Weather Records on 21 January 1966

636 weather records were set or tied worldwide on 21 January 1966. Highest significance: Koffiefontein (Pol), ZA.

Key Facts for 21 January 1966

On 21 January 1966, 636 weather records were set or tied at long-record stations worldwide.
45 were record highs and 176 were record lows, counting maximum and minimum temperature.
By timescale, 14 were all-time records, 31 monthly and 591 daily.
Koffiefontein (Pol) set a daily record precipitation of 77.6 mm (3.1 in) on 21 January 1966.
Across 163 earlier years (1793 to 2026) the same calendar date averaged 466 records.

Record Map

636 stations

636 station records on 21 January 1966 are marked on the map, coloured by record type. Dot size shows the significance score. Made with Natural Earth.

Weather records on 21 January 1966: highest significance records shown on the map
Station	Country	Type	Value	Significance
Koffiefontein (Pol)	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	77.6 mm (3.1 in)	66 of 100 (Major)
Sterling	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	31.0 mm (1.2 in)	60 of 100 (Major)
Dewetsdorp (Pol)	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	107.0 mm (4.2 in)	57 of 100 (Notable)
Salopia	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	109.5 mm (4.3 in)	56 of 100 (Notable)
Hobhouse 23	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	65.2 mm (2.6 in)	55 of 100 (Notable)
Leyden	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	130.5 mm (5.1 in)	55 of 100 (Notable)
The Cliff	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	84.0 mm (3.3 in)	54 of 100 (Notable)
Eureka	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	57.6 mm (2.3 in)	51 of 100 (Notable)
Kranshoek	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	89.7 mm (3.5 in)	49 of 100 (Notable)
Zastron (Tnk)	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	51.5 mm (2.0 in)	48 of 100 (Notable)
Memphis	United States	Record snow depth	22.9 cm (9.0 in)	48 of 100 (Notable)
Ladysdale	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	72.0 mm (2.8 in)	47 of 100 (Notable)
Douglas	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	61.8 mm (2.4 in)	46 of 100 (Notable)
Thornlea	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	26.1 mm (1.0 in)	46 of 100 (Notable)
Hamlin 1SW	United States	Record daily snowfall	17.8 cm (7.0 in)	46 of 100 (Notable)
Brownsville	United States	Record daily precipitation	43.9 mm (1.7 in)	46 of 100 (Notable)
Clarendon	United States	Record snow depth	17.8 cm (7.0 in)	46 of 100 (Notable)
Bulsfontein	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	98.0 mm (3.9 in)	45 of 100 (Notable)
Geelkop	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	26.0 mm (1.0 in)	45 of 100 (Notable)
Waterval Wes	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	45.5 mm (1.8 in)	44 of 100 (Notable)
Hereford	United States	Record daily snowfall	10.2 cm (4.0 in)	44 of 100 (Notable)
Gowrie Station	Australia	Record daily precipitation	72.1 mm (2.8 in)	43 of 100 (Notable)
Dedeben (Pol)	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	71.0 mm (2.8 in)	43 of 100 (Notable)
Mafeteng	Lesotho	Record daily precipitation	104.5 mm (4.1 in)	42 of 100 (Notable)
Laghouat	Algeria	Record high minimum temperature	12.8 C (55.0 F)	41 of 100 (Notable)
De Kalk	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	60.3 mm (2.4 in)	41 of 100 (Notable)
Palmiet, Kokstad	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	43.9 mm (1.7 in)	40 of 100 (Notable)
Gannapan	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	62.4 mm (2.5 in)	40 of 100 (Notable)
Petrusberg (Pol)	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	105.0 mm (4.1 in)	40 of 100 (Notable)
Bell Ranch	United States	Record daily snowfall	10.2 cm (4.0 in)	40 of 100 (Notable)
Aspermont	United States	Record daily snowfall	22.9 cm (9.0 in)	40 of 100 (Notable)
Bloemfontein Airpor	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	63.5 mm (2.5 in)	39 of 100 (Notable)
Tahoka	United States	Record daily snowfall	10.2 cm (4.0 in)	39 of 100 (Notable)
Burnet	United States	Record daily snowfall	5.1 cm (2.0 in)	38 of 100 (Notable)
Memphis	United States	Record daily snowfall	12.7 cm (5.0 in)	38 of 100 (Notable)
Rotan	United States	Record daily snowfall	15.2 cm (6.0 in)	38 of 100 (Notable)
Hopetown (Tnk)	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	32.6 mm (1.3 in)	37 of 100 (Notable)
Tweefontein	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	47.5 mm (1.9 in)	37 of 100 (Notable)
Kareepan	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	137.5 mm (5.4 in)	37 of 100 (Notable)
Potter	United States	Record daily snowfall	10.2 cm (4.0 in)	37 of 100 (Notable)
Carrizozo 1SW	United States	Record daily snowfall	17.8 cm (7.0 in)	37 of 100 (Notable)
Waurika	United States	Record snow depth	10.2 cm (4.0 in)	37 of 100 (Notable)
Claude	United States	Record daily snowfall	10.2 cm (4.0 in)	37 of 100 (Notable)
Palmietfontein"Knap Draai	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	27.0 mm (1.1 in)	36 of 100 (Notable)
Oukraal	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	44.0 mm (1.7 in)	36 of 100 (Notable)
Wanda (Pol)	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	46.8 mm (1.8 in)	36 of 100 (Notable)
Waterford	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	90.0 mm (3.5 in)	36 of 100 (Notable)
Griquatown (Tnk)	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	37.0 mm (1.5 in)	36 of 100 (Notable)
Kearney 4 NE	United States	Record snow depth	12.7 cm (5.0 in)	36 of 100 (Notable)
Cypherfontein	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	30.5 mm (1.2 in)	35 of 100 (Notable)
Laborare	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	30.0 mm (1.2 in)	35 of 100 (Notable)
Roodepoort	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	93.0 mm (3.7 in)	35 of 100 (Notable)
Springerville	United States	Record daily snowfall	19.1 cm (7.5 in)	35 of 100 (Notable)
Altus Irig Rsch STN	United States	Record daily snowfall	16.3 cm (6.4 in)	35 of 100 (Notable)
Roscoe	United States	Record daily snowfall	11.4 cm (4.5 in)	35 of 100 (Notable)
Seminole	United States	Record daily snowfall	11.4 cm (4.5 in)	35 of 100 (Notable)
Jansenville	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	26.5 mm (1.0 in)	34 of 100 (Routine)
Nuwejaarskraal	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	26.5 mm (1.0 in)	34 of 100 (Routine)
Redrock 1 NNE	United States	Record daily snowfall	5.1 cm (2.0 in)	34 of 100 (Routine)
Hereford	United States	Record snow depth	10.2 cm (4.0 in)	34 of 100 (Routine)

