Weather Records on 3 January 1972

313 weather records were set or tied worldwide on 3 January 1972. Highest significance: Hawkestone, Howick, ZA.

Key Facts for 3 January 1972

On 3 January 1972, 313 weather records were set or tied at long-record stations worldwide.
43 were record highs and 35 were record lows, counting maximum and minimum temperature.
By timescale, 2 were all-time records, 5 monthly and 306 daily.
Hawkestone, Howick set a daily record precipitation of 76.2 mm (3.0 in) on 3 January 1972.
Across 163 earlier years (1794 to 2026) the same calendar date averaged 492 records.

Record Map

313 stations

313 station records on 3 January 1972 are marked on the map, coloured by record type. Dot size shows the significance score. Made with Natural Earth.

Weather records on 3 January 1972: highest significance records shown on the map
Station	Country	Type	Value	Significance
Hawkestone, Howick	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	76.2 mm (3.0 in)	58 of 100 (Notable)
Glentana	Australia	Record daily precipitation	55.9 mm (2.2 in)	48 of 100 (Notable)
Sandberg	United States	Record snow depth	63.5 cm (25.0 in)	43 of 100 (Notable)
Ross	United States	Record daily precipitation	54.6 mm (2.1 in)	41 of 100 (Notable)
Yampa	United States	Record daily snowfall	15.2 cm (6.0 in)	40 of 100 (Notable)
Cody	United States	Record daily snowfall	10.2 cm (4.0 in)	40 of 100 (Notable)
Palmer Estate	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	65.0 mm (2.6 in)	39 of 100 (Notable)
Challis	United States	Record snow depth	25.4 cm (10.0 in)	38 of 100 (Notable)
Paonia 1SW	United States	Record daily snowfall	15.2 cm (6.0 in)	37 of 100 (Notable)
Bridger 2 N	United States	Record snow depth	40.6 cm (16.0 in)	36 of 100 (Notable)
Livingston	United States	Record daily snowfall	25.4 cm (10.0 in)	36 of 100 (Notable)
La Palma	Australia	Record daily precipitation	48.0 mm (1.9 in)	34 of 100 (Routine)
Dinokana	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	57.5 mm (2.3 in)	34 of 100 (Routine)
Clyde Lock 26	United States	Record daily precipitation	27.7 mm (1.1 in)	34 of 100 (Routine)
San Carlos	United States	Record high maximum temperature	27.8 C (82.0 F)	33 of 100 (Routine)
Edom	United States	Record daily precipitation	45.0 mm (1.8 in)	33 of 100 (Routine)
Iliamna AP	United States	Record daily snowfall	25.4 cm (10.0 in)	33 of 100 (Routine)
Waco Rgnl AP	United States	Record daily precipitation	26.2 mm (1.0 in)	31 of 100 (Routine)
Saint Bernard	United States	Record daily precipitation	51.8 mm (2.0 in)	30 of 100 (Routine)
Canajoharie	United States	Record daily precipitation	33.5 mm (1.3 in)	30 of 100 (Routine)
Roy Hill	Australia	Record daily precipitation	30.0 mm (1.2 in)	29 of 100 (Routine)
Devon (Pol)	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	34.5 mm (1.4 in)	29 of 100 (Routine)
Lima	United States	Record snow depth	25.4 cm (10.0 in)	29 of 100 (Routine)
Muccan	Australia	Record daily precipitation	34.3 mm (1.4 in)	28 of 100 (Routine)
Parker 6 E	United States	Record daily snowfall	12.7 cm (5.0 in)	28 of 100 (Routine)
