Weather Records on 17 December 1959

548 weather records were set or tied worldwide on 17 December 1959. Highest significance: Oakwood 3 SW, US.

Key Facts for 17 December 1959

On 17 December 1959, 548 weather records were set or tied at long-record stations worldwide.
210 were record highs and 25 were record lows, counting maximum and minimum temperature.
By timescale, 0 were all-time records, 9 monthly and 539 daily.
Oakwood 3 SW set a daily record precipitation of 43.7 mm (1.7 in) on 17 December 1959.
Across 160 earlier years (1793 to 2025) the same calendar date averaged 463 records.

Record Map

548 stations

548 station records on 17 December 1959 are marked on the map, coloured by record type. Dot size shows the significance score. Made with Natural Earth.

Weather records on 17 December 1959: highest significance records shown on the map
Station	Country	Type	Value	Significance
Oakwood 3 SW	United States	Record daily precipitation	43.7 mm (1.7 in)	54 of 100 (Notable)
Hartbeespoort Dam (Irr)	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	51.0 mm (2.0 in)	53 of 100 (Notable)
Rolfontein	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	55.5 mm (2.2 in)	52 of 100 (Notable)
Rayne 6 N	United States	Record daily precipitation	175.3 mm (6.9 in)	51 of 100 (Notable)
Vega 2NW	United States	Record daily precipitation	45.7 mm (1.8 in)	51 of 100 (Notable)
Boggabri (Penryn)	Australia	Record daily precipitation	56.6 mm (2.2 in)	50 of 100 (Notable)
Woodville 4 ESE	United States	Record daily precipitation	103.4 mm (4.1 in)	50 of 100 (Notable)
Clinton Forestry HQ	United States	Record daily precipitation	108.5 mm (4.3 in)	49 of 100 (Notable)
Brookhaven City	United States	Record daily precipitation	103.1 mm (4.1 in)	49 of 100 (Notable)
Simmesport	United States	Record daily precipitation	90.2 mm (3.6 in)	48 of 100 (Notable)
Pawhuska	United States	Record daily precipitation	41.4 mm (1.6 in)	47 of 100 (Notable)
Panhandle	United States	Record daily precipitation	43.4 mm (1.7 in)	47 of 100 (Notable)
Deer Vale	Australia	Record daily precipitation	85.9 mm (3.4 in)	46 of 100 (Notable)
Canyon	United States	Record daily precipitation	32.8 mm (1.3 in)	46 of 100 (Notable)
Irene	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	81.2 mm (3.2 in)	45 of 100 (Notable)
Angola	United States	Record daily precipitation	125.5 mm (4.9 in)	45 of 100 (Notable)
Armidale (Radio Station 2Ad)	Australia	Record daily precipitation	46.5 mm (1.8 in)	44 of 100 (Notable)
Spearman	United States	Record daily precipitation	60.5 mm (2.4 in)	44 of 100 (Notable)
Canadian	United States	Record daily precipitation	31.0 mm (1.2 in)	43 of 100 (Notable)
Stratford	United States	Record daily precipitation	25.4 mm (1.0 in)	43 of 100 (Notable)
Quipolly Creek Post Office	Australia	Record daily precipitation	55.9 mm (2.2 in)	42 of 100 (Notable)
Arnett 3NE	United States	Record daily precipitation	41.4 mm (1.6 in)	41 of 100 (Notable)
Meeker 5 W	United States	Record daily precipitation	41.1 mm (1.6 in)	41 of 100 (Notable)
Shamrock	United States	Record daily precipitation	29.2 mm (1.1 in)	40 of 100 (Notable)
Delungra (Pearsby Hall)	Australia	Record daily precipitation	74.4 mm (2.9 in)	39 of 100 (Notable)
Boggabri (Ghoolendaadi)	Australia	Record daily precipitation	30.2 mm (1.2 in)	39 of 100 (Notable)
