Weather Records on 20 January 1978

1,669 weather records were set or tied worldwide on 20 January 1978. Highest significance: Morgantown Muni AP, US.

Key Facts for 20 January 1978

On 20 January 1978, 1,669 weather records were set or tied at long-record stations worldwide.
40 were record highs and 333 were record lows, counting maximum and minimum temperature.
By timescale, 80 were all-time records, 122 monthly and 1,467 daily.
Morgantown Muni AP set a daily record snowfall of 21.6 cm (8.5 in) on 20 January 1978.
Across 157 earlier years (1795 to 2026) the same calendar date averaged 504 records.

Record Map

1,669 stations

1,669 station records on 20 January 1978 are marked on the map, coloured by record type. Dot size shows the significance score. Made with Natural Earth.

Weather records on 20 January 1978: highest significance records shown on the map
Station	Country	Type	Value	Significance
Morgantown Muni AP	United States	Record daily snowfall	21.6 cm (8.5 in)	80 of 100 (Exceptional)
Hillsboro	United States	Record snow depth	63.5 cm (25.0 in)	72 of 100 (Major)
Port Dover	Canada	Record daily snowfall	27.0 cm (10.6 in)	70 of 100 (Major)
Auburn	United States	Record daily precipitation	30.5 mm (1.2 in)	66 of 100 (Major)
Hillsboro	United States	Record daily snowfall	22.9 cm (9.0 in)	64 of 100 (Major)
Hogsett Rc Byrd Dam	United States	Record daily snowfall	16.5 cm (6.5 in)	63 of 100 (Major)
Welland	Canada	Record daily snowfall	34.8 cm (13.7 in)	61 of 100 (Major)
Block Island State AP	United States	Record daily snowfall	53.8 cm (21.2 in)	61 of 100 (Major)
Port Dalhousie	Canada	Record daily snowfall	20.0 cm (7.9 in)	60 of 100 (Major)
Rockport 1 ESE	United States	Record daily snowfall	66.0 cm (26.0 in)	60 of 100 (Major)
Portsmouth-Sciotoville	United States	Record daily snowfall	18.8 cm (7.4 in)	60 of 100 (Major)
Spencer	United States	Record daily snowfall	30.5 cm (12.0 in)	60 of 100 (Major)
Auburn	United States	Record daily snowfall	33.0 cm (13.0 in)	59 of 100 (Notable)
Van Reenen	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	116.0 mm (4.6 in)	57 of 100 (Notable)
Blue	United States	Record daily snowfall	20.3 cm (8.0 in)	57 of 100 (Notable)
Morehead City 2 WNW	United States	Record daily precipitation	104.1 mm (4.1 in)	57 of 100 (Notable)
Dale Enterprise	United States	Record snow depth	40.6 cm (16.0 in)	57 of 100 (Notable)
Bens Run 1 SSE	United States	Record daily snowfall	30.5 cm (12.0 in)	57 of 100 (Notable)
Inverness 3 SE	United States	Record daily precipitation	49.0 mm (1.9 in)	56 of 100 (Notable)
Madison 3NNW	United States	Record snow depth	55.9 cm (22.0 in)	56 of 100 (Notable)
W Liberty 3NW	United States	Record snow depth	40.6 cm (16.0 in)	55 of 100 (Notable)
Ephrata	United States	Record snow depth	45.7 cm (18.0 in)	55 of 100 (Notable)
Reading Wb City	United States	Record daily snowfall	35.6 cm (14.0 in)	55 of 100 (Notable)
Knightstown 2 ENE	United States	Record snow depth	35.6 cm (14.0 in)	54 of 100 (Notable)
Campbellsville 2 SSW	United States	Record snow depth	58.4 cm (23.0 in)	52 of 100 (Notable)
