Weather Records on 31 December 1938

247 weather records were set or tied worldwide on 31 December 1938. Highest significance: Verwoedburg-Mu"Lytteltn", ZA.

Key Facts for 31 December 1938

On 31 December 1938, 247 weather records were set or tied at long-record stations worldwide.
90 were record highs and 28 were record lows, counting maximum and minimum temperature.
By timescale, 0 were all-time records, 6 monthly and 241 daily.
Verwoedburg-Mu"Lytteltn" set a monthly record daily precipitation of 94.0 mm (3.7 in) on 31 December 1938.
Across 157 earlier years (1797 to 2025) the same calendar date averaged 488 records.

Record Map

247 stations

247 station records on 31 December 1938 are marked on the map, coloured by record type. Dot size shows the significance score. Made with Natural Earth.

Weather records on 31 December 1938: highest significance records shown on the map
Station	Country	Type	Value	Significance
Verwoedburg-Mu"Lytteltn"	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	94.0 mm (3.7 in)	53 of 100 (Notable)
Heidelberg Cape (Pol)	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	43.7 mm (1.7 in)	48 of 100 (Notable)
Nanaimo	Canada	Record daily precipitation	55.9 mm (2.2 in)	46 of 100 (Notable)
Doberlug-Kirchhain	Germany	Record snow depth	14.0 cm (5.5 in)	41 of 100 (Notable)
Wallaceburg	Canada	Record daily snowfall	7.6 cm (3.0 in)	34 of 100 (Routine)
Simcoe	Canada	Record daily snowfall	17.8 cm (7.0 in)	33 of 100 (Routine)
Mqanduli (Tnk)	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	25.7 mm (1.0 in)	32 of 100 (Routine)
Dundullimal	Australia	Record daily precipitation	27.2 mm (1.1 in)	30 of 100 (Routine)
Port Dover	Canada	Record daily snowfall	14.0 cm (5.5 in)	30 of 100 (Routine)
Gospic	Croatia	Record daily precipitation	63.9 mm (2.5 in)	30 of 100 (Routine)
Mnt Fletcher (Tnk)	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	32.0 mm (1.3 in)	28 of 100 (Routine)
Dubbo (Darling Street)	Australia	Record daily precipitation	33.0 mm (1.3 in)	27 of 100 (Routine)
Robben Island (Vrt)	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	25.9 mm (1.0 in)	27 of 100 (Routine)
Malmesbury	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	28.2 mm (1.1 in)	27 of 100 (Routine)
Saltspring Island	Canada	Record daily precipitation	58.7 mm (2.3 in)	26 of 100 (Routine)
Brakfontein	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	38.1 mm (1.5 in)	26 of 100 (Routine)
Denman Island	Canada	Record daily precipitation	78.7 mm (3.1 in)	25 of 100 (Routine)
Alberni Beaver Creek	Canada	Record daily precipitation	93.7 mm (3.7 in)	25 of 100 (Routine)
Vancouver Pmo	Canada	Record daily precipitation	72.9 mm (2.9 in)	25 of 100 (Routine)
The Towers	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	32.0 mm (1.3 in)	25 of 100 (Routine)
Bakensrug	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	30.5 mm (1.2 in)	25 of 100 (Routine)
Yarmouth	Canada	Record daily snowfall	15.2 cm (6.0 in)	24 of 100 (Routine)
Maclear (Mag)	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	38.1 mm (1.5 in)	24 of 100 (Routine)
Iron Mtn-Kingsford Wwtp	United States	Record low minimum temperature	-27.2 C (-17.0 F)	24 of 100 (Routine)
Vashon Island	United States	Record daily precipitation	43.9 mm (1.7 in)	24 of 100 (Routine)
