Weather Records on 21 December 1973

1,292 weather records were set or tied worldwide on 21 December 1973. Highest significance: Inverell Comparison, AU.

Key Facts for 21 December 1973

On 21 December 1973, 1,292 weather records were set or tied at long-record stations worldwide.
107 were record highs and 275 were record lows, counting maximum and minimum temperature.
By timescale, 10 were all-time records, 85 monthly and 1,197 daily.
Inverell Comparison set a monthly record daily precipitation of 110.7 mm (4.4 in) on 21 December 1973.
Across 158 earlier years (1793 to 2025) the same calendar date averaged 484 records.

Record Map

1,292 stations

1,292 station records on 21 December 1973 are marked on the map, coloured by record type. Dot size shows the significance score. Made with Natural Earth.

Weather records on 21 December 1973: highest significance records shown on the map
Station	Country	Type	Value	Significance
Inverell Comparison	Australia	Record daily precipitation	110.7 mm (4.4 in)	79 of 100 (Major)
Dirranbandi High School	Australia	Record daily precipitation	69.9 mm (2.8 in)	72 of 100 (Major)
Millaquin Sugar	Australia	Record daily precipitation	193.0 mm (7.6 in)	65 of 100 (Major)
Rosedale Post Office	Australia	Record daily precipitation	163.3 mm (6.4 in)	65 of 100 (Major)
South Solitary Island	Australia	Record daily precipitation	80.8 mm (3.2 in)	64 of 100 (Major)
Orange (Canobolas Public Schoo	Australia	Record daily precipitation	81.8 mm (3.2 in)	63 of 100 (Major)
Sandy Cape Lighthouse	Australia	Record daily precipitation	176.8 mm (7.0 in)	62 of 100 (Major)
Gundiah Railway Station	Australia	Record daily precipitation	115.6 mm (4.6 in)	62 of 100 (Major)
Coolatai (Orana)	Australia	Record daily precipitation	97.3 mm (3.8 in)	62 of 100 (Major)
Wando Vale Station	Australia	Record daily precipitation	92.5 mm (3.6 in)	61 of 100 (Major)
Voewood	Australia	Record daily precipitation	112.5 mm (4.4 in)	61 of 100 (Major)
Bundaberg Post Office	Australia	Record daily precipitation	218.4 mm (8.6 in)	60 of 100 (Major)
Gin Gin Post Office	Australia	Record daily precipitation	121.7 mm (4.8 in)	60 of 100 (Major)
Double Island Point Lighthouse	Australia	Record daily precipitation	112.5 mm (4.4 in)	60 of 100 (Major)
Maryborough	Australia	Record daily precipitation	108.2 mm (4.3 in)	60 of 100 (Major)
Oxenford (Oberon Way)	Australia	Record daily precipitation	130.8 mm (5.1 in)	60 of 100 (Major)
Natashquan A	Canada	Record daily precipitation	74.4 mm (2.9 in)	60 of 100 (Major)
Turners Falls	United States	Record daily precipitation	78.7 mm (3.1 in)	60 of 100 (Major)
Saint Johnsbury	United States	Record daily precipitation	56.9 mm (2.2 in)	60 of 100 (Major)
Many Peaks Post Office	Australia	Record daily precipitation	126.2 mm (5.0 in)	59 of 100 (Notable)
Nyngan (Mudall)	Australia	Record daily precipitation	40.4 mm (1.6 in)	59 of 100 (Notable)
Howard Post Office	Australia	Record daily precipitation	126.5 mm (5.0 in)	58 of 100 (Notable)
Mungar Junction	Australia	Record daily precipitation	120.4 mm (4.7 in)	58 of 100 (Notable)
Yengarie Railway Station	Australia	Record daily precipitation	115.8 mm (4.6 in)	58 of 100 (Notable)
Toledo Blade	United States	Record daily snowfall	19.8 cm (7.8 in)	58 of 100 (Notable)
