Weather Records on 17 October 1978

583 weather records were set or tied worldwide on 17 October 1978. Highest significance: Tonti (Bos), ZA.

Key Facts for 17 October 1978

On 17 October 1978, 583 weather records were set or tied at long-record stations worldwide.
91 were record highs and 337 were record lows, counting maximum and minimum temperature.
By timescale, 1 were all-time records, 9 monthly and 573 daily.
Tonti (Bos) set a monthly record daily precipitation of 190.0 mm (7.5 in) on 17 October 1978.
Across 162 earlier years (1793 to 2025) the same calendar date averaged 439 records.

Record Map

583 stations

583 station records on 17 October 1978 are marked on the map, coloured by record type. Dot size shows the significance score. Made with Natural Earth.

Weather records on 17 October 1978: highest significance records shown on the map
Station	Country	Type	Value	Significance
Tonti (Bos)	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	190.0 mm (7.5 in)	63 of 100 (Major)
Mosita	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	80.0 mm (3.1 in)	52 of 100 (Notable)
Laranja da Terra	Brazil	Record daily precipitation	92.0 mm (3.6 in)	48 of 100 (Notable)
Brockville	Canada	Record low minimum temperature	-6.5 C (20.3 F)	46 of 100 (Notable)
Sitka AP	United States	Record daily precipitation	95.8 mm (3.8 in)	43 of 100 (Notable)
Cristina	Brazil	Record daily precipitation	57.0 mm (2.2 in)	41 of 100 (Notable)
Durham	Canada	Record low minimum temperature	-6.0 C (21.2 F)	41 of 100 (Notable)
Highlands	United States	Record low minimum temperature	-6.7 C (19.9 F)	41 of 100 (Notable)
Lagoa Branca	Brazil	Record daily precipitation	52.3 mm (2.1 in)	40 of 100 (Notable)
Cambridge Galt Moe	Canada	Record low minimum temperature	-5.5 C (22.1 F)	40 of 100 (Notable)
Botanic Gardens - Pmb	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	43.0 mm (1.7 in)	40 of 100 (Notable)
Beatrice	Canada	Record low minimum temperature	-8.5 C (16.7 F)	39 of 100 (Notable)
Cosamaloapan de Carpio (Smn)	Mexico	Record daily precipitation	99.8 mm (3.9 in)	39 of 100 (Notable)
Corinne	United States	Record high minimum temperature	10.6 C (51.1 F)	39 of 100 (Notable)
Canton 4 SE	United States	Record low minimum temperature	-10.0 C (14.0 F)	39 of 100 (Notable)
Yetman (Warialda Street)	Australia	Record daily precipitation	46.0 mm (1.8 in)	38 of 100 (Notable)
Ocampo	Mexico	Record low maximum temperature	12.2 C (54.0 F)	38 of 100 (Notable)
Peterboro 2 S	United States	Record low minimum temperature	-7.8 C (18.0 F)	38 of 100 (Notable)
Woodstock	Canada	Record low minimum temperature	-6.5 C (20.3 F)	37 of 100 (Notable)
Palmiet, Kokstad	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	29.2 mm (1.1 in)	37 of 100 (Notable)
Ithaca Cornell UNIV	United States	Record low minimum temperature	-6.1 C (21.0 F)	37 of 100 (Notable)
Bergville (Mag)	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	60.0 mm (2.4 in)	36 of 100 (Notable)
Ft Kent	United States	Record low maximum temperature	2.2 C (36.0 F)	36 of 100 (Notable)
Cape May 2 NW	United States	Record low minimum temperature	2.2 C (36.0 F)	36 of 100 (Notable)
Bonshaw (Campbell St)	Australia	Record daily precipitation	47.8 mm (1.9 in)	35 of 100 (Notable)