Gunnedah Pool	Australia	Record daily precipitation	32.0 mm (1.3 in)	22 of 100 (Routine)
Kentani (Bos)	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	75.2 mm (3.0 in)	22 of 100 (Routine)
Whitefish Pt	United States	Record low minimum temperature	-20.0 C (-4.0 F)	22 of 100 (Routine)
Steveston	Canada	Record daily precipitation	31.8 mm (1.3 in)	21 of 100 (Routine)
Brockville	Canada	Record daily snowfall	10.2 cm (4.0 in)	21 of 100 (Routine)
Saint John	Canada	Record daily snowfall	10.7 cm (4.2 in)	21 of 100 (Routine)
Minneapolis	United States	Record high maximum temperature	16.7 C (62.1 F)	21 of 100 (Routine)
Armagh	United Kingdom	Record daily precipitation	16.0 mm (0.6 in)	20 of 100 (Routine)
Hull	United Kingdom	Record daily precipitation	17.5 mm (0.7 in)	20 of 100 (Routine)
Matjiesfontein (Sar)	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	7.4 mm (0.29 in)	20 of 100 (Routine)
Dublin Phoenix Park	Ireland	Record daily precipitation	10.4 mm (0.4 in)	20 of 100 (Routine)
Soltau	Germany	Record snow depth	9.0 cm (3.5 in)	20 of 100 (Routine)
Bodangora Post Office	Australia	Record daily precipitation	21.6 mm (0.9 in)	20 of 100 (Routine)
Cambridge Niab	United Kingdom	Record daily precipitation	12.3 mm (0.5 in)	20 of 100 (Routine)
Kjahta	Russia	Record daily precipitation	3.1 mm (0.12 in)	20 of 100 (Routine)
Worcester	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	15.2 mm (0.6 in)	20 of 100 (Routine)
Ulan-Ude	Russia	Record daily precipitation	2.9 mm (0.11 in)	20 of 100 (Routine)
Sheffield	United Kingdom	Record daily precipitation	16.0 mm (0.6 in)	20 of 100 (Routine)
Wyndham Post Office	Australia	Record daily precipitation	11.7 mm (0.5 in)	20 of 100 (Routine)
Kluitjeskraal (Bos)	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	13.2 mm (0.5 in)	20 of 100 (Routine)
Coolgardie Post Office	Australia	Record daily precipitation	10.2 mm (0.4 in)	20 of 100 (Routine)
Gilgandra (Chelmsford Ave)	Australia	Record daily precipitation	25.9 mm (1.0 in)	20 of 100 (Routine)
Goonoo Goonoo Station	Australia	Record daily precipitation	13.7 mm (0.5 in)	20 of 100 (Routine)
Coolah (Binnia St)	Australia	Record daily precipitation	16.0 mm (0.6 in)	20 of 100 (Routine)
Marnitz	Germany	Record snow depth	18.0 cm (7.1 in)	20 of 100 (Routine)
Wolfridge (Bos)	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	61.0 mm (2.4 in)	20 of 100 (Routine)
Pirie (Bos)	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	57.2 mm (2.3 in)	20 of 100 (Routine)
Blaine	United States	Record daily precipitation	38.1 mm (1.5 in)	20 of 100 (Routine)
Condobolin (Borambil Park)	Australia	Record daily precipitation	23.9 mm (0.9 in)	19 of 100 (Routine)
Peak Hill Post Office	Australia	Record daily precipitation	45.7 mm (1.8 in)	19 of 100 (Routine)
Narromine (Alagalah St)	Australia	Record daily precipitation	20.8 mm (0.8 in)	19 of 100 (Routine)
Soyland I Gjesdal	Norway	Record snow depth	56.0 cm (22.0 in)	19 of 100 (Routine)
Fountain Head	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	31.5 mm (1.2 in)	19 of 100 (Routine)
Durham	United Kingdom	Record daily precipitation	13.5 mm (0.5 in)	19 of 100 (Routine)
Thurman	United States	Record high maximum temperature	13.9 C (57.0 F)	19 of 100 (Routine)