Red Lodge	United States	Record daily snowfall	12.7 cm (5.0 in)	28 of 100 (Routine)
Waterloo	United States	Record daily precipitation	31.0 mm (1.2 in)	28 of 100 (Routine)
Nietverdiend (Pol)	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	45.6 mm (1.8 in)	27 of 100 (Routine)
Collbran	United States	Record low maximum temperature	-10.0 C (14.0 F)	27 of 100 (Routine)
Virginia	United States	Record daily snowfall	6.4 cm (2.5 in)	27 of 100 (Routine)
Little Port Walter	United States	Record daily snowfall	38.1 cm (15.0 in)	27 of 100 (Routine)
Vryheid	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	63.5 mm (2.5 in)	26 of 100 (Routine)
Victor	United States	Record daily snowfall	18.3 cm (7.2 in)	26 of 100 (Routine)
Barkerville	Canada	Record daily snowfall	24.1 cm (9.5 in)	25 of 100 (Routine)
Kalkpoort	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	38.0 mm (1.5 in)	25 of 100 (Routine)
Ft Fairfield 5 NE	United States	Record daily snowfall	17.8 cm (7.0 in)	25 of 100 (Routine)
Maliye_Karmakuly	Russia	Record daily precipitation	32.1 mm (1.3 in)	24 of 100 (Routine)
Kafferrivier (Pol)	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	27.5 mm (1.1 in)	24 of 100 (Routine)
Friant Government Camp	United States	Record low maximum temperature	3.9 C (39.0 F)	24 of 100 (Routine)
Georgetown	United States	Record daily snowfall	12.7 cm (5.0 in)	24 of 100 (Routine)
Mount Stuart	Australia	Record daily precipitation	45.2 mm (1.8 in)	23 of 100 (Routine)
Kinnoul	Australia	Record daily precipitation	42.7 mm (1.7 in)	23 of 100 (Routine)
Palapye	Botswana	Record daily precipitation	27.0 mm (1.1 in)	23 of 100 (Routine)
Bridger 2 N	United States	Record daily snowfall	5.1 cm (2.0 in)	23 of 100 (Routine)
Red Rvr	United States	Record daily snowfall	17.8 cm (7.0 in)	23 of 100 (Routine)
Ft Duchesne	United States	Record high maximum temperature	7.2 C (45.0 F)	23 of 100 (Routine)
Ft Washakie 1 SE	United States	Record daily snowfall	17.3 cm (6.8 in)	23 of 100 (Routine)
De Brug (Pol)	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	31.5 mm (1.2 in)	22 of 100 (Routine)
Stinkhoutboom	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	70.0 mm (2.8 in)	22 of 100 (Routine)
Bairro Do Pinheiro	Brazil	Record daily precipitation	42.0 mm (1.7 in)	21 of 100 (Routine)
Strehla	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	31.7 mm (1.2 in)	21 of 100 (Routine)
Khorog	Tajikistan	Record high maximum temperature	5.4 C (41.7 F)	21 of 100 (Routine)
Kalispell Glacier AP	United States	Record low minimum temperature	-28.9 C (-20.0 F)	21 of 100 (Routine)
Minden	United States	Record snow depth	22.9 cm (9.0 in)	21 of 100 (Routine)
Whitehall	United States	Record daily precipitation	37.8 mm (1.5 in)	21 of 100 (Routine)
Cody	United States	Record daily precipitation	10.2 mm (0.4 in)	20 of 100 (Routine)
Kanin Nos	Russia	Record daily precipitation	13.9 mm (0.5 in)	20 of 100 (Routine)
Georgetown	United States	Record daily precipitation	9.9 mm (0.39 in)	20 of 100 (Routine)
Karsakpaj	Kazakhstan	Record daily precipitation	10.9 mm (0.4 in)	20 of 100 (Routine)
Dzhusaly	Kazakhstan	Record daily precipitation	10.2 mm (0.4 in)	20 of 100 (Routine)

