Weather Records on 16 December 1959

605 weather records were set or tied worldwide on 16 December 1959. Highest significance: San Jon, US.

Key Facts for 16 December 1959

On 16 December 1959, 605 weather records were set or tied at long-record stations worldwide.
352 were record highs and 37 were record lows, counting maximum and minimum temperature.
By timescale, 0 were all-time records, 6 monthly and 599 daily.
San Jon set a daily record precipitation of 49.0 mm (1.9 in) on 16 December 1959.
Across 160 earlier years (1793 to 2025) the same calendar date averaged 482 records.

Record Map

605 stations

605 station records on 16 December 1959 are marked on the map, coloured by record type. Dot size shows the significance score. Made with Natural Earth.

Weather records on 16 December 1959: highest significance records shown on the map
Station	Country	Type	Value	Significance
San Jon	United States	Record daily precipitation	49.0 mm (1.9 in)	58 of 100 (Notable)
Amity	United States	Record daily precipitation	82.6 mm (3.3 in)	53 of 100 (Notable)
Natchitoches	United States	Record daily precipitation	65.5 mm (2.6 in)	51 of 100 (Notable)
Magdalena	United States	Record daily precipitation	45.5 mm (1.8 in)	51 of 100 (Notable)
Porter 2 E	United States	Record daily precipitation	39.1 mm (1.5 in)	51 of 100 (Notable)
Greenville Kgvl Radio	United States	Record daily precipitation	77.5 mm (3.1 in)	49 of 100 (Notable)
Liberty	United States	Record daily precipitation	138.4 mm (5.4 in)	49 of 100 (Notable)
Cheyenne 1 WSW	United States	Record daily precipitation	27.9 mm (1.1 in)	46 of 100 (Notable)
Brenham	United States	Record daily precipitation	67.8 mm (2.7 in)	46 of 100 (Notable)
Fulton	United States	Record daily precipitation	76.2 mm (3.0 in)	45 of 100 (Notable)
Huntsville	United States	Record daily precipitation	81.3 mm (3.2 in)	44 of 100 (Notable)
Urania	United States	Record daily precipitation	77.5 mm (3.1 in)	43 of 100 (Notable)
Ville Platte	United States	Record daily precipitation	100.3 mm (3.9 in)	42 of 100 (Notable)
Hempstead	United States	Record daily precipitation	64.8 mm (2.6 in)	42 of 100 (Notable)
Texarkana Webb Fld	United States	Record daily precipitation	67.1 mm (2.6 in)	42 of 100 (Notable)
Ione	United States	Record daily precipitation	26.7 mm (1.1 in)	41 of 100 (Notable)
Miami	United States	Record daily precipitation	25.7 mm (1.0 in)	40 of 100 (Notable)
Mt Pleasant	United States	Record daily precipitation	69.6 mm (2.7 in)	39 of 100 (Notable)
Clarendon	United States	Record daily precipitation	33.3 mm (1.3 in)	39 of 100 (Notable)
Ada	United States	Record daily precipitation	43.9 mm (1.7 in)	38 of 100 (Notable)
Madison Wb City	United States	Record high maximum temperature	14.4 C (57.9 F)	38 of 100 (Notable)
Kelvin (Kahana)	Australia	Record daily precipitation	43.7 mm (1.7 in)	37 of 100 (Notable)
Walters	United States	Record daily precipitation	41.4 mm (1.6 in)	36 of 100 (Notable)
Hagansport	United States	Record daily precipitation	88.9 mm (3.5 in)	36 of 100 (Notable)
Okay	United States	Record daily precipitation	80.5 mm (3.2 in)	35 of 100 (Notable)
