Weather Records on 30 December 1938

208 weather records were set or tied worldwide on 30 December 1938. Highest significance: Elandsfontein, ZA.

Key Facts for 30 December 1938

On 30 December 1938, 208 weather records were set or tied at long-record stations worldwide.
26 were record highs and 117 were record lows, counting maximum and minimum temperature.
By timescale, 0 were all-time records, 5 monthly and 203 daily.
Elandsfontein set a daily record precipitation of 98.6 mm (3.9 in) on 30 December 1938.
Across 154 earlier years (1799 to 2025) the same calendar date averaged 498 records.

Record Map

208 stations

208 station records on 30 December 1938 are marked on the map, coloured by record type. Dot size shows the significance score. Made with Natural Earth.

Weather records on 30 December 1938: highest significance records shown on the map
Station	Country	Type	Value	Significance
Elandsfontein	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	98.6 mm (3.9 in)	50 of 100 (Notable)
Menzies	Australia	Record daily precipitation	30.0 mm (1.2 in)	45 of 100 (Notable)
Esquimalt	Canada	Record daily precipitation	57.4 mm (2.3 in)	41 of 100 (Notable)
River Jordan	Canada	Record daily precipitation	100.3 mm (3.9 in)	39 of 100 (Notable)
Anacortes	United States	Record daily precipitation	28.4 mm (1.1 in)	36 of 100 (Notable)
Doberlug-Kirchhain	Germany	Record snow depth	12.0 cm (4.7 in)	35 of 100 (Notable)
Olga 2 SE	United States	Record daily precipitation	33.3 mm (1.3 in)	35 of 100 (Notable)
Victoria Gonzales Hts	Canada	Record daily precipitation	68.3 mm (2.7 in)	33 of 100 (Routine)
Soyland I Gjesdal	Norway	Record snow depth	50.0 cm (19.7 in)	33 of 100 (Routine)
Pilgrims Rest (Pol)	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	153.7 mm (6.1 in)	33 of 100 (Routine)
Sedro-Woolley	United States	Record daily precipitation	42.4 mm (1.7 in)	33 of 100 (Routine)
Agassiz Cda	Canada	Record daily precipitation	48.5 mm (1.9 in)	32 of 100 (Routine)
Clearbrook	United States	Record daily precipitation	49.8 mm (2.0 in)	32 of 100 (Routine)
New Westminster	Canada	Record daily precipitation	52.1 mm (2.1 in)	29 of 100 (Routine)
Royal Observatory	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	25.7 mm (1.0 in)	29 of 100 (Routine)
Soltau	Germany	Record snow depth	10.0 cm (3.9 in)	28 of 100 (Routine)
St John's	Canada	Record daily snowfall	15.2 cm (6.0 in)	27 of 100 (Routine)
Madison Wb City	United States	Record low maximum temperature	-16.7 C (1.9 F)	27 of 100 (Routine)
Escanaba	United States	Record low minimum temperature	-25.0 C (-13.0 F)	27 of 100 (Routine)
Nanaimo	Canada	Record daily precipitation	34.8 mm (1.4 in)	25 of 100 (Routine)
Goldstream Lake	Canada	Record daily precipitation	73.7 mm (2.9 in)	24 of 100 (Routine)
Battleford	Canada	Record low minimum temperature	-37.2 C (-35.0 F)	24 of 100 (Routine)
Port Arthur	Canada	Record low maximum temperature	-22.2 C (-8.0 F)	24 of 100 (Routine)
Chemnitz	Germany	Record snow depth	11.0 cm (4.3 in)	23 of 100 (Routine)
Bella Coola	Canada	Record daily snowfall	27.9 cm (11.0 in)	22 of 100 (Routine)
Green Bay	United States	Record low maximum temperature	-18.3 C (-0.9 F)	22 of 100 (Routine)
