Weather Records on 31 January 1940

361 weather records were set or tied worldwide on 31 January 1940. Highest significance: Alice Springs Post Office, AU.

Key Facts for 31 January 1940

On 31 January 1940, 361 weather records were set or tied at long-record stations worldwide.
121 were record highs and 109 were record lows, counting maximum and minimum temperature.
By timescale, 1 were all-time records, 11 monthly and 349 daily.
Alice Springs Post Office set a daily record precipitation of 97.8 mm (3.9 in) on 31 January 1940.
Across 162 earlier years (1800 to 2026) the same calendar date averaged 503 records.

Record Map

361 stations

361 station records on 31 January 1940 are marked on the map, coloured by record type. Dot size shows the significance score. Made with Natural Earth.

Weather records on 31 January 1940: highest significance records shown on the map
Station	Country	Type	Value	Significance
Alice Springs Post Office	Australia	Record daily precipitation	97.8 mm (3.9 in)	65 of 100 (Major)
Barrow Creek	Australia	Record daily precipitation	78.7 mm (3.1 in)	49 of 100 (Notable)
Greifswald	Germany	Record snow depth	43.0 cm (16.9 in)	47 of 100 (Notable)
Bad Blankenburg	Germany	Record snow depth	22.0 cm (8.7 in)	41 of 100 (Notable)
Deols Chateauroux Aerodrome de	France	Record daily precipitation	26.1 mm (1.0 in)	40 of 100 (Notable)
Arltunga	Australia	Record daily precipitation	40.6 mm (1.6 in)	36 of 100 (Notable)
Leipzig-Holzhausen	Germany	Record low maximum temperature	-12.1 C (10.2 F)	35 of 100 (Notable)
Plauen	Germany	Record snow depth	39.0 cm (15.4 in)	35 of 100 (Notable)
Gorlitz	Germany	Record low minimum temperature	-19.4 C (-2.9 F)	33 of 100 (Routine)
Reasi	India	Record daily precipitation	97.8 mm (3.9 in)	32 of 100 (Routine)
Hamburg Fuhlsbuettel	Germany	Record low minimum temperature	-16.8 C (1.8 F)	30 of 100 (Routine)
Magdeburg	Germany	Record low maximum temperature	-11.6 C (11.1 F)	30 of 100 (Routine)
Leipzig-Holzhausen	Germany	Record low minimum temperature	-17.5 C (0.5 F)	30 of 100 (Routine)
Marnitz	Germany	Record low maximum temperature	-15.0 C (5.0 F)	29 of 100 (Routine)
Sibasa	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	130.8 mm (5.1 in)	29 of 100 (Routine)
Kistwar	India	Record daily precipitation	71.1 mm (2.8 in)	28 of 100 (Routine)
Almora	India	Record daily precipitation	30.0 mm (1.2 in)	28 of 100 (Routine)
Pithoragarh	India	Record daily precipitation	26.9 mm (1.1 in)	28 of 100 (Routine)
Sitka Magnetic Obsy	United States	Record high maximum temperature	15.6 C (60.1 F)	28 of 100 (Routine)
Walsh River Post Office	Australia	Record daily precipitation	67.3 mm (2.6 in)	27 of 100 (Routine)
Gunnedah Pool	Australia	Record high minimum temperature	26.1 C (79.0 F)	27 of 100 (Routine)
Oestersund-Froesoen	Sweden	Record low maximum temperature	-22.6 C (-8.7 F)	27 of 100 (Routine)
Gaddede	Sweden	Record low maximum temperature	-24.0 C (-11.2 F)	27 of 100 (Routine)
Colby	United States	Record snow depth	12.7 cm (5.0 in)	27 of 100 (Routine)
Burketown Post Office	Australia	Record high minimum temperature	29.4 C (84.9 F)	26 of 100 (Routine)