Kelvin (Carellan)	Australia	Record daily precipitation	43.4 mm (1.7 in)	39 of 100 (Notable)
Geary	United States	Record daily precipitation	38.1 mm (1.5 in)	39 of 100 (Notable)
Donaldsonville 4 SW	United States	Record daily precipitation	59.9 mm (2.4 in)	38 of 100 (Notable)
Elizabeth	United States	Record daily precipitation	106.2 mm (4.2 in)	38 of 100 (Notable)
Sugartown	United States	Record daily precipitation	62.7 mm (2.5 in)	38 of 100 (Notable)
Buffalo 2 SSW	United States	Record daily precipitation	35.8 mm (1.4 in)	38 of 100 (Notable)
Nive Downs	Australia	Record daily precipitation	67.6 mm (2.7 in)	37 of 100 (Notable)
Mahlabatini (Mag)	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	67.0 mm (2.6 in)	37 of 100 (Notable)
Hlobane	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	64.0 mm (2.5 in)	37 of 100 (Notable)
Utica	United States	Record daily precipitation	111.3 mm (4.4 in)	37 of 100 (Notable)
Elida	United States	Record daily snowfall	12.7 cm (5.0 in)	36 of 100 (Notable)
Boggabri Post Office	Australia	Record daily precipitation	56.1 mm (2.2 in)	35 of 100 (Notable)
Pretoria-Waterkloof-Cntry	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	91.5 mm (3.6 in)	35 of 100 (Notable)
Norman 3SSE	United States	Record daily precipitation	36.3 mm (1.4 in)	35 of 100 (Notable)
May Vale	Australia	Record daily precipitation	52.1 mm (2.1 in)	34 of 100 (Routine)
Tallulah	United States	Record daily precipitation	59.9 mm (2.4 in)	34 of 100 (Routine)
Bingara Post Office	Australia	Record daily precipitation	39.9 mm (1.6 in)	33 of 100 (Routine)
Sandfontein (Irr)	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	55.0 mm (2.2 in)	33 of 100 (Routine)
De Kroon (Irr)	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	55.0 mm (2.2 in)	33 of 100 (Routine)
Grand Coteau	United States	Record daily precipitation	102.1 mm (4.0 in)	33 of 100 (Routine)
Marlow 1 WSW	United States	Record daily precipitation	38.1 mm (1.5 in)	33 of 100 (Routine)
Pretoria-Burgerspark	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	81.6 mm (3.2 in)	32 of 100 (Routine)
Hartebeespoort-Agrc.	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	50.0 mm (2.0 in)	31 of 100 (Routine)
Hollis 5E	United States	Record daily precipitation	25.7 mm (1.0 in)	31 of 100 (Routine)
Kelvin (Kahana)	Australia	Record daily precipitation	26.7 mm (1.1 in)	30 of 100 (Routine)
Bele (Bos)	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	40.0 mm (1.6 in)	30 of 100 (Routine)
Berrings	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	39.0 mm (1.5 in)	30 of 100 (Routine)
Pretoria-Fountains	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	105.5 mm (4.2 in)	30 of 100 (Routine)
Cinclare	United States	Record daily precipitation	56.1 mm (2.2 in)	30 of 100 (Routine)
Ponca City	United States	Record daily precipitation	38.9 mm (1.5 in)	30 of 100 (Routine)
Watonga	United States	Record daily precipitation	33.3 mm (1.3 in)	30 of 100 (Routine)
Tingha Post Office	Australia	Record daily precipitation	31.8 mm (1.3 in)	29 of 100 (Routine)
Virden	Canada	Record high minimum temperature	-8.9 C (16.0 F)	29 of 100 (Routine)
Waaihoek	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	53.0 mm (2.1 in)	29 of 100 (Routine)

