Weather Records on 20 December 1938

240 weather records were set or tied worldwide on 20 December 1938. Highest significance: San Jon, US.

Key Facts for 20 December 1938

On 20 December 1938, 240 weather records were set or tied at long-record stations worldwide.
52 were record highs and 93 were record lows, counting maximum and minimum temperature.
By timescale, 6 were all-time records, 14 monthly and 220 daily.
San Jon set a monthly record daily precipitation of 50.8 mm (2.0 in) on 20 December 1938.
Across 163 earlier years (1793 to 2025) the same calendar date averaged 468 records.

Record Map

240 stations

240 station records on 20 December 1938 are marked on the map, coloured by record type. Dot size shows the significance score. Made with Natural Earth.

Weather records on 20 December 1938: highest significance records shown on the map
Station	Country	Type	Value	Significance
San Jon	United States	Record daily precipitation	50.8 mm (2.0 in)	62 of 100 (Major)
Payson Rs	United States	Record daily precipitation	40.6 mm (1.6 in)	41 of 100 (Notable)
Uccle	Belgium	Record low minimum temperature	-15.8 C (3.6 F)	40 of 100 (Notable)
Walnut Grove	United States	Record daily precipitation	43.2 mm (1.7 in)	38 of 100 (Notable)
Ashland	United States	Record daily snowfall	25.4 cm (10.0 in)	38 of 100 (Notable)
Denair 3 NNE	United States	Record daily precipitation	32.5 mm (1.3 in)	37 of 100 (Notable)
Clayton Muni Air Pk	United States	Record daily snowfall	16.0 cm (6.3 in)	37 of 100 (Notable)
Aachen	Germany	Record low maximum temperature	-10.4 C (13.3 F)	36 of 100 (Notable)
Elizabethtown	United States	Record daily snowfall	27.9 cm (11.0 in)	36 of 100 (Notable)
Chemnitz	Germany	Record low minimum temperature	-15.8 C (3.6 F)	35 of 100 (Notable)
Medicine Lodge	United States	Record daily snowfall	12.7 cm (5.0 in)	35 of 100 (Notable)
Uccle	Belgium	Record low maximum temperature	-10.0 C (14.0 F)	34 of 100 (Routine)
Deols Chateauroux Aerodrome de	France	Record low maximum temperature	-10.2 C (13.6 F)	34 of 100 (Routine)
Natural Brg	United States	Record daily precipitation	47.8 mm (1.9 in)	34 of 100 (Routine)
Ashland	United States	Record snow depth	17.8 cm (7.0 in)	33 of 100 (Routine)
Leipzig-Holzhausen	Germany	Record low maximum temperature	-10.0 C (14.0 F)	32 of 100 (Routine)
Rooiberg	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	76.7 mm (3.0 in)	29 of 100 (Routine)
Visby_Flygplats	Sweden	Record low maximum temperature	-6.5 C (20.3 F)	29 of 100 (Routine)
Escalante	United States	Record daily snowfall	7.6 cm (3.0 in)	29 of 100 (Routine)
Chemnitz	Germany	Record low maximum temperature	-8.3 C (17.1 F)	28 of 100 (Routine)
Den Helder	Netherlands	Record low maximum temperature	-10.6 C (12.9 F)	27 of 100 (Routine)
Den Helder-1	Netherlands	Record low maximum temperature	-11.6 C (11.1 F)	27 of 100 (Routine)
Buckeye	United States	Record daily precipitation	25.1 mm (1.0 in)	27 of 100 (Routine)
Springer	United States	Record daily snowfall	11.4 cm (4.5 in)	27 of 100 (Routine)
Cobar Post Office	Australia	Record high maximum temperature	45.9 C (114.6 F)	26 of 100 (Routine)