Kirchdorf/Poel	Germany	Record snow depth	36.0 cm (14.2 in)	26 of 100 (Routine)
Banjar(Saraj-Teh)	India	Record daily precipitation	52.8 mm (2.1 in)	26 of 100 (Routine)
Inverell Comparison	Australia	Record high minimum temperature	22.2 C (72.0 F)	25 of 100 (Routine)
Berlin-Dahlem	Germany	Record low minimum temperature	-18.7 C (-1.7 F)	25 of 100 (Routine)
Cottbus	Germany	Record low minimum temperature	-20.8 C (-5.4 F)	25 of 100 (Routine)
Putbus	Germany	Record snow depth	35.0 cm (13.8 in)	25 of 100 (Routine)
Winnemucca AP	United States	Record high maximum temperature	14.4 C (57.9 F)	25 of 100 (Routine)
Tennant Creek Post Office	Australia	Record low maximum temperature	25.0 C (77.0 F)	24 of 100 (Routine)
Morningside	Australia	Record daily precipitation	81.3 mm (3.2 in)	24 of 100 (Routine)
Bremen-Seefahrtschule	Germany	Record low minimum temperature	-15.0 C (5.0 F)	24 of 100 (Routine)
Schwerin	Germany	Record low minimum temperature	-17.3 C (0.9 F)	24 of 100 (Routine)
Potsdam	Germany	Record low minimum temperature	-19.3 C (-2.7 F)	24 of 100 (Routine)
Braunschweig (T.H.)	Germany	Record low minimum temperature	-16.5 C (2.3 F)	24 of 100 (Routine)
Windorah Post Office	Australia	Record daily precipitation	48.3 mm (1.9 in)	23 of 100 (Routine)
Harrisville Post Office	Australia	Record daily precipitation	49.0 mm (1.9 in)	23 of 100 (Routine)
Goderich	Canada	Record low minimum temperature	-18.9 C (-2.0 F)	23 of 100 (Routine)
Magdeburg	Germany	Record low minimum temperature	-17.2 C (1.0 F)	23 of 100 (Routine)
Poonch	India	Record daily precipitation	53.6 mm (2.1 in)	23 of 100 (Routine)
Durham	United Kingdom	Record low maximum temperature	0.0 C (32.0 F)	23 of 100 (Routine)
Newport	United States	Record high maximum temperature	18.3 C (64.9 F)	23 of 100 (Routine)
Owen Sound	Canada	Record low minimum temperature	-24.4 C (-11.9 F)	22 of 100 (Routine)
Marnitz	Germany	Record low minimum temperature	-19.0 C (-2.2 F)	22 of 100 (Routine)
Garsebach Bei Meissen	Germany	Record snow depth	25.0 cm (9.8 in)	22 of 100 (Routine)
Lowestoft	United Kingdom	Record low minimum temperature	-3.3 C (26.1 F)	22 of 100 (Routine)
Sheffield	United Kingdom	Record low maximum temperature	-0.6 C (30.9 F)	22 of 100 (Routine)
Margate Collins St	Australia	Record daily precipitation	96.0 mm (3.8 in)	21 of 100 (Routine)
Russell	Canada	Record high minimum temperature	-8.9 C (16.0 F)	21 of 100 (Routine)
Halle	Germany	Record low minimum temperature	-16.9 C (1.6 F)	21 of 100 (Routine)
Angermunde	Germany	Record low minimum temperature	-21.5 C (-6.7 F)	21 of 100 (Routine)
Waren	Germany	Record low minimum temperature	-20.0 C (-4.0 F)	21 of 100 (Routine)
Waren	Germany	Record snow depth	27.0 cm (10.6 in)	21 of 100 (Routine)
Braunschweig (T.H.)	Germany	Record low maximum temperature	-10.9 C (12.4 F)	21 of 100 (Routine)
Szeged	Hungary	Record low minimum temperature	-16.7 C (1.9 F)	21 of 100 (Routine)
Kangra	India	Record daily precipitation	38.4 mm (1.5 in)	21 of 100 (Routine)
Dras	India	Record daily precipitation	54.1 mm (2.1 in)	21 of 100 (Routine)