Canungra Finch Road	Australia	Record daily precipitation	86.4 mm (3.4 in)	57 of 100 (Notable)
Newport	United States	Record daily precipitation	44.2 mm (1.7 in)	56 of 100 (Notable)
Cronulla Station	Australia	Record daily precipitation	67.1 mm (2.6 in)	55 of 100 (Notable)
Fairymead Sugar Mill	Australia	Record daily precipitation	247.4 mm (9.7 in)	55 of 100 (Notable)
Winfield	Australia	Record daily precipitation	229.4 mm (9.0 in)	55 of 100 (Notable)
Bauple	Australia	Record daily precipitation	111.3 mm (4.4 in)	55 of 100 (Notable)
Thallon Post Office	Australia	Record daily precipitation	71.6 mm (2.8 in)	55 of 100 (Notable)
Croppa Creek (Krui Plains)	Australia	Record daily precipitation	77.7 mm (3.1 in)	55 of 100 (Notable)
Tingha Post Office	Australia	Record daily precipitation	95.3 mm (3.8 in)	55 of 100 (Notable)
Huntington	United States	Record snow depth	33.0 cm (13.0 in)	55 of 100 (Notable)
Bustard Head Lighthouse	Australia	Record daily precipitation	184.4 mm (7.3 in)	54 of 100 (Notable)
Calliope Station	Australia	Record daily precipitation	175.5 mm (6.9 in)	54 of 100 (Notable)
Little Nerang Dam	Australia	Record daily precipitation	99.8 mm (3.9 in)	54 of 100 (Notable)
Garah Post Office	Australia	Record daily precipitation	73.7 mm (2.9 in)	54 of 100 (Notable)
Miriam Vale	Australia	Record daily precipitation	227.8 mm (9.0 in)	53 of 100 (Notable)
Inskip Point Lighthouse	Australia	Record daily precipitation	133.4 mm (5.3 in)	53 of 100 (Notable)
Dillon	United States	Record daily precipitation	50.8 mm (2.0 in)	53 of 100 (Notable)
Newport 1 NW	United States	Record daily snowfall	7.6 cm (3.0 in)	53 of 100 (Notable)
Rutland	United States	Record daily precipitation	49.0 mm (1.9 in)	53 of 100 (Notable)
Charters Towers Post Office	Australia	Record daily precipitation	87.1 mm (3.4 in)	52 of 100 (Notable)
Pialba Post Office	Australia	Record daily precipitation	131.6 mm (5.2 in)	52 of 100 (Notable)
Mt Tamborine Fern St	Australia	Record daily precipitation	107.7 mm (4.2 in)	52 of 100 (Notable)
South West Rocks (Smoky Cape L	Australia	Record daily precipitation	91.7 mm (3.6 in)	52 of 100 (Notable)
Carlinville	United States	Record snow depth	25.4 cm (10.0 in)	52 of 100 (Notable)
Amherst	United States	Record daily precipitation	85.3 mm (3.4 in)	52 of 100 (Notable)
Stockbridge	United States	Record daily precipitation	69.9 mm (2.8 in)	52 of 100 (Notable)
Mannersley	Australia	Record daily precipitation	160.3 mm (6.3 in)	51 of 100 (Notable)
Mount Cotton West	Australia	Record daily precipitation	109.7 mm (4.3 in)	51 of 100 (Notable)
Boomi (Barwon St)	Australia	Record daily precipitation	74.4 mm (2.9 in)	51 of 100 (Notable)
Delungra Post Office	Australia	Record daily precipitation	73.2 mm (2.9 in)	51 of 100 (Notable)
Corning	United States	Record daily precipitation	33.3 mm (1.3 in)	51 of 100 (Notable)
Elgin Water	United States	Record snow depth	20.3 cm (8.0 in)	50 of 100 (Notable)
Rolla Missouri S&T	United States	Record snow depth	22.9 cm (9.0 in)	50 of 100 (Notable)
Childers Post Office	Australia	Record daily precipitation	104.1 mm (4.1 in)	49 of 100 (Notable)
Tiaro	Australia	Record daily precipitation	117.1 mm (4.6 in)	49 of 100 (Notable)

