Weather Records on 18 December 1956

333 weather records were set or tied worldwide on 18 December 1956. Highest significance: Virden, CA.

Key Facts for 18 December 1956

On 18 December 1956, 333 weather records were set or tied at long-record stations worldwide.
185 were record highs and 20 were record lows, counting maximum and minimum temperature.
By timescale, 0 were all-time records, 3 monthly and 330 daily.
Virden set a daily record low minimum temperature of -33.9 C (-29.0 F) on 18 December 1956.
Across 156 earlier years (1793 to 2025) the same calendar date averaged 481 records.

Record Map

333 stations

333 station records on 18 December 1956 are marked on the map, coloured by record type. Dot size shows the significance score. Made with Natural Earth.

Weather records on 18 December 1956: highest significance records shown on the map
Station	Country	Type	Value	Significance
Virden	Canada	Record low minimum temperature	-33.9 C (-29.0 F)	63 of 100 (Major)
Chillagoe Atherton Street	Australia	Record daily precipitation	112.5 mm (4.4 in)	58 of 100 (Notable)
Goliad	United States	Record daily precipitation	78.5 mm (3.1 in)	55 of 100 (Notable)
Comanche	United States	Record daily precipitation	50.8 mm (2.0 in)	54 of 100 (Notable)
Mount Surprise Township	Australia	Record daily precipitation	90.4 mm (3.6 in)	52 of 100 (Notable)
Ottoshoop (Pol)	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	80.0 mm (3.1 in)	50 of 100 (Notable)
Flatonia 4SE	United States	Record daily precipitation	68.6 mm (2.7 in)	49 of 100 (Notable)
Juazeiro (Pcd)	Brazil	Record daily precipitation	71.0 mm (2.8 in)	47 of 100 (Notable)
Seguin	United States	Record daily precipitation	53.1 mm (2.1 in)	47 of 100 (Notable)
Koolpinyah	Australia	Record daily precipitation	108.0 mm (4.3 in)	45 of 100 (Notable)
Austwell	United States	Record daily precipitation	61.0 mm (2.4 in)	41 of 100 (Notable)
Runge	United States	Record daily precipitation	57.4 mm (2.3 in)	39 of 100 (Notable)
Nixon	United States	Record daily precipitation	40.9 mm (1.6 in)	38 of 100 (Notable)
Sealy	United States	Record daily precipitation	74.2 mm (2.9 in)	38 of 100 (Notable)
Strathmore	Australia	Record daily precipitation	121.7 mm (4.8 in)	36 of 100 (Notable)
Petrolina	Brazil	Record daily precipitation	64.6 mm (2.5 in)	36 of 100 (Notable)
Brenham	United States	Record daily precipitation	54.6 mm (2.1 in)	36 of 100 (Notable)
Virden	Canada	Record high maximum temperature	3.9 C (39.0 F)	35 of 100 (Notable)
Spring Creek Station	Australia	Record daily precipitation	48.8 mm (1.9 in)	33 of 100 (Routine)
Karnes City 2N	United States	Record daily precipitation	39.9 mm (1.6 in)	33 of 100 (Routine)
Borroloola	Australia	Record daily precipitation	43.4 mm (1.7 in)	32 of 100 (Routine)
Bella Coola	Canada	Record daily precipitation	53.6 mm (2.1 in)	32 of 100 (Routine)
Freiburg	Germany	Record high maximum temperature	14.0 C (57.2 F)	32 of 100 (Routine)
Clifton 10 E	United States	Record daily precipitation	30.7 mm (1.2 in)	31 of 100 (Routine)
Huntsville	United States	Record daily precipitation	67.6 mm (2.7 in)	31 of 100 (Routine)