Oakland 1 SE	United States	Record daily snowfall	25.4 cm (10.0 in)	52 of 100 (Notable)
Newburgh L&D	United States	Record snow depth	35.6 cm (14.0 in)	51 of 100 (Notable)
New Bedford Coop	United States	Record daily precipitation	48.8 mm (1.9 in)	51 of 100 (Notable)
Grandfalls 3SSE	United States	Record daily snowfall	12.7 cm (5.0 in)	51 of 100 (Notable)
Griffiss AFB	United States	Record daily snowfall	34.5 cm (13.6 in)	51 of 100 (Notable)
Ashland	United States	Record snow depth	38.1 cm (15.0 in)	50 of 100 (Notable)
Setauket Strong	United States	Record daily precipitation	52.3 mm (2.1 in)	50 of 100 (Notable)
Put-In-Bay	United States	Record daily precipitation	37.6 mm (1.5 in)	50 of 100 (Notable)
Put-In-Bay	United States	Record daily snowfall	17.8 cm (7.0 in)	50 of 100 (Notable)
Cairo 3 S	United States	Record daily snowfall	15.2 cm (6.0 in)	50 of 100 (Notable)
Rochester Gtr Intl	United States	Record daily snowfall	33.3 cm (13.1 in)	50 of 100 (Notable)
Niagara Falls	Canada	Record daily snowfall	28.0 cm (11.0 in)	49 of 100 (Notable)
Lennoxville	Canada	Record daily snowfall	28.4 cm (11.2 in)	49 of 100 (Notable)
College Hill Lock 11	United States	Record snow depth	27.9 cm (11.0 in)	49 of 100 (Notable)
Mt Sterling	United States	Record snow depth	66.0 cm (26.0 in)	49 of 100 (Notable)
St Joseph 3 N	United States	Record daily snowfall	10.2 cm (4.0 in)	49 of 100 (Notable)
Lowville	United States	Record daily snowfall	30.5 cm (12.0 in)	49 of 100 (Notable)
Xenia 6 SSE	United States	Record snow depth	53.3 cm (21.0 in)	49 of 100 (Notable)
Clay	United States	Record snow depth	45.7 cm (18.0 in)	49 of 100 (Notable)
Philadelphia City	United States	Record daily precipitation	48.0 mm (1.9 in)	49 of 100 (Notable)
Block Island State AP	United States	Record daily precipitation	59.9 mm (2.4 in)	49 of 100 (Notable)
Henderson 8 SSW	United States	Record snow depth	35.6 cm (14.0 in)	48 of 100 (Notable)
Winnfield 3 N	United States	Record daily snowfall	7.6 cm (3.0 in)	48 of 100 (Notable)
Setauket Strong	United States	Record daily snowfall	34.3 cm (13.5 in)	48 of 100 (Notable)
Hatteras	United States	Record daily precipitation	93.2 mm (3.7 in)	48 of 100 (Notable)
Igor I Sikorsky Mem AP	United States	Record daily snowfall	39.9 cm (15.7 in)	48 of 100 (Notable)
Spencer 2 N	United States	Record daily snowfall	25.7 cm (10.1 in)	47 of 100 (Notable)
Bradford 4SW Rsch 5	United States	Record daily snowfall	30.5 cm (12.0 in)	47 of 100 (Notable)
Donora 1 SW	United States	Record snow depth	66.0 cm (26.0 in)	47 of 100 (Notable)
Mannington 1 N	United States	Record daily snowfall	33.0 cm (13.0 in)	47 of 100 (Notable)
Syracuse Hancock Intl AP	United States	Record daily snowfall	34.3 cm (13.5 in)	47 of 100 (Notable)
Williamsport Rgnl AP	United States	Record daily snowfall	26.7 cm (10.5 in)	47 of 100 (Notable)
St Thomas	Canada	Record daily snowfall	19.4 cm (7.6 in)	46 of 100 (Notable)
Balbrogie	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	144.0 mm (5.7 in)	46 of 100 (Notable)
Riverview	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	90.5 mm (3.6 in)	46 of 100 (Notable)

