Weather Records on 20 December 1939

308 weather records were set or tied worldwide on 20 December 1939. Highest significance: Chemnitz, DE.

Key Facts for 20 December 1939

On 20 December 1939, 308 weather records were set or tied at long-record stations worldwide.
170 were record highs and 4 were record lows, counting maximum and minimum temperature.
By timescale, 0 were all-time records, 2 monthly and 306 daily.
Chemnitz set a daily record snow depth of 22.0 cm (8.7 in) on 20 December 1939.
Across 163 earlier years (1793 to 2025) the same calendar date averaged 468 records.

Record Map

308 stations

308 station records on 20 December 1939 are marked on the map, coloured by record type. Dot size shows the significance score. Made with Natural Earth.

Weather records on 20 December 1939: highest significance records shown on the map
Station	Country	Type	Value	Significance
Chemnitz	Germany	Record snow depth	22.0 cm (8.7 in)	45 of 100 (Notable)
Maple Creek	Canada	Record daily snowfall	7.6 cm (3.0 in)	38 of 100 (Notable)
Milledgeville	United States	Record daily precipitation	74.7 mm (2.9 in)	38 of 100 (Notable)
Brockville	Canada	Record daily precipitation	32.8 mm (1.3 in)	37 of 100 (Notable)
Ithaca Cornell UNIV	United States	Record daily precipitation	25.4 mm (1.0 in)	37 of 100 (Notable)
Watertown	United States	Record daily precipitation	32.8 mm (1.3 in)	37 of 100 (Notable)
Woodstock 2 NE	United States	Record daily precipitation	26.4 mm (1.0 in)	33 of 100 (Routine)
Saint John	Canada	Record daily precipitation	28.4 mm (1.1 in)	32 of 100 (Routine)
Garsebach Bei Meissen	Germany	Record snow depth	12.0 cm (4.7 in)	29 of 100 (Routine)
Cooperstown	United States	Record daily precipitation	29.5 mm (1.2 in)	29 of 100 (Routine)
North Lake	United States	Record daily precipitation	26.7 mm (1.1 in)	28 of 100 (Routine)
Sedro-Woolley	United States	Record daily precipitation	50.5 mm (2.0 in)	28 of 100 (Routine)
Shawinigan	Canada	Record daily snowfall	19.1 cm (7.5 in)	27 of 100 (Routine)
Oakley	United States	Record high maximum temperature	17.2 C (63.0 F)	26 of 100 (Routine)
Warren	United States	Record daily precipitation	25.4 mm (1.0 in)	26 of 100 (Routine)
Forbes (Camp Street)	Australia	Record low minimum temperature	10.9 C (51.6 F)	25 of 100 (Routine)
Gloversville	United States	Record daily precipitation	30.0 mm (1.2 in)	24 of 100 (Routine)
Viljujsk	Russia	Record high minimum temperature	-13.1 C (8.4 F)	23 of 100 (Routine)
Spencer	United States	Record high maximum temperature	19.4 C (66.9 F)	23 of 100 (Routine)
Passau-Maierhof	Germany	Record snow depth	15.0 cm (5.9 in)	22 of 100 (Routine)
Rock Island 2 NW	United States	Record daily precipitation	30.2 mm (1.2 in)	22 of 100 (Routine)
Moree (Bullerana)	Australia	Record daily precipitation	30.2 mm (1.2 in)	21 of 100 (Routine)
Enisejsk	Russia	Record high minimum temperature	-7.8 C (18.0 F)	21 of 100 (Routine)
Hanover	United States	Record daily precipitation	25.1 mm (1.0 in)	21 of 100 (Routine)
Reading Wb City	United States	Record high minimum temperature	3.9 C (39.0 F)	21 of 100 (Routine)
Fort Macleod	Canada	Record daily precipitation	15.2 mm (0.6 in)	20 of 100 (Routine)
Medicine Hat A	Canada	Record daily precipitation	9.1 mm (0.36 in)	20 of 100 (Routine)