Gunnedah Pool	Australia	Record high maximum temperature	43.9 C (111.0 F)	26 of 100 (Routine)
Le Bourget	France	Record low maximum temperature	-10.5 C (13.1 F)	26 of 100 (Routine)
Bremen-Seefahrtschule	Germany	Record low maximum temperature	-11.0 C (12.2 F)	26 of 100 (Routine)
Lubeck-Werft	Germany	Record low maximum temperature	-11.0 C (12.2 F)	26 of 100 (Routine)
Uman	Ukraine	Record low maximum temperature	-12.6 C (9.3 F)	26 of 100 (Routine)
Inverell Comparison	Australia	Record high maximum temperature	40.0 C (104.0 F)	25 of 100 (Routine)
West Souburg	Netherlands	Record low maximum temperature	-10.4 C (13.3 F)	25 of 100 (Routine)
Aachen	Germany	Record low minimum temperature	-15.5 C (4.1 F)	24 of 100 (Routine)
De Bilt	Netherlands	Record low maximum temperature	-11.4 C (11.5 F)	24 of 100 (Routine)
Hollister 1 SW	United States	Record daily precipitation	25.1 mm (1.0 in)	24 of 100 (Routine)
Nordby (Fano)	Denmark	Record low maximum temperature	-3.8 C (25.2 F)	23 of 100 (Routine)
Greifswald	Germany	Record low maximum temperature	-11.5 C (11.3 F)	23 of 100 (Routine)
Poltava	Ukraine	Record low minimum temperature	-20.5 C (-4.9 F)	23 of 100 (Routine)
Yarmouth	Canada	Record daily snowfall	10.2 cm (4.0 in)	22 of 100 (Routine)
Schwerin	Germany	Record low minimum temperature	-16.8 C (1.8 F)	22 of 100 (Routine)
Greifswald	Germany	Record low minimum temperature	-15.5 C (4.1 F)	22 of 100 (Routine)
Marnitz	Germany	Record low maximum temperature	-12.4 C (9.7 F)	22 of 100 (Routine)
Leipzig-Holzhausen	Germany	Record low minimum temperature	-13.2 C (8.2 F)	22 of 100 (Routine)
Lubeck-Werft	Germany	Record low minimum temperature	-15.9 C (3.4 F)	22 of 100 (Routine)
Clausthal-Zellerfeld	Germany	Record low maximum temperature	-15.1 C (4.8 F)	22 of 100 (Routine)
Brocken	Germany	Record low minimum temperature	-23.4 C (-10.1 F)	21 of 100 (Routine)
Lugano	Switzerland	Record daily precipitation	34.9 mm (1.4 in)	21 of 100 (Routine)
Medicine Lodge	United States	Record snow depth	12.7 cm (5.0 in)	21 of 100 (Routine)
New Braunfels	United States	Record high minimum temperature	16.7 C (62.1 F)	21 of 100 (Routine)
Willcox	United States	Record daily precipitation	22.4 mm (0.9 in)	20 of 100 (Routine)
Bell Ranch	United States	Record daily precipitation	19.1 mm (0.8 in)	20 of 100 (Routine)
Clayton Muni Air Pk	United States	Record daily precipitation	10.9 mm (0.4 in)	20 of 100 (Routine)
Langley	Australia	Record daily precipitation	19.1 mm (0.8 in)	20 of 100 (Routine)
Tunhovd	Norway	Record daily precipitation	7.4 mm (0.29 in)	20 of 100 (Routine)
Elizabethtown	United States	Record daily precipitation	14.0 mm (0.6 in)	20 of 100 (Routine)
Ferrara	Italy	Record daily precipitation	12.0 mm (0.5 in)	20 of 100 (Routine)
Cimarron 4 SW	United States	Record daily precipitation	9.1 mm (0.36 in)	20 of 100 (Routine)
Springer	United States	Record daily precipitation	9.1 mm (0.36 in)	20 of 100 (Routine)
Deming	United States	Record daily precipitation	19.1 mm (0.8 in)	20 of 100 (Routine)
Jefferson 3SE	United States	Record daily snowfall	2.5 cm (1.0 in)	20 of 100 (Routine)