Pauls Valley 4 WSW	United States	Record daily precipitation	29.2 mm (1.1 in)	35 of 100 (Notable)
Panhandle	United States	Record daily precipitation	27.9 mm (1.1 in)	35 of 100 (Notable)
Malvern	United States	Record daily precipitation	55.1 mm (2.2 in)	34 of 100 (Routine)
Tucumcari 4 NE	United States	Record daily precipitation	31.0 mm (1.2 in)	34 of 100 (Routine)
Canadian	United States	Record daily precipitation	41.9 mm (1.6 in)	34 of 100 (Routine)
Maunabo	Puerto Rico [United States]	Record daily precipitation	41.4 mm (1.6 in)	33 of 100 (Routine)
Naples 1 SW	United States	Record daily precipitation	76.2 mm (3.0 in)	33 of 100 (Routine)
Sterling City	United States	Record daily precipitation	37.3 mm (1.5 in)	33 of 100 (Routine)
Aberfoyle	Australia	Record daily precipitation	37.8 mm (1.5 in)	32 of 100 (Routine)
Virden	Canada	Record high minimum temperature	-6.1 C (21.0 F)	32 of 100 (Routine)
Jennings	United States	Record daily precipitation	115.3 mm (4.5 in)	32 of 100 (Routine)
Estancia 4N	United States	Record daily snowfall	10.2 cm (4.0 in)	32 of 100 (Routine)
Erick	United States	Record daily precipitation	27.9 mm (1.1 in)	32 of 100 (Routine)
Lawton	United States	Record daily precipitation	33.0 mm (1.3 in)	32 of 100 (Routine)
Waurika	United States	Record daily precipitation	39.6 mm (1.6 in)	32 of 100 (Routine)
Henrietta	United States	Record daily precipitation	30.2 mm (1.2 in)	32 of 100 (Routine)
Sulphur Springs	United States	Record daily precipitation	81.3 mm (3.2 in)	32 of 100 (Routine)
Nqutu (Tnk)	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	98.0 mm (3.9 in)	31 of 100 (Routine)
Mena	United States	Record daily precipitation	45.2 mm (1.8 in)	31 of 100 (Routine)
Wills Pt	United States	Record daily precipitation	37.3 mm (1.5 in)	31 of 100 (Routine)
Shamrock	United States	Record daily precipitation	25.1 mm (1.0 in)	30 of 100 (Routine)
Virden	Canada	Record high maximum temperature	0.6 C (33.1 F)	29 of 100 (Routine)
Aleksandrovsk-Sahalinskij	Russia	Record low maximum temperature	-19.5 C (-3.1 F)	29 of 100 (Routine)
Logansport	United States	Record daily precipitation	97.5 mm (3.8 in)	29 of 100 (Routine)
Chita	Russia	Record low minimum temperature	-45.2 C (-49.4 F)	28 of 100 (Routine)
Belvidere	United States	Record high maximum temperature	14.4 C (57.9 F)	28 of 100 (Routine)
Frederick	United States	Record daily precipitation	25.9 mm (1.0 in)	28 of 100 (Routine)
Hollis 5E	United States	Record daily precipitation	29.5 mm (1.2 in)	28 of 100 (Routine)
Tishomingo Natl Wr	United States	Record daily precipitation	38.9 mm (1.5 in)	28 of 100 (Routine)
Ridgetown	Canada	Record high maximum temperature	10.6 C (51.1 F)	27 of 100 (Routine)
White Cliffs	United States	Record daily precipitation	61.0 mm (2.4 in)	27 of 100 (Routine)
Leech Lake	United States	Record high minimum temperature	-0.6 C (30.9 F)	27 of 100 (Routine)
Red Lake Indian Agcy	United States	Record high minimum temperature	0.6 C (33.1 F)	27 of 100 (Routine)
Mosquero 1 NE	United States	Record snow depth	15.2 cm (6.0 in)	27 of 100 (Routine)
Addison	United States	Record high minimum temperature	5.0 C (41.0 F)	27 of 100 (Routine)