Victoria Gonzales Hts	Canada	Record high minimum temperature	11.7 C (53.1 F)	35 of 100 (Notable)
Lucknow	Canada	Record low minimum temperature	-5.5 C (22.1 F)	35 of 100 (Notable)
Grafton	United States	Record low minimum temperature	-10.6 C (12.9 F)	35 of 100 (Notable)
Mt Morris 2W	United States	Record low minimum temperature	-4.4 C (24.1 F)	35 of 100 (Notable)
Laghouat	Algeria	Record low maximum temperature	15.0 C (59.0 F)	34 of 100 (Routine)
Nqutu (Tnk)	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	77.0 mm (3.0 in)	34 of 100 (Routine)
Berrings	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	38.4 mm (1.5 in)	34 of 100 (Routine)
Schenectady	United States	Record low minimum temperature	-2.8 C (27.0 F)	34 of 100 (Routine)
Mosdene	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	37.3 mm (1.5 in)	33 of 100 (Routine)
Brockport	United States	Record low minimum temperature	-3.9 C (25.0 F)	33 of 100 (Routine)
Watertown	United States	Record low minimum temperature	-5.0 C (23.0 F)	33 of 100 (Routine)
Ivanhoe Station	Australia	Record daily precipitation	51.0 mm (2.0 in)	32 of 100 (Routine)
Monte Carmelo	Brazil	Record daily precipitation	62.0 mm (2.4 in)	32 of 100 (Routine)
Farmland 5 NNW	United States	Record low maximum temperature	7.8 C (46.0 F)	32 of 100 (Routine)
Chestnut Hill	United States	Record low maximum temperature	10.6 C (51.1 F)	32 of 100 (Routine)
Watertown	United States	Record low maximum temperature	5.6 C (42.1 F)	32 of 100 (Routine)
Kalkfontein	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	29.5 mm (1.2 in)	31 of 100 (Routine)
Steeunmekaar (Pol)	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	70.0 mm (2.8 in)	30 of 100 (Routine)
Clifford Chambers	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	64.0 mm (2.5 in)	30 of 100 (Routine)
Ogdensburg 4 NE	United States	Record low minimum temperature	-7.8 C (18.0 F)	30 of 100 (Routine)
Drain	United States	Record high minimum temperature	13.9 C (57.0 F)	30 of 100 (Routine)
Enosburg Falls	United States	Record low minimum temperature	-8.3 C (17.1 F)	30 of 100 (Routine)
Flora Downs	Australia	Record daily precipitation	30.0 mm (1.2 in)	29 of 100 (Routine)
Chilliwack	Canada	Record high minimum temperature	12.0 C (53.6 F)	29 of 100 (Routine)
Berezovo	Russia	Record daily precipitation	27.3 mm (1.1 in)	29 of 100 (Routine)
Kalkfontein	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	44.5 mm (1.8 in)	29 of 100 (Routine)
N Fk Rs	United States	Record high minimum temperature	13.3 C (55.9 F)	29 of 100 (Routine)
Columbus	United States	Record low maximum temperature	9.4 C (48.9 F)	29 of 100 (Routine)
Seymour 1 WSW	United States	Record low maximum temperature	9.4 C (48.9 F)	29 of 100 (Routine)
Westfield 2 SSE	United States	Record low minimum temperature	-0.6 C (30.9 F)	29 of 100 (Routine)
Texas Post Office	Australia	Record daily precipitation	35.4 mm (1.4 in)	28 of 100 (Routine)
Nominingue	Canada	Record low minimum temperature	-9.4 C (15.1 F)	28 of 100 (Routine)
Zuerich/Fluntern	Switzerland	Record daily precipitation	48.8 mm (1.9 in)	28 of 100 (Routine)
Lugano	Switzerland	Record daily precipitation	72.6 mm (2.9 in)	28 of 100 (Routine)
Fredonia	United States	Record low minimum temperature	-5.0 C (23.0 F)	28 of 100 (Routine)