Counts by Type and Timescale

240 records

Records set or tied on 20 December 1938 by type: Highest daily maximum 16, Lowest daily maximum 53, Highest daily minimum 36, Lowest daily minimum 40, Heaviest daily rainfall 66, Heaviest daily snowfall 22, Deepest snow cover 7.

Records on 20 December 1938 by type
Record type	Records
Highest daily maximum	16
Lowest daily maximum	53
Highest daily minimum	36
Lowest daily minimum	40
Heaviest daily rainfall	66
Heaviest daily snowfall	22
Deepest snow cover	7

Records on 20 December 1938 by timescale: all-time 6, monthly 14, daily 220.

How Much Records Were Beaten By

194 broken records

Margins by which the 194 broken records beat the old ones, in degrees Celsius for temperature and millimetres for precipitation and snow; the largest margin was 203.0. Ties are not counted.

Top 20 by Significance

20 December 1938

Top 20 records on 20 December 1938 by significance
Date	Station	Record	Value	Beat old record by	Old record stood	Significance
20 December 1938	San Jon, US	monthly rain	50.8 mm (2.0 in)	27.9 mm (1.1 in)	30 years	62 of 100 (Major)
20 December 1938	Payson Rs, US	daily rain	40.6 mm (1.6 in)	27.9 mm (1.1 in)	28 years	41 of 100 (Notable)
20 December 1938	Uccle, BE	daily low min	-15.8 C (3.6 F)	3.6 C (6.5 F)	78 years	40 of 100 (Notable)
20 December 1938	Walnut Grove, US	daily rain	43.2 mm (1.7 in)	35.6 mm (1.4 in)	28 years	38 of 100 (Notable)
20 December 1938	Ashland, US	daily snowfall	25.4 cm (10.0 in)	20.3 cm (8.0 in)	27 years	38 of 100 (Notable)
20 December 1938	Denair 3 NNE, US	daily rain	32.5 mm (1.3 in)	21.6 mm (0.9 in)	20 years	37 of 100 (Notable)
20 December 1938	Clayton Muni Air Pk, US	daily snowfall	16.0 cm (6.3 in)	12.2 cm (4.8 in)	24 years	37 of 100 (Notable)
20 December 1938	Aachen, DE	daily low max	-10.4 C (13.3 F)	7.9 C (14.2 F)	46 years	36 of 100 (Notable)
20 December 1938	Elizabethtown, US	daily snowfall	27.9 cm (11.0 in)	15.2 cm (6.0 in)	20 years	36 of 100 (Notable)
20 December 1938	Chemnitz, DE	daily low min	-15.8 C (3.6 F)	7.5 C (13.5 F)	46 years	35 of 100 (Notable)
20 December 1938	Medicine Lodge, US	daily snowfall	12.7 cm (5.0 in)	7.6 cm (3.0 in)	27 years	35 of 100 (Notable)
20 December 1938	Uccle, BE	daily low max	-10.0 C (14.0 F)	3.0 C (5.4 F)	58 years	34 of 100 (Routine)
20 December 1938	Deols Chateauroux Aerodrome de, FR	all-time low max	-10.2 C (13.6 F)	2.7 C (4.9 F)	18 years	34 of 100 (Routine)
20 December 1938	Natural Brg, US	daily rain	47.8 mm (1.9 in)	31.8 mm (1.3 in)	24 years	34 of 100 (Routine)
20 December 1938	Ashland, US	daily snow depth	17.8 cm (7.0 in)	12.7 cm (5.0 in)	27 years	33 of 100 (Routine)
20 December 1938	Leipzig-Holzhausen, DE	daily low max	-10.0 C (14.0 F)	4.0 C (7.2 F)	58 years	32 of 100 (Routine)
20 December 1938	Rooiberg, ZA	monthly rain	76.7 mm (3.0 in)	10.2 mm (0.4 in)	21 years	29 of 100 (Routine)
20 December 1938	Visby_Flygplats, SE	daily low max	-6.5 C (20.3 F)	4.5 C (8.1 F)	31 years	29 of 100 (Routine)
20 December 1938	Escalante, US	daily snowfall	7.6 cm (3.0 in)	7.6 cm (3.0 in)	36 years	29 of 100 (Routine)
20 December 1938	Chemnitz, DE	daily low max	-8.3 C (17.1 F)	4.0 C (7.2 F)	46 years	28 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

1793 to 1938

Records set or tied on this calendar date in each year from 1793 to 1938. 1938 had 240 records.

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

Records on 12-20 in each year
Year	Records
1793	1
1795	1
1804	1
1805	2
1808	1
1815	1
1828	1
1837	1
1846	1
1855	8
1858	1
1860	1
1866	1
1867	1
1868	1
1869	1
1871	2
1874	3
1875	1
1877	2
1878	1
1879	1
1880	1
1881	1
1882	1
1884	4
1885	1
1886	4
1889	4
1890	2
1891	2
1892	1
1894	2
1895	8
1896	1
1897	4
1898	2
1899	1
1900	7
1901	8
1902	14
1903	17
1904	9
1905	5
1906	5
1907	11
1908	5
1909	22
1910	17
1911	24
1912	27
1913	7
1914	43
1915	18
1916	45
1917	33
1918	18
1919	25
1920	22
1921	101
1922	88
1923	215
1924	332
1925	96
1926	163
1927	200
1928	93
1929	256
1930	67
1931	536
1932	170
1933	492
1934	265
1935	152
1936	416
1937	181
1938	240
1939	308
1940	965
1941	633
1942	817
1943	193
1944	340
1945	430
1946	327
1947	385
1948	345
1949	1,141
1950	758
1951	926
1952	394
1953	385
1954	416
1955	726
1956	471
1957	1,354
1958	382
1959	142
1960	354
1961	369
1962	475
1963	875
1964	499
1965	353
1966	555
1967	1,370
1968	482
1969	514
1970	518
1971	441
1972	448
1973	1,184
1974	328
1975	610
1976	382
1977	484
1978	910
1979	600
1980	667
1981	1,681
1982	712
1983	2,995
1984	1,411
1985	1,035
1986	321
1987	1,179
1988	760
1989	1,812
1990	1,885
1991	1,172
1992	1,134
1993	1,266
1994	813
1995	1,128
1996	1,448
1997	651
1998	1,110
1999	938
2000	1,150
2001	523
2002	943
2003	1,315
2004	836
2005	515
2006	1,387
2007	986
2008	1,356
2009	1,502
2010	2,055
2011	846
2012	1,131
2013	584
2014	524
2015	1,238
2016	603
2017	688
2018	592
2019	731
2020	554
2021	442
2022	567
2023	1,242
2024	897
2025	1,166

Download the Data

Data for records on 1938-12-20: 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	182
50 to 100	8
100 to 150	2
150 to 200	1
200 to 250	1