Counts by Type and Timescale

1,292 records

Records set or tied on 21 December 1973 by type: Highest daily maximum 78, Lowest daily maximum 59, Highest daily minimum 29, Lowest daily minimum 216, Heaviest daily rainfall 715, Heaviest daily snowfall 70, Deepest snow cover 125.

Records on 21 December 1973 by type
Record type	Records
Highest daily maximum	78
Lowest daily maximum	59
Highest daily minimum	29
Lowest daily minimum	216
Heaviest daily rainfall	715
Heaviest daily snowfall	70
Deepest snow cover	125

Records on 21 December 1973 by timescale: all-time 10, monthly 85, daily 1,197.

How Much Records Were Beaten By

1,112 broken records

Margins by which the 1,112 broken records beat the old ones, in degrees Celsius for temperature and millimetres for precipitation and snow; the largest margin was 304.0. Ties are not counted.

Top 20 by Significance

21 December 1973

Top 20 records on 21 December 1973 by significance
Date	Station	Record	Value	Beat old record by	Old record stood	Significance
21 December 1973	Inverell Comparison, AU	monthly rain	110.7 mm (4.4 in)	43.1 mm (1.7 in)	77 years	79 of 100 (Major)
21 December 1973	Dirranbandi High School, AU	daily rain	69.9 mm (2.8 in)	55.9 mm (2.2 in)	82 years	72 of 100 (Major)
21 December 1973	Millaquin Sugar, AU	daily rain	193.0 mm (7.6 in)	93.4 mm (3.7 in)	77 years	65 of 100 (Major)
21 December 1973	Rosedale Post Office, AU	daily rain	163.3 mm (6.4 in)	116.1 mm (4.6 in)	63 years	65 of 100 (Major)
21 December 1973	South Solitary Island, AU	daily rain	80.8 mm (3.2 in)	56.2 mm (2.2 in)	72 years	64 of 100 (Major)
21 December 1973	Orange (Canobolas Public Schoo, AU	daily rain	81.8 mm (3.2 in)	52.1 mm (2.1 in)	59 years	63 of 100 (Major)
21 December 1973	Sandy Cape Lighthouse, AU	daily rain	176.8 mm (7.0 in)	106.4 mm (4.2 in)	47 years	62 of 100 (Major)
21 December 1973	Gundiah Railway Station, AU	daily rain	115.6 mm (4.6 in)	88.9 mm (3.5 in)	50 years	62 of 100 (Major)
21 December 1973	Coolatai (Orana), AU	daily rain	97.3 mm (3.8 in)	69.6 mm (2.7 in)	51 years	62 of 100 (Major)
21 December 1973	Wando Vale Station, AU	daily rain	92.5 mm (3.6 in)	52.4 mm (2.1 in)	60 years	61 of 100 (Major)
21 December 1973	Voewood, AU	daily rain	112.5 mm (4.4 in)	69.3 mm (2.7 in)	51 years	61 of 100 (Major)
21 December 1973	Bundaberg Post Office, AU	daily rain	218.4 mm (8.6 in)	164.6 mm (6.5 in)	39 years	60 of 100 (Major)
21 December 1973	Gin Gin Post Office, AU	daily rain	121.7 mm (4.8 in)	72.7 mm (2.9 in)	50 years	60 of 100 (Major)
21 December 1973	Double Island Point Lighthouse, AU	daily rain	112.5 mm (4.4 in)	80.2 mm (3.2 in)	47 years	60 of 100 (Major)
21 December 1973	Maryborough, AU	daily rain	108.2 mm (4.3 in)	80.5 mm (3.2 in)	39 years	60 of 100 (Major)
21 December 1973	Oxenford (Oberon Way), AU	daily rain	130.8 mm (5.1 in)	95.7 mm (3.8 in)	40 years	60 of 100 (Major)
21 December 1973	Natashquan A, CA	monthly rain	74.4 mm (2.9 in)	27.2 mm (1.1 in)	23 years	60 of 100 (Major)
21 December 1973	Turners Falls, US	daily rain	78.7 mm (3.1 in)	35.5 mm (1.4 in)	71 years	60 of 100 (Major)
21 December 1973	Saint Johnsbury, US	daily rain	56.9 mm (2.2 in)	36.3 mm (1.4 in)	40 years	60 of 100 (Major)
21 December 1973	Many Peaks Post Office, AU	daily rain	126.2 mm (5.0 in)	79.7 mm (3.1 in)	47 years	59 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 1973

Records set or tied on this calendar date in each year from 1793 to 1973. 1973 had 1,292 records.

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

Records on 12-21 in each year
Year	Records
1793	1
1794	1
1799	1
1801	2
1808	3
1825	1
1828	1
1839	1
1846	1
1850	1
1855	7
1859	1
1860	1
1868	1
1870	1
1871	2
1874	2
1875	3
1876	1
1877	1
1878	1
1879	1
1880	1
1884	1
1886	3
1889	1
1890	4
1893	4
1894	1
1895	5
1896	3
1897	3
1898	1
1900	8
1901	15
1902	5
1903	25
1904	3
1905	15
1906	15
1907	17
1908	19
1909	20
1910	29
1911	36
1912	23
1913	11
1914	107
1915	43
1916	40
1917	18
1918	41
1919	57
1920	30
1921	104
1922	34
1923	323
1924	377
1925	120
1926	178
1927	147
1928	70
1929	156
1930	66
1931	556
1932	150
1933	581
1934	230
1935	398
1936	323
1937	189
1938	145
1939	140
1940	622
1941	651
1942	968
1943	148
1944	762
1945	396
1946	495
1947	700
1948	297
1949	1,281
1950	504
1951	1,061
1952	197
1953	256
1954	444
1955	888
1956	672
1957	846
1958	516
1959	272
1960	585
1961	254
1962	563
1963	1,137
1964	613
1965	247
1966	400
1967	1,923
1968	818
1969	828
1970	547
1971	680
1972	651
1973	1,292
1974	374
1975	548
1976	446
1977	470
1978	517
1979	558
1980	726
1981	1,476
1982	702
1983	3,324
1984	1,012
1985	979
1986	404
1987	775
1988	717
1989	3,203
1990	2,701
1991	1,125
1992	751
1993	967
1994	793
1995	878
1996	1,114
1997	810
1998	1,142
1999	851
2000	944
2001	650
2002	579
2003	1,103
2004	675
2005	606
2006	1,443
2007	946
2008	1,062
2009	1,097
2010	2,039
2011	653
2012	759
2013	1,029
2014	878
2015	1,173
2016	543
2017	459
2018	742
2019	755
2020	965
2021	323
2022	528
2023	1,170
2024	778
2025	1,099

Download the Data

Data for records on 1973-12-21: 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 2026-10-14 (14 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	969
50 to 100	109
100 to 150	19
150 to 200	11
200 to 250	1
250 to 300	2
300 to 350	1