Counts by Type and Timescale

313 records

Records set or tied on 3 January 1972 by type: Highest daily maximum 28, Lowest daily maximum 26, Highest daily minimum 15, Lowest daily minimum 9, Heaviest daily rainfall 171, Heaviest daily snowfall 48, Deepest snow cover 16.

Records on 3 January 1972 by type
Record type	Records
Highest daily maximum	28
Lowest daily maximum	26
Highest daily minimum	15
Lowest daily minimum	9
Heaviest daily rainfall	171
Heaviest daily snowfall	48
Deepest snow cover	16

Records on 3 January 1972 by timescale: all-time 2, monthly 5, daily 306.

How Much Records Were Beaten By

252 broken records

Margins by which the 252 broken records beat the old ones, in degrees Celsius for temperature and millimetres for precipitation and snow; the largest margin was 483.0. Ties are not counted.

Top 20 by Significance

3 January 1972

Top 20 records on 3 January 1972 by significance
Date	Station	Record	Value	Beat old record by	Old record stood	Significance
3 January 1972	Hawkestone, Howick, ZA	daily rain	76.2 mm (3.0 in)	52.1 mm (2.1 in)	48 years	58 of 100 (Notable)
3 January 1972	Glentana, AU	daily rain	55.9 mm (2.2 in)	37.6 mm (1.5 in)	60 years	48 of 100 (Notable)
3 January 1972	Sandberg, US	daily snow depth	63.5 cm (25.0 in)	48.3 cm (19.0 in)	0 years	43 of 100 (Notable)
3 January 1972	Ross, US	daily rain	54.6 mm (2.1 in)	39.1 mm (1.5 in)	12 years	41 of 100 (Notable)
3 January 1972	Yampa, US	daily snowfall	15.2 cm (6.0 in)	7.6 cm (3.0 in)	57 years	40 of 100 (Notable)
3 January 1972	Cody, US	daily snowfall	10.2 cm (4.0 in)	6.4 cm (2.5 in)	50 years	40 of 100 (Notable)
3 January 1972	Palmer Estate, ZA	daily rain	65.0 mm (2.6 in)	28.9 mm (1.1 in)	45 years	39 of 100 (Notable)
3 January 1972	Challis, US	daily snow depth	25.4 cm (10.0 in)	10.2 cm (4.0 in)	48 years	38 of 100 (Notable)
3 January 1972	Paonia 1SW, US	daily snowfall	15.2 cm (6.0 in)	7.1 cm (2.8 in)	48 years	37 of 100 (Notable)
3 January 1972	Bridger 2 N, US	all-time snow depth	40.6 cm (16.0 in)	2.5 cm (1.0 in)	22 years	36 of 100 (Notable)
3 January 1972	Livingston, US	daily snowfall	25.4 cm (10.0 in)	12.7 cm (5.0 in)	28 years	36 of 100 (Notable)
3 January 1972	La Palma, AU	daily rain	48.0 mm (1.9 in)	29.7 mm (1.2 in)	45 years	34 of 100 (Routine)
3 January 1972	Dinokana, ZA	daily rain	57.5 mm (2.3 in)	32.2 mm (1.3 in)	17 years	34 of 100 (Routine)
3 January 1972	Clyde Lock 26, US	daily rain	27.7 mm (1.1 in)	13.5 mm (0.5 in)	5 years	34 of 100 (Routine)
3 January 1972	San Carlos, US	daily high max	27.8 C (82.0 F)	4.5 C (8.1 F)	57 years	33 of 100 (Routine)
3 January 1972	Edom, US	daily rain	45.0 mm (1.8 in)	28.5 mm (1.1 in)	20 years	33 of 100 (Routine)
3 January 1972	Iliamna AP, US	daily snowfall	25.4 cm (10.0 in)	7.6 cm (3.0 in)	49 years	33 of 100 (Routine)
3 January 1972	Waco Rgnl AP, US	daily rain	26.2 mm (1.0 in)	20.1 mm (0.8 in)	29 years	31 of 100 (Routine)
3 January 1972	Saint Bernard, US	daily rain	51.8 mm (2.0 in)	10.9 mm (0.4 in)	58 years	30 of 100 (Routine)
3 January 1972	Canajoharie, US	daily rain	33.5 mm (1.3 in)	10.1 mm (0.4 in)	24 years	30 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

1794 to 1972

Records set or tied on this calendar date in each year from 1794 to 1972. 1972 had 313 records.

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

Records on 01-03 in each year
Year	Records
1794	1
1798	1
1800	1
1823	2
1825	1
1830	2
1839	1
1848	1
1853	1
1860	2
1861	1
1864	1
1867	2
1868	2
1871	2
1873	1
1874	2
1876	2
1877	3
1878	1
1879	2
1882	2
1883	3
1884	1
1886	4
1887	5
1888	3
1889	4
1890	3
1891	4
1892	1
1893	1
1894	1
1895	3
1896	1
1897	3
1899	2
1900	15
1901	4
1902	15
1903	17
1904	51
1905	12
1906	13
1907	26
1908	8
1909	11
1910	23
1911	40
1912	26
1913	83
1914	33
1915	29
1916	60
1917	52
1918	80
1919	54
1920	31
1921	139
1922	80
1923	46
1924	222
1925	139
1926	268
1927	235
1928	412
1929	58
1930	160
1931	100
1932	167
1933	160
1934	208
1935	249
1936	404
1937	291
1938	139
1939	498
1940	312
1941	595
1942	505
1943	508
1944	361
1945	148
1946	171
1947	662
1948	462
1949	910
1950	2,025
1951	459
1952	587
1953	241
1954	370
1955	443
1956	188
1957	177
1958	326
1959	861
1960	431
1961	543
1962	802
1963	494
1964	513
1965	492
1966	885
1967	247
1968	582
1969	516
1970	749
1971	1,280
1972	313
1973	623
1974	1,010
1975	710
1976	524
1977	790
1978	745
1979	2,417
1980	470
1981	1,401
1982	1,380
1983	921
1984	983
1985	739
1986	676
1987	843
1988	1,034
1989	740
1990	467
1991	1,077
1992	1,200
1993	910
1994	902
1995	726
1996	2,085
1997	3,676
1998	1,434
1999	1,568
2000	2,063
2001	1,385
2002	1,307
2003	981
2004	1,406
2005	1,157
2006	1,472
2007	1,396
2008	948
2009	682
2010	1,337
2011	681
2012	956
2013	496
2014	1,029
2015	869
2016	605
2017	1,053
2018	1,444
2019	474
2020	772
2021	476
2022	989
2023	1,318
2024	734
2025	653
2026	902

Download the Data

Data for records on 1972-01-03: 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 100	246
100 to 200	5
200 to 300	0
300 to 400	0
400 to 500	1