New Braunfels	United States	Record daily precipitation	50.8 mm (2.0 in)	31 of 100 (Routine)
Burnet	United States	Record daily precipitation	32.3 mm (1.3 in)	29 of 100 (Routine)
Eddington Station	Australia	Record daily precipitation	50.8 mm (2.0 in)	28 of 100 (Routine)
Ft Benton	United States	Record high minimum temperature	6.1 C (43.0 F)	28 of 100 (Routine)
Mareeba Post Office	Australia	Record daily precipitation	38.1 mm (1.5 in)	27 of 100 (Routine)
Kerrville	United States	Record daily precipitation	40.6 mm (1.6 in)	27 of 100 (Routine)
Niulii 179	United States	Record high minimum temperature	22.2 C (72.0 F)	27 of 100 (Routine)
Lobatse	Botswana	Record daily precipitation	33.0 mm (1.3 in)	26 of 100 (Routine)
Longlac	Canada	Record daily snowfall	10.2 cm (4.0 in)	26 of 100 (Routine)
Phillaur	India	Record daily precipitation	28.7 mm (1.1 in)	26 of 100 (Routine)
Waynesboro 2 S	United States	Record high maximum temperature	25.6 C (78.1 F)	26 of 100 (Routine)
Husum	Germany	Record high minimum temperature	7.4 C (45.3 F)	25 of 100 (Routine)
Cameron	United States	Record daily precipitation	33.0 mm (1.3 in)	25 of 100 (Routine)
Danevang 1 W	United States	Record daily precipitation	35.6 mm (1.4 in)	25 of 100 (Routine)
Hallettsville 2 N	United States	Record daily precipitation	30.5 mm (1.2 in)	25 of 100 (Routine)
Darwin Loco Works	Australia	Record daily precipitation	97.3 mm (3.8 in)	24 of 100 (Routine)
Bloomsbury Post Office	Australia	Record daily precipitation	80.5 mm (3.2 in)	24 of 100 (Routine)
Tranebjerg	Denmark	Record high minimum temperature	6.4 C (43.5 F)	24 of 100 (Routine)
Chemnitz	Germany	Record high maximum temperature	12.9 C (55.2 F)	24 of 100 (Routine)
Oak Park Station	Australia	Record daily precipitation	65.0 mm (2.6 in)	23 of 100 (Routine)
White River	Canada	Record daily snowfall	8.1 cm (3.2 in)	23 of 100 (Routine)
Kargopol	Russia	Record high minimum temperature	1.2 C (34.2 F)	23 of 100 (Routine)
Tot-Ma	Russia	Record high minimum temperature	0.9 C (33.6 F)	23 of 100 (Routine)
Dinokana	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	67.0 mm (2.6 in)	23 of 100 (Routine)
Tejon Rancho	United States	Record low minimum temperature	-1.7 C (28.9 F)	23 of 100 (Routine)
Anderson	United States	Record daily precipitation	43.9 mm (1.7 in)	23 of 100 (Routine)
La Grange	United States	Record daily precipitation	43.9 mm (1.7 in)	23 of 100 (Routine)
Strathmore	Australia	Record daily precipitation	42.4 mm (1.7 in)	22 of 100 (Routine)
East Barron Forest Res	Australia	Record daily precipitation	77.5 mm (3.1 in)	22 of 100 (Routine)
St. Petersburg	Russia	Record high minimum temperature	2.2 C (36.0 F)	22 of 100 (Routine)
Livingston	United States	Record high minimum temperature	12.8 C (55.0 F)	22 of 100 (Routine)
Plant City	United States	Record high maximum temperature	29.4 C (84.9 F)	22 of 100 (Routine)
Edna 3 SW	United States	Record daily precipitation	45.2 mm (1.8 in)	22 of 100 (Routine)
Sinton	United States	Record daily precipitation	36.1 mm (1.4 in)	22 of 100 (Routine)
Booby Island Lighthouse	Australia	Record daily precipitation	57.4 mm (2.3 in)	21 of 100 (Routine)