Maple Creek	Canada	Record daily precipitation	7.6 mm (0.30 in)	20 of 100 (Routine)
Lethbridge Cda	Canada	Record daily precipitation	15.7 mm (0.6 in)	20 of 100 (Routine)
Rawsonville (Pol)	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	23.6 mm (0.9 in)	20 of 100 (Routine)
Haskinville	United States	Record daily precipitation	16.3 mm (0.6 in)	20 of 100 (Routine)
Cortland	United States	Record daily precipitation	24.1 mm (0.9 in)	20 of 100 (Routine)
Quebec	Canada	Record daily precipitation	13.7 mm (0.5 in)	20 of 100 (Routine)
Arhangelsk	Russia	Record daily precipitation	6.9 mm (0.27 in)	20 of 100 (Routine)
Bozeman Montana State UNIV	United States	Record daily precipitation	9.4 mm (0.37 in)	20 of 100 (Routine)
Montrose	United States	Record daily precipitation	21.3 mm (0.8 in)	20 of 100 (Routine)
Towanda 1 S	United States	Record daily precipitation	23.9 mm (0.9 in)	20 of 100 (Routine)
Oneonta 1 S	United States	Record daily precipitation	24.4 mm (1.0 in)	20 of 100 (Routine)
Vilsandi	Estonia	Record daily precipitation	10.0 mm (0.4 in)	20 of 100 (Routine)
Hagerstown 1E	United States	Record daily precipitation	21.8 mm (0.9 in)	20 of 100 (Routine)
Elmira	United States	Record daily precipitation	20.6 mm (0.8 in)	20 of 100 (Routine)
Cornwall	United States	Record daily precipitation	22.9 mm (0.9 in)	20 of 100 (Routine)
Medicine Hat A	Canada	Record daily snowfall	3.8 cm (1.5 in)	20 of 100 (Routine)
Keedysville	United States	Record daily precipitation	22.1 mm (0.9 in)	20 of 100 (Routine)
Concord	United States	Record daily precipitation	22.9 mm (0.9 in)	20 of 100 (Routine)
Auburn	United States	Record daily precipitation	21.8 mm (0.9 in)	20 of 100 (Routine)
Havre Wb City	United States	Record daily precipitation	6.4 mm (0.25 in)	20 of 100 (Routine)
Ranfurly	Canada	Record daily precipitation	7.4 mm (0.29 in)	20 of 100 (Routine)
Clarion 3 SW	United States	Record daily precipitation	23.9 mm (0.9 in)	20 of 100 (Routine)
Beckley Va Hospital	United States	Record daily precipitation	20.3 mm (0.8 in)	20 of 100 (Routine)
Lewisburg 3 N	United States	Record daily precipitation	18.8 mm (0.7 in)	20 of 100 (Routine)
Mount Morris	Australia	Record daily precipitation	20.3 mm (0.8 in)	20 of 100 (Routine)
Edmonton	Canada	Record daily precipitation	3.0 mm (0.12 in)	20 of 100 (Routine)
Ottawa Cda	Canada	Record daily precipitation	13.7 mm (0.5 in)	20 of 100 (Routine)
Escondido	United States	Record high maximum temperature	29.4 C (84.9 F)	20 of 100 (Routine)
Bryson City 2	United States	Record daily precipitation	27.4 mm (1.1 in)	20 of 100 (Routine)
Lock Haven	United States	Record high minimum temperature	3.9 C (39.0 F)	20 of 100 (Routine)
Marlinton	United States	Record high maximum temperature	15.6 C (60.1 F)	20 of 100 (Routine)
Irvinebank	Australia	Record daily precipitation	77.2 mm (3.0 in)	19 of 100 (Routine)
Gleichen	Canada	Record daily precipitation	2.5 mm (0.10 in)	19 of 100 (Routine)

Counts by Type and Timescale

308 records

Records set or tied on 20 December 1939 by type: Highest daily maximum 71, Lowest daily maximum 1, Highest daily minimum 99, Lowest daily minimum 3, Heaviest daily rainfall 120, Heaviest daily snowfall 11, Deepest snow cover 3.