Counts by Type and Timescale

583 records

Records set or tied on 17 October 1978 by type: Highest daily maximum 25, Lowest daily maximum 124, Highest daily minimum 66, Lowest daily minimum 213, Heaviest daily rainfall 152, Heaviest daily snowfall 3.

Records on 17 October 1978 by type
Record type	Records
Highest daily maximum	25
Lowest daily maximum	124
Highest daily minimum	66
Lowest daily minimum	213
Heaviest daily rainfall	152
Heaviest daily snowfall	3
Deepest snow cover	0

Records on 17 October 1978 by timescale: all-time 1, monthly 9, daily 573.

How Much Records Were Beaten By

451 broken records

Margins by which the 451 broken records beat the old ones, in degrees Celsius for temperature and millimetres for precipitation and snow; the largest margin was 115.0. Ties are not counted.

Top 20 by Significance

17 October 1978

Top 20 records on 17 October 1978 by significance
Date	Station	Record	Value	Beat old record by	Old record stood	Significance
17 October 1978	Tonti (Bos), ZA	monthly rain	190.0 mm (7.5 in)	115.0 mm (4.5 in)	24 years	63 of 100 (Major)
17 October 1978	Mosita, ZA	daily rain	80.0 mm (3.1 in)	52.1 mm (2.1 in)	20 years	52 of 100 (Notable)
17 October 1978	Laranja da Terra, BR	daily rain	92.0 mm (3.6 in)	70.0 mm (2.8 in)	19 years	48 of 100 (Notable)
17 October 1978	Brockville, CA	daily low min	-6.5 C (20.3 F)	3.2 C (5.8 F)	105 years	46 of 100 (Notable)
17 October 1978	Sitka AP, US	daily rain	95.8 mm (3.8 in)	54.4 mm (2.1 in)	4 years	43 of 100 (Notable)
17 October 1978	Cristina, BR	daily rain	57.0 mm (2.2 in)	41.5 mm (1.6 in)	28 years	41 of 100 (Notable)
17 October 1978	Durham, CA	daily low min	-6.0 C (21.2 F)	2.1 C (3.8 F)	94 years	41 of 100 (Notable)
17 October 1978	Highlands, US	daily low min	-6.7 C (19.9 F)	4.5 C (8.1 F)	84 years	41 of 100 (Notable)
17 October 1978	Lagoa Branca, BR	daily rain	52.3 mm (2.1 in)	35.1 mm (1.4 in)	40 years	40 of 100 (Notable)
17 October 1978	Cambridge Galt Moe, CA	daily low min	-5.5 C (22.1 F)	1.1 C (2.0 F)	94 years	40 of 100 (Notable)
17 October 1978	Botanic Gardens - Pmb, ZA	daily rain	43.0 mm (1.7 in)	16.8 mm (0.7 in)	49 years	40 of 100 (Notable)
17 October 1978	Beatrice, CA	daily low min	-8.5 C (16.7 F)	0.7 C (1.3 F)	94 years	39 of 100 (Notable)
17 October 1978	Cosamaloapan de Carpio (Smn), MX	daily rain	99.8 mm (3.9 in)	72.4 mm (2.9 in)	16 years	39 of 100 (Notable)
17 October 1978	Corinne, US	daily high min	10.6 C (51.1 F)	3.9 C (7.0 F)	71 years	39 of 100 (Notable)
17 October 1978	Canton 4 SE, US	daily low min	-10.0 C (14.0 F)	4.4 C (7.9 F)	77 years	39 of 100 (Notable)
17 October 1978	Yetman (Warialda Street), AU	daily rain	46.0 mm (1.8 in)	22.1 mm (0.9 in)	28 years	38 of 100 (Notable)
17 October 1978	Ocampo, MX	daily low max	12.2 C (54.0 F)	6.1 C (11.0 F)	33 years	38 of 100 (Notable)
17 October 1978	Peterboro 2 S, US	daily low min	-7.8 C (18.0 F)	2.8 C (5.0 F)	84 years	38 of 100 (Notable)
17 October 1978	Woodstock, CA	daily low min	-6.5 C (20.3 F)	2.1 C (3.8 F)	77 years	37 of 100 (Notable)
17 October 1978	Palmiet, Kokstad, ZA	daily rain	29.2 mm (1.1 in)	19.8 mm (0.8 in)	29 years	37 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 1978

Records set or tied on this calendar date in each year from 1793 to 1978. 1978 had 583 records.

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

Records on 10-17 in each year
Year	Records
1793	1
1796	2
1808	2
1810	1
1811	1
1817	1
1820	1
1830	1
1836	1
1844	1
1845	1
1868	1
1869	2
1870	1
1872	1
1874	1
1875	1
1876	3
1877	1
1878	1
1879	7
1881	1
1882	1
1883	1
1884	2
1885	2
1886	1
1889	1
1890	3
1891	2
1892	6
1893	5
1894	2
1895	1
1897	3
1898	6
1899	3
1900	3
1901	3
1902	4
1903	9
1904	17
1905	12
1906	3
1907	16
1908	46
1909	18
1910	13
1911	24
1912	12
1913	26
1914	72
1915	7
1916	81
1917	29
1918	20
1919	34
1920	82
1921	64
1922	60
1923	149
1924	81
1925	324
1926	153
1927	163
1928	530
1929	119
1930	441
1931	431
1932	345
1933	190
1934	262
1935	337
1936	338
1937	865
1938	710
1939	424
1940	580
1941	194
1942	349
1943	1,173
1944	415
1945	289
1946	437
1947	744
1948	724
1949	442
1950	809
1951	274
1952	474
1953	463
1954	579
1955	562
1956	353
1957	245
1958	415
1959	403
1960	432
1961	525
1962	350
1963	513
1964	492
1965	920
1966	551
1967	576
1968	929
1969	714
1970	815
1971	1,053
1972	866
1973	542
1974	1,055
1975	605
1976	1,381
1977	1,060
1978	583
1979	468
1980	1,366
1981	555
1982	575
1983	526
1984	1,551
1985	585
1986	354
1987	828
1988	827
1989	1,163
1990	1,109
1991	1,352
1992	1,384
1993	1,001
1994	1,306
1995	1,076
1996	987
1997	1,114
1998	1,455
1999	815
2000	461
2001	878
2002	992
2003	764
2004	935
2005	643
2006	1,506
2007	690
2008	467
2009	1,606
2010	625
2011	734
2012	550
2013	516
2014	530
2015	843
2016	1,559
2017	743
2018	1,163
2019	504
2020	889
2021	294
2022	964
2023	544
2024	994
2025	363

Download the Data

Data for records on 1978-10-17: 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	432
20 to 40	12
40 to 60	4
60 to 80	2
80 to 100	0
100 to 120	1