 269 daily.
Beito set a monthly record daily precipitation of 42.1 mm (1.7 in) on 5 December 1938.
Across 170 earlier years (1796 to 2025) the same calendar date averaged 477 records.

Record Map

279 stations

279 station records on 5 December 1938 are marked on the map, coloured by record type. Dot size shows the significance score. Made with Natural Earth.

Weather records on 5 December 1938: highest significance records shown on the map
Station	Country	Type	Value	Significance
Beito	Norway	Record daily precipitation	42.1 mm (1.7 in)	62 of 100 (Major)
Thursday Island Township	Australia	Record daily precipitation	196.6 mm (7.7 in)	50 of 100 (Notable)
Eastman 1 W	United States	Record daily precipitation	56.1 mm (2.2 in)	44 of 100 (Notable)
Alkmaar	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	75.7 mm (3.0 in)	40 of 100 (Notable)
Somerville 4 NW	United States	Record daily precipitation	73.7 mm (2.9 in)	39 of 100 (Notable)
Russell	Canada	Record daily snowfall	5.1 cm (2.0 in)	34 of 100 (Routine)
Louisville 1 E	United States	Record daily precipitation	45.5 mm (1.8 in)	34 of 100 (Routine)
Cape York Post Office	Australia	Record daily precipitation	264.9 mm (10.4 in)	33 of 100 (Routine)
Carlisle	United States	Record daily precipitation	30.0 mm (1.2 in)	31 of 100 (Routine)
Greylingstad (Sar)	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	37.6 mm (1.5 in)	30 of 100 (Routine)
Paterson	United States	Record daily precipitation	34.5 mm (1.4 in)	29 of 100 (Routine)
Aiken 5SE	United States	Record daily precipitation	38.4 mm (1.5 in)	28 of 100 (Routine)
Owen Sound	Canada	Record high minimum temperature	5.0 C (41.0 F)	27 of 100 (Routine)
Ringtown	United States	Record daily precipitation	50.8 mm (2.0 in)	26 of 100 (Routine)
Fairfield	United States	Record daily snowfall	7.6 cm (3.0 in)	25 of 100 (Routine)
Hagerstown 1E	United States	Record daily precipitation	34.3 mm (1.4 in)	25 of 100 (Routine)
Sussex 1 NW	United States	Record daily precipitation	26.7 mm (1.1 in)	25 of 100 (Routine)
Carmel	United States	Record daily precipitation	39.4 mm (1.6 in)	25 of 100 (Routine)
Bathurst	Canada	Record high minimum temperature	1.7 C (35.1 F)	23 of 100 (Routine)
Dullstroom (Sar)	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	61.0 mm (2.4 in)	23 of 100 (Routine)
Hanover	United States	Record daily precipitation	35.6 mm (1.4 in)	23 of 100 (Routine)
Jerome	United States	Record high minimum temperature	10.0 C (50.0 F)	22 of 100 (Routine)
Pomona/Fairplex	United States	Record high maximum temperature	30.0 C (86.0 F)	22 of 100 (Routine)
San Jacinto	United States	Record high maximum temperature	31.1 C (88.0 F)	22 of 100 (Routine)
Santa Maria	United States	Record high maximum temperature	30.0 C (86.0 F)	22 of 100 (Routine)
Webster City	United States	Record snow depth	30.5 cm (12.0 in)	22 of 100 (Routine)
Amherst	United States	Record daily precipitation	32.0 mm (1.3 in)	22 of 100 (Routine)