Counts by Type and Timescale

1,669 records

Records set or tied on 20 January 1978 by type: Highest daily maximum 7, Lowest daily maximum 287, Highest daily minimum 33, Lowest daily minimum 46, Heaviest daily rainfall 372, Heaviest daily snowfall 434, Deepest snow cover 490.

Records on 20 January 1978 by type
Record type	Records
Highest daily maximum	7
Lowest daily maximum	287
Highest daily minimum	33
Lowest daily minimum	46
Heaviest daily rainfall	372
Heaviest daily snowfall	434
Deepest snow cover	490

Records on 20 January 1978 by timescale: all-time 80, monthly 122, daily 1,467.

How Much Records Were Beaten By

1,408 broken records

Margins by which the 1,408 broken records beat the old ones, in degrees Celsius for temperature and millimetres for precipitation and snow; the largest margin was 432.0. Ties are not counted.

Top 20 by Significance

20 January 1978

Top 20 records on 20 January 1978 by significance
Date	Station	Record	Value	Beat old record by	Old record stood	Significance
20 January 1978	Morgantown Muni AP, US	daily snowfall	21.6 cm (8.5 in)	15.2 cm (6.0 in)	104 years	80 of 100 (Exceptional)
20 January 1978	Hillsboro, US	all-time snow depth	63.5 cm (25.0 in)	20.3 cm (8.0 in)	60 years	72 of 100 (Major)
20 January 1978	Port Dover, CA	daily snowfall	27.0 cm (10.6 in)	16.8 cm (6.6 in)	88 years	70 of 100 (Major)
20 January 1978	Auburn, US	daily rain	30.5 mm (1.2 in)	17.3 mm (0.7 in)	79 years	66 of 100 (Major)
20 January 1978	Hillsboro, US	daily snowfall	22.9 cm (9.0 in)	16.5 cm (6.5 in)	63 years	64 of 100 (Major)
20 January 1978	Hogsett Rc Byrd Dam, US	daily snowfall	16.5 cm (6.5 in)	16.5 cm (6.5 in)	56 years	63 of 100 (Major)
20 January 1978	Welland, CA	daily snowfall	34.8 cm (13.7 in)	22.1 cm (8.7 in)	52 years	61 of 100 (Major)
20 January 1978	Block Island State AP, US	all-time snowfall	53.8 cm (21.2 in)	11.4 cm (4.5 in)	16 years	61 of 100 (Major)
20 January 1978	Port Dalhousie, CA	daily snowfall	20.0 cm (7.9 in)	12.4 cm (4.9 in)	63 years	60 of 100 (Major)
20 January 1978	Rockport 1 ESE, US	all-time snowfall	66.0 cm (26.0 in)	17.7 cm (7.0 in)	17 years	60 of 100 (Major)
20 January 1978	Portsmouth-Sciotoville, US	daily snowfall	18.8 cm (7.4 in)	13.7 cm (5.4 in)	63 years	60 of 100 (Major)
20 January 1978	Spencer, US	daily snowfall	30.5 cm (12.0 in)	20.3 cm (8.0 in)	42 years	60 of 100 (Major)
20 January 1978	Auburn, US	daily snowfall	33.0 cm (13.0 in)	18.0 cm (7.1 in)	52 years	59 of 100 (Notable)
20 January 1978	Van Reenen, ZA	daily rain	116.0 mm (4.6 in)	71.8 mm (2.8 in)	36 years	57 of 100 (Notable)
20 January 1978	Blue, US	daily snowfall	20.3 cm (8.0 in)	15.2 cm (6.0 in)	72 years	57 of 100 (Notable)
20 January 1978	Morehead City 2 WNW, US	monthly rain	104.1 mm (4.1 in)	44.4 mm (1.7 in)	14 years	57 of 100 (Notable)
20 January 1978	Dale Enterprise, US	daily snow depth	40.6 cm (16.0 in)	22.8 cm (9.0 in)	60 years	57 of 100 (Notable)
20 January 1978	Bens Run 1 SSE, US	daily snowfall	30.5 cm (12.0 in)	22.1 cm (8.7 in)	42 years	57 of 100 (Notable)
20 January 1978	Inverness 3 SE, US	daily rain	49.0 mm (1.9 in)	31.5 mm (1.2 in)	75 years	56 of 100 (Notable)
20 January 1978	Madison 3NNW, US	all-time snow depth	55.9 cm (22.0 in)	17.8 cm (7.0 in)	7 years	56 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

1795 to 1978

Records set or tied on this calendar date in each year from 1795 to 1978. 1978 had 1,669 records.

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

Records on 01-20 in each year
Year	Records
1795	2
1796	1
1798	1
1804	2
1820	1
1844	1
1850	1
1858	2
1861	1
1862	1
1863	1
1866	2
1867	1
1872	1
1874	4
1875	4
1878	1
1879	1
1880	5
1881	4
1885	1
1890	2
1891	1
1892	3
1893	3
1894	1
1895	2
1896	1
1897	3
1898	6
1899	12
1900	15
1901	11
1902	5
1903	4
1904	14
1905	2
1906	25
1907	26
1908	9
1909	30
1910	11
1911	3
1912	7
1913	44
1914	57
1915	153
1916	34
1917	123
1918	71
1919	28
1920	103
1921	45
1922	86
1923	41
1924	298
1925	181
1926	110
1927	381
1928	383
1929	203
1930	540
1931	90
1932	139
1933	441
1934	118
1935	904
1936	602
1937	1,041
1938	219
1939	238
1940	1,147
1941	214
1942	979
1943	1,002
1944	568
1945	302
1946	487
1947	534
1948	422
1949	429
1950	653
1951	958
1952	386
1953	476
1954	791
1955	278
1956	906
1957	349
1958	494
1959	603
1960	329
1961	641
1962	1,162
1963	921
1964	567
1965	283
1966	634
1967	556
1968	1,096
1969	859
1970	1,301
1971	936
1972	823
1973	450
1974	978
1975	688
1976	848
1977	997
1978	1,669
1979	1,158
1980	423
1981	823
1982	958
1983	847
1984	1,957
1985	2,188
1986	1,327
1987	1,063
1988	1,637
1989	955
1990	1,257
1991	562
1992	493
1993	1,327
1994	2,035
1995	1,136
1996	851
1997	658
1998	576
1999	1,368
2000	1,132
2001	667
2002	666
2003	732
2004	451
2005	1,335
2006	1,395
2007	2,143
2008	1,366
2009	738
2010	986
2011	731
2012	848
2013	432
2014	480
2015	413
2016	726
2017	1,370
2018	634
2019	722
2020	498
2021	375
2022	346
2023	778
2024	841
2025	1,599
2026	193

Download the Data

Data for records on 1978-01-20: 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	1,227
100 to 200	150
200 to 300	29
300 to 400	1
400 to 500	1