Counts by Type and Timescale

333 records

Records set or tied on 18 December 1956 by type: Highest daily maximum 66, Lowest daily maximum 5, Highest daily minimum 119, Lowest daily minimum 15, Heaviest daily rainfall 120, Heaviest daily snowfall 6, Deepest snow cover 2.

Records on 18 December 1956 by type
Record type	Records
Highest daily maximum	66
Lowest daily maximum	5
Highest daily minimum	119
Lowest daily minimum	15
Heaviest daily rainfall	120
Heaviest daily snowfall	6
Deepest snow cover	2

Records on 18 December 1956 by timescale: all-time 0, monthly 3, daily 330.

How Much Records Were Beaten By

260 broken records

Margins by which the 260 broken records beat the old ones, in degrees Celsius for temperature and millimetres for precipitation and snow; the largest margin was 77.0. Ties are not counted.

Top 20 by Significance

18 December 1956

Top 20 records on 18 December 1956 by significance
Date	Station	Record	Value	Beat old record by	Old record stood	Significance
18 December 1956	Virden, CA	daily low min	-33.9 C (-29.0 F)	21.1 C (38.0 F)	65 years	63 of 100 (Major)
18 December 1956	Chillagoe Atherton Street, AU	daily rain	112.5 mm (4.4 in)	75.7 mm (3.0 in)	52 years	58 of 100 (Notable)
18 December 1956	Goliad, US	daily rain	78.5 mm (3.1 in)	54.4 mm (2.1 in)	38 years	55 of 100 (Notable)
18 December 1956	Comanche, US	daily rain	50.8 mm (2.0 in)	48.8 mm (1.9 in)	32 years	54 of 100 (Notable)
18 December 1956	Mount Surprise Township, AU	daily rain	90.4 mm (3.6 in)	51.0 mm (2.0 in)	37 years	52 of 100 (Notable)
18 December 1956	Ottoshoop (Pol), ZA	daily rain	80.0 mm (3.1 in)	64.8 mm (2.6 in)	17 years	50 of 100 (Notable)
18 December 1956	Flatonia 4SE, US	daily rain	68.6 mm (2.7 in)	40.7 mm (1.6 in)	38 years	49 of 100 (Notable)
18 December 1956	Juazeiro (Pcd), BR	daily rain	71.0 mm (2.8 in)	62.0 mm (2.4 in)	16 years	47 of 100 (Notable)
18 December 1956	Seguin, US	daily rain	53.1 mm (2.1 in)	39.4 mm (1.6 in)	33 years	47 of 100 (Notable)
18 December 1956	Koolpinyah, AU	daily rain	108.0 mm (4.3 in)	53.1 mm (2.1 in)	43 years	45 of 100 (Notable)
18 December 1956	Austwell, US	daily rain	61.0 mm (2.4 in)	37.6 mm (1.5 in)	38 years	41 of 100 (Notable)
18 December 1956	Runge, US	daily rain	57.4 mm (2.3 in)	30.2 mm (1.2 in)	38 years	39 of 100 (Notable)
18 December 1956	Nixon, US	daily rain	40.9 mm (1.6 in)	31.0 mm (1.2 in)	29 years	38 of 100 (Notable)
18 December 1956	Sealy, US	daily rain	74.2 mm (2.9 in)	43.0 mm (1.7 in)	37 years	38 of 100 (Notable)
18 December 1956	Strathmore, AU	daily rain	121.7 mm (4.8 in)	40.2 mm (1.6 in)	32 years	36 of 100 (Notable)
18 December 1956	Petrolina, BR	daily rain	64.6 mm (2.5 in)	41.3 mm (1.6 in)	18 years	36 of 100 (Notable)
18 December 1956	Brenham, US	daily rain	54.6 mm (2.1 in)	43.2 mm (1.7 in)	7 years	36 of 100 (Notable)
18 December 1956	Virden, CA	daily high max	3.9 C (39.0 F)	7.8 C (14.0 F)	65 years	35 of 100 (Notable)
18 December 1956	Spring Creek Station, AU	daily rain	48.8 mm (1.9 in)	28.5 mm (1.1 in)	37 years	33 of 100 (Routine)
18 December 1956	Karnes City 2N, US	daily rain	39.9 mm (1.6 in)	25.4 mm (1.0 in)	30 years	33 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 1956

Records set or tied on this calendar date in each year from 1793 to 1956. 1956 had 333 records.

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

Records on 12-18 in each year
Year	Records
1793	1
1796	1
1805	1
1814	1
1825	1
1846	1
1849	1
1852	2
1858	1
1859	4
1862	2
1864	1
1868	1
1873	1
1875	1
1876	2
1878	1
1881	2
1882	1
1884	2
1886	1
1887	1
1888	1
1889	4
1890	5
1892	4
1894	8
1895	1
1897	4
1898	9
1899	3
1900	2
1901	6
1902	33
1903	11
1904	25
1905	3
1906	21
1907	15
1908	16
1909	18
1910	19
1911	9
1912	33
1913	38
1914	20
1915	28
1916	57
1917	62
1918	21
1919	117
1920	77
1921	123
1922	108
1923	378
1924	480
1925	74
1926	173
1927	151
1928	165
1929	366
1930	230
1931	360
1932	353
1933	506
1934	209
1935	138
1936	466
1937	459
1938	185
1939	900
1940	242
1941	213
1942	281
1943	419
1944	191
1945	598
1946	199
1947	266
1948	354
1949	561
1950	289
1951	867
1952	450
1953	373
1954	507
1955	611
1956	333
1957	901
1958	524
1959	477
1960	477
1961	885
1962	759
1963	571
1964	840
1965	402
1966	644
1967	1,105
1968	488
1969	376
1970	502
1971	387
1972	375
1973	1,008
1974	229
1975	625
1976	459
1977	992
1978	946
1979	1,087
1980	772
1981	1,362
1982	537
1983	2,014
1984	1,439
1985	1,384
1986	875
1987	1,505
1988	1,061
1989	1,818
1990	1,367
1991	756
1992	1,045
1993	697
1994	643
1995	1,065
1996	1,833
1997	1,195
1998	863
1999	923
2000	1,572
2001	906
2002	1,437
2003	987
2004	506
2005	987
2006	1,167
2007	746
2008	1,014
2009	1,253
2010	1,322
2011	697
2012	729
2013	513
2014	556
2015	1,254
2016	1,821
2017	516
2018	464
2019	679
2020	326
2021	762
2022	536
2023	1,293
2024	780
2025	994

Download the Data

Data for records on 1956-12-18: 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 2026-10-16. Last revised 16 October 2026 (2026-10-16).

Margin	Records
0 to 10	203
10 to 20	23
20 to 30	12
30 to 40	8
40 to 50	7
50 to 60	3
60 to 70	2
70 to 80	2