Counts by Type and Timescale

605 records

Records set or tied on 16 December 1959 by type: Highest daily maximum 184, Lowest daily maximum 15, Highest daily minimum 168, Lowest daily minimum 22, Heaviest daily rainfall 188, Heaviest daily snowfall 21, Deepest snow cover 7.

Records on 16 December 1959 by type
Record type	Records
Highest daily maximum	184
Lowest daily maximum	15
Highest daily minimum	168
Lowest daily minimum	22
Heaviest daily rainfall	188
Heaviest daily snowfall	21
Deepest snow cover	7

Records on 16 December 1959 by timescale: all-time 0, monthly 6, daily 599.

How Much Records Were Beaten By

473 broken records

Margins by which the 473 broken records beat the old ones, in degrees Celsius for temperature and millimetres for precipitation and snow; the largest margin was 152.0. Ties are not counted.

Top 20 by Significance

16 December 1959

Top 20 records on 16 December 1959 by significance
Date	Station	Record	Value	Beat old record by	Old record stood	Significance
16 December 1959	San Jon, US	daily rain	49.0 mm (1.9 in)	40.1 mm (1.6 in)	45 years	58 of 100 (Notable)
16 December 1959	Amity, US	daily rain	82.6 mm (3.3 in)	63.5 mm (2.5 in)	30 years	53 of 100 (Notable)
16 December 1959	Natchitoches, US	daily rain	65.5 mm (2.6 in)	44.4 mm (1.7 in)	65 years	51 of 100 (Notable)
16 December 1959	Magdalena, US	monthly rain	45.5 mm (1.8 in)	17.6 mm (0.7 in)	0 years	51 of 100 (Notable)
16 December 1959	Porter 2 E, US	daily rain	39.1 mm (1.5 in)	34.8 mm (1.4 in)	30 years	51 of 100 (Notable)
16 December 1959	Greenville Kgvl Radio, US	daily rain	77.5 mm (3.1 in)	46.8 mm (1.8 in)	30 years	49 of 100 (Notable)
16 December 1959	Liberty, US	daily rain	138.4 mm (5.4 in)	77.7 mm (3.1 in)	21 years	49 of 100 (Notable)
16 December 1959	Cheyenne 1 WSW, US	daily rain	27.9 mm (1.1 in)	23.8 mm (0.9 in)	30 years	46 of 100 (Notable)
16 December 1959	Brenham, US	daily rain	67.8 mm (2.7 in)	38.1 mm (1.5 in)	52 years	46 of 100 (Notable)
16 December 1959	Fulton, US	daily rain	76.2 mm (3.0 in)	29.2 mm (1.1 in)	66 years	45 of 100 (Notable)
16 December 1959	Huntsville, US	daily rain	81.3 mm (3.2 in)	42.2 mm (1.7 in)	52 years	44 of 100 (Notable)
16 December 1959	Urania, US	daily rain	77.5 mm (3.1 in)	58.4 mm (2.3 in)	28 years	43 of 100 (Notable)
16 December 1959	Ville Platte, US	daily rain	100.3 mm (3.9 in)	63.5 mm (2.5 in)	26 years	42 of 100 (Notable)
16 December 1959	Hempstead, US	daily rain	64.8 mm (2.6 in)	39.9 mm (1.6 in)	37 years	42 of 100 (Notable)
16 December 1959	Texarkana Webb Fld, US	daily rain	67.1 mm (2.6 in)	29.0 mm (1.1 in)	66 years	42 of 100 (Notable)
16 December 1959	Ione, US	daily rain	26.7 mm (1.1 in)	20.9 mm (0.8 in)	30 years	41 of 100 (Notable)
16 December 1959	Miami, US	daily rain	25.7 mm (1.0 in)	20.6 mm (0.8 in)	26 years	40 of 100 (Notable)
16 December 1959	Mt Pleasant, US	daily rain	69.6 mm (2.7 in)	43.9 mm (1.7 in)	30 years	39 of 100 (Notable)
16 December 1959	Clarendon, US	daily rain	33.3 mm (1.3 in)	25.7 mm (1.0 in)	28 years	39 of 100 (Notable)
16 December 1959	Ada, US	daily rain	43.9 mm (1.7 in)	27.6 mm (1.1 in)	44 years	38 of 100 (Notable)

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 1959

Records set or tied on this calendar date in each year from 1793 to 1959. 1959 had 605 records.

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

Records on 12-16 in each year
Year	Records
1793	2
1798	2
1808	1
1810	1
1814	2
1815	2
1835	1
1839	1
1840	1
1846	3
1852	1
1853	1
1859	3
1864	1
1869	1
1870	1
1872	1
1876	1
1877	1
1878	2
1879	1
1885	2
1886	2
1888	2
1889	1
1890	4
1891	2
1892	3
1893	1
1894	1
1895	1
1896	7
1897	4
1898	1
1899	2
1900	2
1901	4
1902	17
1903	6
1904	8
1905	4
1906	5
1907	30
1908	11
1909	5
1910	38
1911	26
1912	31
1913	12
1914	26
1915	55
1916	31
1917	60
1918	33
1919	52
1920	61
1921	35
1922	62
1923	205
1924	347
1925	93
1926	130
1927	218
1928	338
1929	383
1930	398
1931	168
1932	880
1933	716
1934	163
1935	71
1936	429
1937	351
1938	142
1939	1,014
1940	633
1941	348
1942	550
1943	491
1944	189
1945	478
1946	357
1947	506
1948	775
1949	132
1950	272
1951	987
1952	349
1953	265
1954	305
1955	325
1956	650
1957	478
1958	497
1959	605
1960	393
1961	858
1962	859
1963	484
1964	639
1965	576
1966	417
1967	886
1968	557
1969	205
1970	726
1971	1,540
1972	1,020
1973	823
1974	546
1975	493
1976	526
1977	950
1978	532
1979	528
1980	1,322
1981	1,498
1982	1,208
1983	1,156
1984	1,944
1985	983
1986	485
1987	1,377
1988	605
1989	3,181
1990	753
1991	659
1992	1,408
1993	676
1994	698
1995	714
1996	797
1997	1,260
1998	698
1999	821
2000	1,160
2001	1,197
2002	990
2003	679
2004	510
2005	1,073
2006	1,020
2007	1,301
2008	2,049
2009	1,032
2010	1,585
2011	777
2012	912
2013	762
2014	465
2015	925
2016	1,588
2017	349
2018	624
2019	786
2020	415
2021	1,485
2022	836
2023	841
2024	755
2025	1,820

Download the Data

Data for records on 1959-12-16: 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 20	418
20 to 40	34
40 to 60	11
60 to 80	7
80 to 100	1
100 to 120	0
120 to 140	1
140 to 160	1