Records on 20 December 1939 by type
Record type	Records
Highest daily maximum	71
Lowest daily maximum	1
Highest daily minimum	99
Lowest daily minimum	3
Heaviest daily rainfall	120
Heaviest daily snowfall	11
Deepest snow cover	3

Records on 20 December 1939 by timescale: all-time 0, monthly 2, daily 306.

How Much Records Were Beaten By

244 broken records

Margins by which the 244 broken records beat the old ones, in degrees Celsius for temperature and millimetres for precipitation and snow; the largest margin was 140.0. Ties are not counted.

Top 20 by Significance

20 December 1939

Top 20 records on 20 December 1939 by significance
Date	Station	Record	Value	Beat old record by	Old record stood	Significance
20 December 1939	Chemnitz, DE	daily snow depth	22.0 cm (8.7 in)	14.0 cm (5.5 in)	36 years	45 of 100 (Notable)
20 December 1939	Maple Creek, CA	daily snowfall	7.6 cm (3.0 in)	5.1 cm (2.0 in)	54 years	38 of 100 (Notable)
20 December 1939	Milledgeville, US	monthly rain	74.7 mm (2.9 in)	16.3 mm (0.6 in)	43 years	38 of 100 (Notable)
20 December 1939	Brockville, CA	daily rain	32.8 mm (1.3 in)	7.4 mm (0.29 in)	66 years	37 of 100 (Notable)
20 December 1939	Ithaca Cornell UNIV, US	daily rain	25.4 mm (1.0 in)	13.5 mm (0.5 in)	32 years	37 of 100 (Notable)
20 December 1939	Watertown, US	daily rain	32.8 mm (1.3 in)	18.1 mm (0.7 in)	24 years	37 of 100 (Notable)
20 December 1939	Woodstock 2 NE, US	daily rain	26.4 mm (1.0 in)	12.2 mm (0.5 in)	46 years	33 of 100 (Routine)
20 December 1939	Saint John, CA	daily rain	28.4 mm (1.1 in)	6.8 mm (0.27 in)	65 years	32 of 100 (Routine)
20 December 1939	Garsebach Bei Meissen, DE	daily snow depth	12.0 cm (4.7 in)	10.0 cm (3.9 in)	4 years	29 of 100 (Routine)
20 December 1939	Cooperstown, US	daily rain	29.5 mm (1.2 in)	11.7 mm (0.5 in)	36 years	29 of 100 (Routine)
20 December 1939	North Lake, US	daily rain	26.7 mm (1.1 in)	11.5 mm (0.5 in)	30 years	28 of 100 (Routine)
20 December 1939	Sedro-Woolley, US	daily rain	50.5 mm (2.0 in)	12.4 mm (0.5 in)	39 years	28 of 100 (Routine)
20 December 1939	Shawinigan, CA	daily snowfall	19.1 cm (7.5 in)	8.9 cm (3.5 in)	34 years	27 of 100 (Routine)
20 December 1939	Oakley, US	daily high max	17.2 C (63.0 F)	5.5 C (9.9 F)	38 years	26 of 100 (Routine)
20 December 1939	Warren, US	daily rain	25.4 mm (1.0 in)	12.7 mm (0.5 in)	4 years	26 of 100 (Routine)
20 December 1939	Forbes (Camp Street), AU	daily low min	10.9 C (51.6 F)	0.2 C (0.4 F)	64 years	25 of 100 (Routine)
20 December 1939	Gloversville, US	daily rain	30.0 mm (1.2 in)	6.4 mm (0.25 in)	40 years	24 of 100 (Routine)
20 December 1939	Viljujsk, RU	daily high min	-13.1 C (8.4 F)	8.5 C (15.3 F)	34 years	23 of 100 (Routine)
20 December 1939	Spencer, US	daily high max	19.4 C (66.9 F)	3.8 C (6.8 F)	46 years	23 of 100 (Routine)
20 December 1939	Passau-Maierhof, DE	daily snow depth	15.0 cm (5.9 in)	2.0 cm (0.8 in)	49 years	22 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 1939

Records set or tied on this calendar date in each year from 1793 to 1939. 1939 had 308 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 1939-12-20: 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 20	237
20 to 40	3
40 to 60	1
60 to 80	0
80 to 100	1
100 to 120	1
120 to 140	1