Counts by Type and Timescale

247 records

Records set or tied on 31 December 1938 by type: Highest daily maximum 48, Lowest daily maximum 12, Highest daily minimum 42, Lowest daily minimum 16, Heaviest daily rainfall 103, Heaviest daily snowfall 15, Deepest snow cover 11.

Records on 31 December 1938 by type
Record type	Records
Highest daily maximum	48
Lowest daily maximum	12
Highest daily minimum	42
Lowest daily minimum	16
Heaviest daily rainfall	103
Heaviest daily snowfall	15
Deepest snow cover	11

Records on 31 December 1938 by timescale: all-time 0, monthly 6, daily 241.

How Much Records Were Beaten By

202 broken records

Margins by which the 202 broken records beat the old ones, in degrees Celsius for temperature and millimetres for precipitation and snow; the largest margin was 127.0. Ties are not counted.

Top 20 by Significance

31 December 1938

Top 20 records on 31 December 1938 by significance
Date	Station	Record	Value	Beat old record by	Old record stood	Significance
31 December 1938	Verwoedburg-Mu"Lytteltn", ZA	monthly rain	94.0 mm (3.7 in)	50.8 mm (2.0 in)	3 years	53 of 100 (Notable)
31 December 1938	Heidelberg Cape (Pol), ZA	daily rain	43.7 mm (1.7 in)	35.3 mm (1.4 in)	7 years	48 of 100 (Notable)
31 December 1938	Nanaimo, CA	daily rain	55.9 mm (2.2 in)	31.3 mm (1.2 in)	25 years	46 of 100 (Notable)
31 December 1938	Doberlug-Kirchhain, DE	daily snow depth	14.0 cm (5.5 in)	11.0 cm (4.3 in)	11 years	41 of 100 (Notable)
31 December 1938	Wallaceburg, CA	daily snowfall	7.6 cm (3.0 in)	7.6 cm (3.0 in)	32 years	34 of 100 (Routine)
31 December 1938	Simcoe, CA	daily snowfall	17.8 cm (7.0 in)	12.7 cm (5.0 in)	12 years	33 of 100 (Routine)
31 December 1938	Mqanduli (Tnk), ZA	daily rain	25.7 mm (1.0 in)	15.8 mm (0.6 in)	44 years	32 of 100 (Routine)
31 December 1938	Dundullimal, AU	daily rain	27.2 mm (1.1 in)	20.8 mm (0.8 in)	37 years	30 of 100 (Routine)
31 December 1938	Port Dover, CA	daily snowfall	14.0 cm (5.5 in)	3.8 cm (1.5 in)	51 years	30 of 100 (Routine)
31 December 1938	Gospic, HR	daily rain	63.9 mm (2.5 in)	32.3 mm (1.3 in)	15 years	30 of 100 (Routine)
31 December 1938	Mnt Fletcher (Tnk), ZA	daily rain	32.0 mm (1.3 in)	18.0 mm (0.7 in)	24 years	28 of 100 (Routine)
31 December 1938	Dubbo (Darling Street), AU	daily rain	33.0 mm (1.3 in)	21.3 mm (0.8 in)	23 years	27 of 100 (Routine)
31 December 1938	Robben Island (Vrt), ZA	daily rain	25.9 mm (1.0 in)	6.8 mm (0.27 in)	31 years	27 of 100 (Routine)
31 December 1938	Malmesbury, ZA	daily rain	28.2 mm (1.1 in)	6.6 mm (0.26 in)	31 years	27 of 100 (Routine)
31 December 1938	Saltspring Island, CA	daily rain	58.7 mm (2.3 in)	17.8 mm (0.7 in)	25 years	26 of 100 (Routine)
31 December 1938	Brakfontein, ZA	daily rain	38.1 mm (1.5 in)	17.5 mm (0.7 in)	7 years	26 of 100 (Routine)
31 December 1938	Denman Island, CA	daily rain	78.7 mm (3.1 in)	29.2 mm (1.1 in)	4 years	25 of 100 (Routine)
31 December 1938	Alberni Beaver Creek, CA	daily rain	93.7 mm (3.7 in)	29.9 mm (1.2 in)	4 years	25 of 100 (Routine)
31 December 1938	Vancouver Pmo, CA	daily rain	72.9 mm (2.9 in)	23.1 mm (0.9 in)	4 years	25 of 100 (Routine)
31 December 1938	The Towers, ZA	monthly rain	32.0 mm (1.3 in)	3.6 mm (0.14 in)	10 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

1797 to 1938

Records set or tied on this calendar date in each year from 1797 to 1938. 1938 had 247 records.

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

Records on 12-31 in each year
Year	Records
1797	1
1799	2
1826	1
1836	1
1842	2
1850	3
1853	1
1854	1
1859	1
1860	1
1867	1
1870	2
1872	2
1874	4
1875	2
1876	2
1878	2
1879	2
1880	2
1882	1
1884	2
1885	1
1886	3
1887	1
1888	2
1890	2
1891	8
1892	4
1895	4
1897	6
1898	5
1899	4
1900	3
1901	16
1902	3
1903	3
1904	11
1905	9
1906	31
1907	11
1908	7
1909	5
1910	25
1911	14
1912	17
1913	46
1914	34
1915	32
1916	25
1917	239
1918	24
1919	38
1920	64
1921	130
1922	83
1923	280
1924	113
1925	183
1926	77
1927	491
1928	53
1929	224
1930	58
1931	543
1932	394
1933	409
1934	181
1935	309
1936	567
1937	500
1938	247
1939	298
1940	467
1941	159
1942	352
1943	159
1944	259
1945	210
1946	707
1947	461
1948	591
1949	384
1950	310
1951	1,421
1952	377
1953	410
1954	286
1955	429
1956	216
1957	724
1958	584
1959	414
1960	389
1961	309
1962	810
1963	1,015
1964	388
1965	1,371
1966	326
1967	1,023
1968	1,371
1969	825
1970	579
1971	568
1972	836
1973	1,370
1974	590
1975	791
1976	1,306
1977	641
1978	2,791
1979	448
1980	1,448
1981	786
1982	639
1983	2,220
1984	942
1985	593
1986	616
1987	845
1988	600
1989	506
1990	1,379
1991	703
1992	1,062
1993	718
1994	878
1995	1,151
1996	2,202
1997	988
1998	739
1999	524
2000	1,575
2001	748
2002	1,232
2003	523
2004	1,278
2005	959
2006	2,089
2007	652
2008	656
2009	867
2010	1,544
2011	739
2012	803
2013	606
2014	903
2015	748
2016	678
2017	1,589
2018	620
2019	593
2020	489
2021	1,739
2022	1,497
2023	474
2024	460
2025	760

Download the Data

Data for records on 1938-12-31: 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	179
20 to 40	12
40 to 60	5
60 to 80	3
80 to 100	1
100 to 120	1
120 to 140	1