Counts by Type and Timescale

636 records

Records set or tied on 21 January 1966 by type: Highest daily maximum 16, Lowest daily maximum 90, Highest daily minimum 29, Lowest daily minimum 86, Heaviest daily rainfall 253, Heaviest daily snowfall 91, Deepest snow cover 71.

Records on 21 January 1966 by type
Record type	Records
Highest daily maximum	16
Lowest daily maximum	90
Highest daily minimum	29
Lowest daily minimum	86
Heaviest daily rainfall	253
Heaviest daily snowfall	91
Deepest snow cover	71

Records on 21 January 1966 by timescale: all-time 14, monthly 31, daily 591.

How Much Records Were Beaten By

534 broken records

Margins by which the 534 broken records beat the old ones, in degrees Celsius for temperature and millimetres for precipitation and snow; the largest margin was 310.0. Ties are not counted.

Top 20 by Significance

21 January 1966

Top 20 records on 21 January 1966 by significance
Date	Station	Record	Value	Beat old record by	Old record stood	Significance
21 January 1966	Koffiefontein (Pol), ZA	daily rain	77.6 mm (3.1 in)	61.1 mm (2.4 in)	62 years	66 of 100 (Major)
21 January 1966	Sterling, ZA	daily rain	31.0 mm (1.2 in)	21.1 mm (0.8 in)	77 years	60 of 100 (Major)
21 January 1966	Dewetsdorp (Pol), ZA	daily rain	107.0 mm (4.2 in)	65.9 mm (2.6 in)	39 years	57 of 100 (Notable)
21 January 1966	Salopia, ZA	monthly rain	109.5 mm (4.3 in)	55.4 mm (2.2 in)	10 years	56 of 100 (Notable)
21 January 1966	Hobhouse 23, ZA	daily rain	65.2 mm (2.6 in)	39.8 mm (1.6 in)	36 years	55 of 100 (Notable)
21 January 1966	Leyden, ZA	all-time rain	130.5 mm (5.1 in)	28.9 mm (1.1 in)	24 years	55 of 100 (Notable)
21 January 1966	The Cliff, ZA	daily rain	84.0 mm (3.3 in)	69.8 mm (2.7 in)	27 years	54 of 100 (Notable)
21 January 1966	Eureka, ZA	daily rain	57.6 mm (2.3 in)	38.3 mm (1.5 in)	24 years	51 of 100 (Notable)
21 January 1966	Kranshoek, ZA	all-time rain	89.7 mm (3.5 in)	19.8 mm (0.8 in)	17 years	49 of 100 (Notable)
21 January 1966	Zastron (Tnk), ZA	daily rain	51.5 mm (2.0 in)	36.3 mm (1.4 in)	36 years	48 of 100 (Notable)
21 January 1966	Memphis, US	all-time snow depth	22.9 cm (9.0 in)	7.7 cm (3.0 in)	51 years	48 of 100 (Notable)
21 January 1966	Ladysdale, ZA	daily rain	72.0 mm (2.8 in)	48.1 mm (1.9 in)	27 years	47 of 100 (Notable)
21 January 1966	Douglas, ZA	daily rain	61.8 mm (2.4 in)	21.2 mm (0.8 in)	77 years	46 of 100 (Notable)
21 January 1966	Thornlea, ZA	daily rain	26.1 mm (1.0 in)	26.1 mm (1.0 in)	65 years	46 of 100 (Notable)
21 January 1966	Hamlin 1SW, US	all-time snowfall	17.8 cm (7.0 in)	3.8 cm (1.5 in)	49 years	46 of 100 (Notable)