Counts by Type and Timescale

361 records

Records set or tied on 31 January 1940 by type: Highest daily maximum 49, Lowest daily maximum 50, Highest daily minimum 72, Lowest daily minimum 59, Heaviest daily rainfall 103, Heaviest daily snowfall 2, Deepest snow cover 26.

Records on 31 January 1940 by type
Record type	Records
Highest daily maximum	49
Lowest daily maximum	50
Highest daily minimum	72
Lowest daily minimum	59
Heaviest daily rainfall	103
Heaviest daily snowfall	2
Deepest snow cover	26

Records on 31 January 1940 by timescale: all-time 1, monthly 11, daily 349.

How Much Records Were Beaten By

306 broken records

Margins by which the 306 broken records beat the old ones, in degrees Celsius for temperature and millimetres for precipitation and snow; the largest margin was 1270.0. Ties are not counted.

Top 20 by Significance

31 January 1940

Top 20 records on 31 January 1940 by significance
Date	Station	Record	Value	Beat old record by	Old record stood	Significance
31 January 1940	Alice Springs Post Office, AU	daily rain	97.8 mm (3.9 in)	71.6 mm (2.8 in)	63 years	65 of 100 (Major)
31 January 1940	Barrow Creek, AU	daily rain	78.7 mm (3.1 in)	48.7 mm (1.9 in)	45 years	49 of 100 (Notable)
31 January 1940	Greifswald, DE	daily snow depth	43.0 cm (16.9 in)	25.0 cm (9.8 in)	10 years	47 of 100 (Notable)
31 January 1940	Bad Blankenburg, DE	daily snow depth	22.0 cm (8.7 in)	9.0 cm (3.5 in)	51 years	41 of 100 (Notable)
31 January 1940	Deols Chateauroux Aerodrome de, FR	daily rain	26.1 mm (1.0 in)	12.1 mm (0.5 in)	26 years	40 of 100 (Notable)
31 January 1940	Arltunga, AU	daily rain	40.6 mm (1.6 in)	34.0 mm (1.3 in)	12 years	36 of 100 (Notable)
31 January 1940	Leipzig-Holzhausen, DE	daily low max	-12.1 C (10.2 F)	3.8 C (6.8 F)	68 years	35 of 100 (Notable)
31 January 1940	Plauen, DE	daily snow depth	39.0 cm (15.4 in)	12.0 cm (4.7 in)	42 years	35 of 100 (Notable)
31 January 1940	Gorlitz, DE	daily low min	-19.4 C (-2.9 F)	6.4 C (11.5 F)	51 years	33 of 100 (Routine)
31 January 1940	Reasi, IN	daily rain	97.8 mm (3.9 in)	59.7 mm (2.4 in)	9 years	32 of 100 (Routine)
31 January 1940	Hamburg Fuhlsbuettel, DE	daily low min	-16.8 C (1.8 F)	6.1 C (11.0 F)	42 years	30 of 100 (Routine)
31 January 1940	Magdeburg, DE	daily low max	-11.6 C (11.1 F)	5.9 C (10.6 F)	42 years	30 of 100 (Routine)
31 January 1940	Leipzig-Holzhausen, DE	daily low min	-17.5 C (0.5 F)	2.0 C (3.6 F)	68 years	30 of 100 (Routine)
31 January 1940	Marnitz, DE	monthly low max	-15.0 C (5.0 F)	3.0 C (5.4 F)	33 years	29 of 100 (Routine)
31 January 1940	Sibasa, ZA	daily rain	130.8 mm (5.1 in)	86.3 mm (3.4 in)	1 year	29 of 100 (Routine)
31 January 1940	Kistwar, IN	daily rain	71.1 mm (2.8 in)	35.5 mm (1.4 in)	9 years	28 of 100 (Routine)
31 January 1940	Almora, IN	daily rain	30.0 mm (1.2 in)	15.5 mm (0.6 in)	32 years	28 of 100 (Routine)
31 January 1940	Pithoragarh, IN	daily rain	26.9 mm (1.1 in)	17.2 mm (0.7 in)	32 years	28 of 100 (Routine)
31 January 1940	Sitka Magnetic Obsy, US	monthly high max	15.6 C (60.1 F)	2.3 C (4.1 F)	28 years	28 of 100 (Routine)
31 January 1940	Walsh River Post Office, AU	daily rain	67.3 mm (2.6 in)	27.7 mm (1.1 in)	32 years	27 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

1800 to 1940

Records set or tied on this calendar date in each year from 1800 to 1940. 1940 had 361 records.

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

Records on 01-31 in each year
Year	Records
1800	1
1801	1
1830	2
1843	1
1846	1
1850	1
1852	1
1853	2
1854	2
1862	1
1863	2
1868	1
1869	2
1870	1
1873	1
1875	1
1877	1
1878	2
1880	1
1882	1
1883	1
1884	5
1885	1
1886	2
1887	1
1888	3
1889	3
1890	2
1892	1
1893	9
1894	1
1895	3
1896	1
1897	2
1898	7
1899	7
1900	5
1901	4
1902	10
1903	3
1904	6
1905	21
1906	17
1907	8
1908	36
1909	27
1910	10
1911	52
1912	20
1913	49
1914	36
1915	115
1916	94
1917	190
1918	150
1919	14
1920	113
1921	29
1922	55
1923	152
1924	203
1925	134
1926	204
1927	64
1928	47
1929	263
1930	83
1931	326
1932	153
1933	212
1934	597
1935	431
1936	830
1937	309
1938	362
1939	323
1940	361
1941	354
1942	273
1943	698
1944	232
1945	943
1946	359
1947	788
1948	600
1949	1,058
1950	1,022
1951	1,192
1952	519
1953	879
1954	744
1955	383
1956	434
1957	563
1958	692
1959	237
1960	349
1961	475
1962	686
1963	928
1964	402
1965	696
1966	1,295
1967	637
1968	524
1969	703
1970	209
1971	1,506
1972	426
1973	714
1974	1,128
1975	1,110
1976	569
1977	781
1978	844
1979	1,995
1980	757
1981	687
1982	1,287
1983	1,078
1984	610
1985	1,725
1986	616
1987	787
1988	1,582
1989	1,718
1990	821
1991	617
1992	1,573
1993	856
1994	1,049
1995	1,122
1996	1,594
1997	898
1998	641
1999	938
2000	1,115
2001	1,061
2002	3,080
2003	1,281
2004	1,392
2005	767
2006	722
2007	713
2008	704
2009	552
2010	1,311
2011	741
2012	1,037
2013	1,397
2014	986
2015	663
2016	1,147
2017	575
2018	564
2019	1,426
2020	1,031
2021	504
2022	255
2023	907
2024	1,117
2025	827
2026	839

Download the Data

Data for records on 1940-01-31: 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 200	304
200 to 400	1
400 to 600	0
600 to 800	0
800 to 1000	0
1000 to 1200	0
1200 to 1400	1