Kelowna	Canada	Record high maximum temperature	11.1 C (52.0 F)	21 of 100 (Routine)
Saint John	Canada	Record high maximum temperature	10.6 C (51.1 F)	21 of 100 (Routine)
Harrisburg - Coop	United States	Record daily precipitation	34.5 mm (1.4 in)	21 of 100 (Routine)
Quakertown	United States	Record high maximum temperature	13.3 C (55.9 F)	21 of 100 (Routine)
Lynchburg - Coop	United States	Record daily precipitation	40.9 mm (1.6 in)	21 of 100 (Routine)
Vytegra	Russia	Record daily precipitation	13.4 mm (0.5 in)	20 of 100 (Routine)
Russell	Canada	Record daily precipitation	5.1 mm (0.20 in)	20 of 100 (Routine)
Quebec	Canada	Record daily precipitation	21.1 mm (0.8 in)	20 of 100 (Routine)
Oksoey Fyr	Norway	Record daily precipitation	22.9 mm (0.9 in)	20 of 100 (Routine)
Tunhovd	Norway	Record daily precipitation	9.6 mm (0.38 in)	20 of 100 (Routine)
Vang I Valdres	Norway	Record daily precipitation	12.1 mm (0.5 in)	20 of 100 (Routine)
Bucuresti Filaret	Romania	Record daily precipitation	18.3 mm (0.7 in)	20 of 100 (Routine)
Svirica	Russia	Record daily precipitation	11.6 mm (0.5 in)	20 of 100 (Routine)
Weilerswist-Lommersum	Germany	Record daily precipitation	8.5 mm (0.33 in)	20 of 100 (Routine)
Nesbyen	Norway	Record daily precipitation	13.4 mm (0.5 in)	20 of 100 (Routine)
Barguzin	Russia	Record daily precipitation	6.1 mm (0.24 in)	20 of 100 (Routine)
Americus	United States	Record daily precipitation	23.1 mm (0.9 in)	20 of 100 (Routine)
Rauland	Norway	Record daily precipitation	20.9 mm (0.8 in)	20 of 100 (Routine)
Lansing	United States	Record daily precipitation	8.1 mm (0.32 in)	20 of 100 (Routine)
Oran-Hopital Militaire	Algeria	Record high minimum temperature	14.0 C (57.2 F)	20 of 100 (Routine)
Buckeye	United States	Record high maximum temperature	28.9 C (84.0 F)	20 of 100 (Routine)
San Bernardino F S 226	United States	Record high maximum temperature	32.2 C (90.0 F)	20 of 100 (Routine)
Montezuma 2 NW	United States	Record daily precipitation	24.1 mm (0.9 in)	20 of 100 (Routine)
Nashua 2 NNW	United States	Record daily precipitation	27.7 mm (1.1 in)	20 of 100 (Routine)
Saluda	United States	Record daily precipitation	32.3 mm (1.3 in)	20 of 100 (Routine)
Odessa	United States	Record high maximum temperature	11.7 C (53.1 F)	20 of 100 (Routine)
Bic	Canada	Record daily precipitation	20.3 mm (0.8 in)	19 of 100 (Routine)
Berlin-Dahlem (Lfag)	Germany	Record daily precipitation	8.4 mm (0.33 in)	19 of 100 (Routine)
Hedal I Valdres	Norway	Record daily precipitation	17.1 mm (0.7 in)	19 of 100 (Routine)
Albany 3 SE	United States	Record daily precipitation	35.1 mm (1.4 in)	19 of 100 (Routine)
Mason City	United States	Record daily snowfall	2.5 cm (1.0 in)	19 of 100 (Routine)
Eastport	United States	Record high maximum temperature	11.1 C (52.0 F)	19 of 100 (Routine)
Taos	United States	Record high maximum temperature	14.4 C (57.9 F)	19 of 100 (Routine)