Charleville Post Office	Australia	Record high minimum temperature	28.3 C (82.9 F)	21 of 100 (Routine)
Bad Blankenburg	Germany	Record snow depth	13.0 cm (5.1 in)	21 of 100 (Routine)
St Peter	United States	Record low maximum temperature	-17.8 C (0.0 F)	21 of 100 (Routine)
Grantsburg	United States	Record low maximum temperature	-17.8 C (0.0 F)	21 of 100 (Routine)
Daveyhurst Mulwarrie	Australia	Record daily precipitation	24.1 mm (0.9 in)	20 of 100 (Routine)
Jokkmokk	Sweden	Record daily precipitation	12.5 mm (0.5 in)	20 of 100 (Routine)
Rpf 126 Mile	Australia	Record daily precipitation	18.3 mm (0.7 in)	20 of 100 (Routine)
Boggabri (Penryn)	Australia	Record daily precipitation	20.3 mm (0.8 in)	20 of 100 (Routine)
Cape Town Maitland (Cem)	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	20.8 mm (0.8 in)	20 of 100 (Routine)
Carinda (Boorooma)	Australia	Record daily precipitation	13.7 mm (0.5 in)	20 of 100 (Routine)
Zugspitze	Germany	Record daily precipitation	18.3 mm (0.7 in)	20 of 100 (Routine)
Kookynie	Australia	Record daily precipitation	14.0 mm (0.6 in)	20 of 100 (Routine)
Lightning Ridge Post Office	Australia	Record daily precipitation	8.9 mm (0.35 in)	20 of 100 (Routine)
Lyons River	Australia	Record daily precipitation	7.6 mm (0.30 in)	20 of 100 (Routine)
Marnitz	Germany	Record snow depth	18.0 cm (7.1 in)	20 of 100 (Routine)
Zerbst	Germany	Record snow depth	21.0 cm (8.3 in)	20 of 100 (Routine)
Junsele	Sweden	Record daily precipitation	7.4 mm (0.29 in)	20 of 100 (Routine)
Hayward Rs	United States	Record low minimum temperature	-34.4 C (-29.9 F)	20 of 100 (Routine)
Faribault	United States	Record low maximum temperature	-17.2 C (1.0 F)	19 of 100 (Routine)
Manitowoc	United States	Record low minimum temperature	-23.9 C (-11.0 F)	19 of 100 (Routine)
New London	United States	Record low minimum temperature	-28.3 C (-18.9 F)	19 of 100 (Routine)
Old Halls Creek	Australia	Record high minimum temperature	28.4 C (83.1 F)	18 of 100 (Routine)
Savanne	Canada	Record low maximum temperature	-26.1 C (-15.0 F)	18 of 100 (Routine)
Calarasi	Romania	Record high minimum temperature	6.0 C (42.8 F)	18 of 100 (Routine)
Cape Town Fire Station	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	25.4 mm (1.0 in)	18 of 100 (Routine)
Elkader 6 SSW	United States	Record low maximum temperature	-15.6 C (3.9 F)	18 of 100 (Routine)
Ishpeming	United States	Record low maximum temperature	-16.7 C (1.9 F)	18 of 100 (Routine)
Sandy Lake Dam Libby	United States	Record low minimum temperature	-37.2 C (-35.0 F)	18 of 100 (Routine)
Winnebago	United States	Record low maximum temperature	-16.1 C (3.0 F)	18 of 100 (Routine)
Coupeville 1 S	United States	Record daily precipitation	6.6 mm (0.26 in)	18 of 100 (Routine)
Oconto 4 W	United States	Record low maximum temperature	-15.0 C (5.0 F)	18 of 100 (Routine)
Hopefield (Pol)	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	11.4 mm (0.4 in)	17 of 100 (Routine)
Naboomspruit (Pol)	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	41.9 mm (1.6 in)	17 of 100 (Routine)
Kvikkjokk-Arrenjarka	Sweden	Record daily precipitation	7.0 mm (0.28 in)	17 of 100 (Routine)