21 January 1966	Brownsville, US	daily rain	43.9 mm (1.7 in)	36.5 mm (1.4 in)	0 years	46 of 100 (Notable)
21 January 1966	Clarendon, US	daily snow depth	17.8 cm (7.0 in)	15.3 cm (6.0 in)	16 years	46 of 100 (Notable)
21 January 1966	Bulsfontein, ZA	daily rain	98.0 mm (3.9 in)	83.0 mm (3.3 in)	3 years	45 of 100 (Notable)
21 January 1966	Geelkop, ZA	daily rain	26.0 mm (1.0 in)	26.0 mm (1.0 in)	47 years	45 of 100 (Notable)
21 January 1966	Waterval Wes, ZA	daily rain	45.5 mm (1.8 in)	34.1 mm (1.3 in)	24 years	44 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 1966

Records set or tied on this calendar date in each year from 1793 to 1966. 1966 had 636 records.

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

Records on 01-21 in each year
Year	Records
1793	1
1795	2
1796	1
1798	1
1800	2
1803	1
1804	2
1829	1
1838	3
1840	2
1845	2
1846	1
1850	2
1864	2
1866	4
1867	1
1869	1
1871	1
1873	2
1876	1
1878	4
1880	3
1881	4
1884	1
1885	1
1886	1
1888	3
1890	2
1891	3
1892	2
1893	1
1894	3
1895	2
1896	2
1897	3
1898	3
1899	15
1900	5
1901	4
1902	8
1903	18
1904	30
1905	3
1906	53
1907	10
1908	11
1909	25
1910	11
1911	8
1912	7
1913	23
1914	37
1915	47
1916	38
1917	83
1918	49
1919	14
1920	75
1921	54
1922	35
1923	62
1924	535
1925	103
1926	157
1927	447
1928	206
1929	132
1930	616
1931	112
1932	167
1933	572
1934	255
1935	771
1936	314
1937	852
1938	250
1939	305
1940	562
1941	205
1942	522
1943	1,168
1944	324
1945	290
1946	339
1947	205
1948	387
1949	452
1950	643
1951	367
1952	436
1953	325
1954	1,094
1955	399
1956	653
1957	527
1958	506
1959	936
1960	319
1961	746
1962	741
1963	761
1964	771
1965	251
1966	636
1967	511
1968	1,179
1969	927
1970	1,770
1971	672
1972	598
1973	573
1974	992
1975	496
1976	860
1977	549
1978	1,301
1979	1,675
1980	425
1981	972
1982	1,339
1983	1,179
1984	2,132
1985	2,457
1986	883
1987	934
1988	771
1989	511
1990	927
1991	559
1992	447
1993	1,763
1994	1,195
1995	1,276
1996	528
1997	950
1998	606
1999	1,387
2000	686
2001	736
2002	796
2003	690
2004	535
2005	1,111
2006	1,116
2007	1,955
2008	1,061
2009	788
2010	1,166
2011	836
2012	1,148
2013	455
2014	522
2015	426
2016	580
2017	1,248
2018	664
2019	526
2020	894
2021	626
2022	430
2023	517
2024	1,015
2025	1,386
2026	201

Download the Data

Data for records on 1966-01-21: 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 2026-10-13 (13 October 2026). Records are computed by this site and are not official.

Data as of 2026-10-12. Last revised 12 October 2026 (2026-10-12).

Margin	Records
0 to 50	461
50 to 100	56
100 to 150	13
150 to 200	3
200 to 250	0
250 to 300	0
300 to 350	1