Counts by Type and Timescale

279 records

Records set or tied on 5 December 1938 by type: Highest daily maximum 94, Lowest daily maximum 1, Highest daily minimum 86, Heaviest daily rainfall 91, Heaviest daily snowfall 5, Deepest snow cover 2.

Records on 5 December 1938 by type
Record type	Records
Highest daily maximum	94
Lowest daily maximum	1
Highest daily minimum	86
Lowest daily minimum	0
Heaviest daily rainfall	91
Heaviest daily snowfall	5
Deepest snow cover	2

Records on 5 December 1938 by timescale: all-time 1, monthly 9, daily 269.

How Much Records Were Beaten By

215 broken records

Margins by which the 215 broken records beat the old ones, in degrees Celsius for temperature and millimetres for precipitation and snow; the largest margin was 305.0. Ties are not counted.

Top 20 by Significance

5 December 1938

Top 20 records on 5 December 1938 by significance
Date	Station	Record	Value	Beat old record by	Old record stood	Significance
5 December 1938	Beito, NO	monthly rain	42.1 mm (1.7 in)	20.6 mm (0.8 in)	29 years	62 of 100 (Major)
5 December 1938	Thursday Island Township, AU	monthly rain	196.6 mm (7.7 in)	63.2 mm (2.5 in)	28 years	50 of 100 (Notable)
5 December 1938	Eastman 1 W, US	daily rain	56.1 mm (2.2 in)	43.1 mm (1.7 in)	33 years	44 of 100 (Notable)
5 December 1938	Alkmaar, ZA	daily rain	75.7 mm (3.0 in)	46.0 mm (1.8 in)	20 years	40 of 100 (Notable)
5 December 1938	Somerville 4 NW, US	daily rain	73.7 mm (2.9 in)	19.1 mm (0.8 in)	57 years	39 of 100 (Notable)
5 December 1938	Russell, CA	daily snowfall	5.1 cm (2.0 in)	5.1 cm (2.0 in)	54 years	34 of 100 (Routine)
5 December 1938	Louisville 1 E, US	daily rain	45.5 mm (1.8 in)	33.6 mm (1.3 in)	23 years	34 of 100 (Routine)
5 December 1938	Cape York Post Office, AU	all-time rain	264.9 mm (10.4 in)	13.2 mm (0.5 in)	7 years	33 of 100 (Routine)
5 December 1938	Carlisle, US	daily rain	30.0 mm (1.2 in)	4.6 mm (0.18 in)	62 years	31 of 100 (Routine)
5 December 1938	Greylingstad (Sar), ZA	daily rain	37.6 mm (1.5 in)	22.4 mm (0.9 in)	28 years	30 of 100 (Routine)
5 December 1938	Paterson, US	daily rain	34.5 mm (1.4 in)	6.8 mm (0.27 in)	57 years	29 of 100 (Routine)
5 December 1938	Aiken 5SE, US	daily rain	38.4 mm (1.5 in)	21.9 mm (0.9 in)	24 years	28 of 100 (Routine)
5 December 1938	Owen Sound, CA	daily high min	5.0 C (41.0 F)	2.8 C (5.0 F)	57 years	27 of 100 (Routine)
5 December 1938	Ringtown, US	daily rain	50.8 mm (2.0 in)	14.2 mm (0.6 in)	36 years	26 of 100 (Routine)
5 December 1938	Fairfield, US	daily snowfall	7.6 cm (3.0 in)	5.1 cm (2.0 in)	36 years	25 of 100 (Routine)
5 December 1938	Hagerstown 1E, US	daily rain	34.3 mm (1.4 in)	10.2 mm (0.4 in)	36 years	25 of 100 (Routine)
5 December 1938	Sussex 1 NW, US	daily rain	26.7 mm (1.1 in)	9.4 mm (0.37 in)	40 years	25 of 100 (Routine)
5 December 1938	Carmel, US	daily rain	39.4 mm (1.6 in)	11.2 mm (0.4 in)	40 years	25 of 100 (Routine)
5 December 1938	Bathurst, CA	daily high min	1.7 C (35.1 F)	0.6 C (1.1 F)	59 years	23 of 100 (Routine)
5 December 1938	Dullstroom (Sar), ZA	monthly rain	61.0 mm (2.4 in)	4.9 mm (0.19 in)	20 years	23 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 279 records.

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

Records on 12-05 in each year
Year	Records
1796	1
1797	2
1808	1
1812	1
1820	1
1823	1
1824	1
1825	2
1827	1
1829	3
1833	2
1841	1
1842	1
1844	2
1846	2
1852	1
1853	1
1856	4
1859	1
1863	1
1866	2
1867	4
1868	4
1869	1
1870	1
1871	1
1872	1
1874	1
1875	2
1876	1
1877	2
1878	1
1879	3
1880	1
1884	1
1885	2
1886	2
1888	3
1891	5
1892	2
1893	1
1895	13
1896	1
1897	1
1898	7
1900	11
1901	1
1902	13
1903	8
1904	4
1905	4
1906	15
1907	6
1908	7
1909	55
1910	10
1911	97
1912	40
1913	35
1914	22
1915	95
1916	81
1917	35
1918	32
1919	48
1920	89
1921	56
1922	99
1923	168
1924	106
1925	220
1926	370
1927	82
1928	168
1929	111
1930	247
1931	224
1932	235
1933	566
1934	164
1935	273
1936	409
1937	336
1938	279
1939	691
1940	244
1941	899
1942	583
1943	276
1944	320
1945	418
1946	552
1947	283
1948	529
1949	139
1950	887
1951	780
1952	324
1953	459
1954	425
1955	568
1956	1,229
1957	348
1958	465
1959	287
1960	898
1961	415
1962	834
1963	326
1964	909
1965	534
1966	1,038
1967	253
1968	766
1969	594
1970	845
1971	690
1972	2,240
1973	910
1974	527
1975	859
1976	533
1977	1,227
1978	960
1979	863
1980	1,054
1981	590
1982	1,577
1983	1,024
1984	1,141
1985	1,324
1986	798
1987	829
1988	581
1989	1,317
1990	887
1991	1,384
1992	1,743
1993	871
1994	1,481
1995	1,094
1996	987
1997	718
1998	2,489
1999	1,060
2000	973
2001	2,046
2002	2,027
2003	1,031
2004	805
2005	1,475
2006	1,646
2007	992
2008	807
2009	1,229
2010	1,237
2011	1,472
2012	1,081
2013	1,763
2014	476
2015	721
2016	636
2017	568
2018	338
2019	463
2020	529
2021	679
2022	454
2023	1,402
2024	796
2025	872

Download the Data

Data for records on 1938-12-05: 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 50	211
50 to 100	3
100 to 150	0
150 to 200	0
200 to 250	0
250 to 300	0
300 to 350	1