Counts by Type and Timescale

548 records

Records set or tied on 17 December 1959 by type: Highest daily maximum 57, Lowest daily maximum 12, Highest daily minimum 153, Lowest daily minimum 13, Heaviest daily rainfall 304, Heaviest daily snowfall 6, Deepest snow cover 3.

Records on 17 December 1959 by type
Record type	Records
Highest daily maximum	57
Lowest daily maximum	12
Highest daily minimum	153
Lowest daily minimum	13
Heaviest daily rainfall	304
Heaviest daily snowfall	6
Deepest snow cover	3

Records on 17 December 1959 by timescale: all-time 0, monthly 9, daily 539.

How Much Records Were Beaten By

459 broken records

Margins by which the 459 broken records beat the old ones, in degrees Celsius for temperature and millimetres for precipitation and snow; the largest margin was 114.0. Ties are not counted.

Top 20 by Significance

17 December 1959

Top 20 records on 17 December 1959 by significance
Date	Station	Record	Value	Beat old record by	Old record stood	Significance
17 December 1959	Oakwood 3 SW, US	daily rain	43.7 mm (1.7 in)	34.8 mm (1.4 in)	40 years	54 of 100 (Notable)
17 December 1959	Hartbeespoort Dam (Irr), ZA	daily rain	51.0 mm (2.0 in)	41.3 mm (1.6 in)	42 years	53 of 100 (Notable)
17 December 1959	Rolfontein, ZA	daily rain	55.5 mm (2.2 in)	42.3 mm (1.7 in)	33 years	52 of 100 (Notable)
17 December 1959	Rayne 6 N, US	monthly rain	175.3 mm (6.9 in)	65.3 mm (2.6 in)	4 years	51 of 100 (Notable)
17 December 1959	Vega 2NW, US	daily rain	45.7 mm (1.8 in)	34.0 mm (1.3 in)	28 years	51 of 100 (Notable)
17 December 1959	Boggabri (Penryn), AU	daily rain	56.6 mm (2.2 in)	36.3 mm (1.4 in)	54 years	50 of 100 (Notable)
17 December 1959	Woodville 4 ESE, US	daily rain	103.4 mm (4.1 in)	73.4 mm (2.9 in)	36 years	50 of 100 (Notable)
17 December 1959	Clinton Forestry HQ, US	daily rain	108.5 mm (4.3 in)	80.6 mm (3.2 in)	10 years	49 of 100 (Notable)
17 December 1959	Brookhaven City, US	daily rain	103.1 mm (4.1 in)	66.5 mm (2.6 in)	36 years	49 of 100 (Notable)
17 December 1959	Simmesport, US	daily rain	90.2 mm (3.6 in)	64.8 mm (2.6 in)	37 years	48 of 100 (Notable)
17 December 1959	Pawhuska, US	daily rain	41.4 mm (1.6 in)	31.2 mm (1.2 in)	52 years	47 of 100 (Notable)
17 December 1959	Panhandle, US	daily rain	43.4 mm (1.7 in)	30.7 mm (1.2 in)	40 years	47 of 100 (Notable)
17 December 1959	Deer Vale, AU	daily rain	85.9 mm (3.4 in)	48.6 mm (1.9 in)	20 years	46 of 100 (Notable)
17 December 1959	Canyon, US	daily rain	32.8 mm (1.3 in)	29.0 mm (1.1 in)	28 years	46 of 100 (Notable)
17 December 1959	Irene, ZA	daily rain	81.2 mm (3.2 in)	55.8 mm (2.2 in)	4 years	45 of 100 (Notable)
17 December 1959	Angola, US	daily rain	125.5 mm (4.9 in)	62.0 mm (2.4 in)	37 years	45 of 100 (Notable)
17 December 1959	Armidale (Radio Station 2Ad), AU	daily rain	46.5 mm (1.8 in)	18.6 mm (0.7 in)	56 years	44 of 100 (Notable)
17 December 1959	Spearman, US	monthly rain	60.5 mm (2.4 in)	18.6 mm (0.7 in)	16 years	44 of 100 (Notable)
17 December 1959	Canadian, US	daily rain	31.0 mm (1.2 in)	21.3 mm (0.8 in)	30 years	43 of 100 (Notable)
17 December 1959	Stratford, US	daily rain	25.4 mm (1.0 in)	20.3 mm (0.8 in)	45 years	43 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 548 records.

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

Records on 12-17 in each year
Year	Records
1793	2
1796	1
1806	2
1808	2
1814	1
1815	1
1839	1
1845	1
1846	4
1847	1
1848	1
1859	3
1866	1
1867	1
1868	1
1869	2
1873	2
1876	3
1877	2
1878	1
1879	2
1881	2
1885	1
1886	1
1888	2
1889	2
1890	4
1892	4
1893	2
1894	4
1895	3
1896	4
1897	4
1898	2
1899	1
1900	6
1901	5
1902	47
1903	2
1904	14
1905	2
1906	17
1907	9
1908	13
1909	5
1910	37
1911	12
1912	15
1913	21
1914	17
1915	31
1916	21
1917	21
1918	21
1919	109
1920	97
1921	94
1922	120
1923	170
1924	505
1925	79
1926	172
1927	143
1928	359
1929	221
1930	362
1931	217
1932	684
1933	710
1934	200
1935	87
1936	504
1937	379
1938	118
1939	1,126
1940	248
1941	261
1942	507
1943	444
1944	189
1945	621
1946	207
1947	258
1948	316
1949	296
1950	294
1951	773
1952	277
1953	283
1954	409
1955	419
1956	448
1957	686
1958	540
1959	548
1960	492
1961	911
1962	676
1963	531
1964	1,239
1965	482
1966	516
1967	1,121
1968	338
1969	238
1970	820
1971	781
1972	601
1973	1,016
1974	390
1975	474
1976	507
1977	1,024
1978	710
1979	951
1980	1,116
1981	1,354
1982	569
1983	1,264
1984	1,618
1985	1,210
1986	743
1987	1,191
1988	481
1989	2,905
1990	866
1991	577
1992	1,461
1993	761
1994	685
1995	956
1996	1,212
1997	1,279
1998	695
1999	901
2000	1,566
2001	1,262
2002	858
2003	751
2004	554
2005	806
2006	1,307
2007	1,100
2008	1,354
2009	926
2010	1,405
2011	430
2012	942
2013	718
2014	370
2015	1,378
2016	1,521
2017	408
2018	498
2019	917
2020	768
2021	908
2022	595
2023	931
2024	560
2025	1,198

Download the Data

Data for records on 1959-12-17: 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	388
20 to 40	55
40 to 60	7
60 to 80	7
80 to 100	1
100 to 120	1