Counts by Type and Timescale

208 records

Records set or tied on 30 December 1938 by type: Highest daily maximum 16, Lowest daily maximum 68, Highest daily minimum 10, Lowest daily minimum 49, Heaviest daily rainfall 46, Heaviest daily snowfall 8, Deepest snow cover 11.

Records on 30 December 1938 by type
Record type	Records
Highest daily maximum	16
Lowest daily maximum	68
Highest daily minimum	10
Lowest daily minimum	49
Heaviest daily rainfall	46
Heaviest daily snowfall	8
Deepest snow cover	11

Records on 30 December 1938 by timescale: all-time 0, monthly 5, daily 203.

How Much Records Were Beaten By

177 broken records

Margins by which the 177 broken records beat the old ones, in degrees Celsius for temperature and millimetres for precipitation and snow; the largest margin was 101.0. Ties are not counted.

Top 20 by Significance

30 December 1938

Top 20 records on 30 December 1938 by significance
Date	Station	Record	Value	Beat old record by	Old record stood	Significance
30 December 1938	Elandsfontein, ZA	daily rain	98.6 mm (3.9 in)	78.0 mm (3.1 in)	25 years	50 of 100 (Notable)
30 December 1938	Menzies, AU	daily rain	30.0 mm (1.2 in)	27.7 mm (1.1 in)	7 years	45 of 100 (Notable)
30 December 1938	Esquimalt, CA	daily rain	57.4 mm (2.3 in)	25.6 mm (1.0 in)	45 years	41 of 100 (Notable)
30 December 1938	River Jordan, CA	daily rain	100.3 mm (3.9 in)	49.0 mm (1.9 in)	25 years	39 of 100 (Notable)
30 December 1938	Anacortes, US	daily rain	28.4 mm (1.1 in)	16.2 mm (0.6 in)	32 years	36 of 100 (Notable)
30 December 1938	Doberlug-Kirchhain, DE	daily snow depth	12.0 cm (4.7 in)	9.0 cm (3.5 in)	11 years	35 of 100 (Notable)
30 December 1938	Olga 2 SE, US	daily rain	33.3 mm (1.3 in)	18.1 mm (0.7 in)	32 years	35 of 100 (Notable)
30 December 1938	Victoria Gonzales Hts, CA	monthly rain	68.3 mm (2.7 in)	9.9 mm (0.39 in)	29 years	33 of 100 (Routine)
30 December 1938	Soyland I Gjesdal, NO	monthly snow depth	50.0 cm (19.7 in)	10.0 cm (3.9 in)	32 years	33 of 100 (Routine)
30 December 1938	Pilgrims Rest (Pol), ZA	monthly rain	153.7 mm (6.1 in)	28.0 mm (1.1 in)	0 years	33 of 100 (Routine)
30 December 1938	Sedro-Woolley, US	daily rain	42.4 mm (1.7 in)	18.8 mm (0.7 in)	32 years	33 of 100 (Routine)
30 December 1938	Agassiz Cda, CA	daily rain	48.5 mm (1.9 in)	16.0 mm (0.6 in)	45 years	32 of 100 (Routine)
30 December 1938	Clearbrook, US	daily rain	49.8 mm (2.0 in)	23.4 mm (0.9 in)	32 years	32 of 100 (Routine)
30 December 1938	New Westminster, CA	daily rain	52.1 mm (2.1 in)	6.4 mm (0.25 in)	62 years	29 of 100 (Routine)
30 December 1938	Royal Observatory, ZA	daily rain	25.7 mm (1.0 in)	6.7 mm (0.26 in)	38 years	29 of 100 (Routine)
30 December 1938	Soltau, DE	daily snow depth	10.0 cm (3.9 in)	10.0 cm (3.9 in)	46 years	28 of 100 (Routine)
30 December 1938	St John's, CA	daily snowfall	15.2 cm (6.0 in)	3.8 cm (1.5 in)	53 years	27 of 100 (Routine)
30 December 1938	Madison Wb City, US	daily low max	-16.7 C (1.9 F)	1.1 C (2.0 F)	63 years	27 of 100 (Routine)
30 December 1938	Escanaba, US	daily low min	-25.0 C (-13.0 F)	1.7 C (3.1 F)	63 years	27 of 100 (Routine)
30 December 1938	Nanaimo, CA	daily rain	34.8 mm (1.4 in)	15.7 mm (0.6 in)	16 years	25 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

1799 to 1938

Records set or tied on this calendar date in each year from 1799 to 1938. 1938 had 208 records.

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

Records on 12-30 in each year
Year	Records
1799	2
1835	1
1850	1
1853	1
1856	1
1859	1
1863	1
1868	1
1870	4
1872	3
1874	2
1875	2
1876	3
1878	1
1880	5
1881	3
1882	3
1884	2
1888	2
1889	2
1890	7
1891	1
1892	1
1893	3
1895	6
1896	3
1897	7
1898	6
1899	3
1900	5
1901	8
1902	2
1903	8
1904	12
1905	10
1906	11
1907	26
1908	17
1909	13
1910	18
1911	20
1912	37
1913	32
1914	47
1915	62
1916	45
1917	217
1918	25
1919	82
1920	84
1921	111
1922	227
1923	223
1924	65
1925	184
1926	63
1927	290
1928	31
1929	382
1930	71
1931	509
1932	407
1933	279
1934	206
1935	202
1936	931
1937	234
1938	208
1939	237
1940	397
1941	149
1942	584
1943	165
1944	137
1945	251
1946	584
1947	317
1948	760
1949	206
1950	479
1951	955
1952	334
1953	399
1954	538
1955	254
1956	556
1957	443
1958	525
1959	216
1960	345
1961	389
1962	671
1963	567
1964	537
1965	1,122
1966	403
1967	760
1968	1,391
1969	817
1970	571
1971	1,122
1972	1,052
1973	1,262
1974	564
1975	703
1976	981
1977	795
1978	1,930
1979	427
1980	1,560
1981	684
1982	630
1983	2,765
1984	1,834
1985	568
1986	852
1987	1,270
1988	755
1989	528
1990	3,065
1991	525
1992	1,210
1993	865
1994	642
1995	1,455
1996	1,620
1997	1,384
1998	801
1999	838
2000	1,377
2001	651
2002	1,034
2003	661
2004	974
2005	928
2006	1,779
2007	748
2008	653
2009	933
2010	1,200
2011	782
2012	676
2013	642
2014	660
2015	820
2016	706
2017	1,324
2018	284
2019	1,131
2020	604
2021	1,455
2022	909
2023	726
2024	638
2025	325

Download the Data

Data for records on 1938-12-30: 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 20	154
20 to 40	12
40 to 60	5
60 to 80	1
80 to 100	2
100 to 120	3