Weather Records on 5 December 1978

960 weather records were set or tied worldwide on 5 December 1978. Highest significance: Red Lodge, US.

Key Facts for 5 December 1978

On 5 December 1978, 960 weather records were set or tied at long-record stations worldwide.
170 were record highs and 239 were record lows, counting maximum and minimum temperature.
By timescale, 1 were all-time records, 41 monthly and 918 daily.
Red Lodge set a daily record snowfall of 40.6 cm (16.0 in) on 5 December 1978.
Across 170 earlier years (1796 to 2025) the same calendar date averaged 473 records.

Record Map

960 stations

960 station records on 5 December 1978 are marked on the map, coloured by record type. Dot size shows the significance score. Made with Natural Earth.

Weather records on 5 December 1978: highest significance records shown on the map
Station	Country	Type	Value	Significance
Red Lodge	United States	Record daily snowfall	40.6 cm (16.0 in)	68 of 100 (Major)
Allenspark 2SE	United States	Record daily snowfall	71.1 cm (28.0 in)	58 of 100 (Notable)
Timbauba	Brazil	Record daily precipitation	50.0 mm (2.0 in)	57 of 100 (Notable)
Rapelje	United States	Record daily snowfall	21.6 cm (8.5 in)	56 of 100 (Notable)
Red Range (Victoria St)	Australia	Record daily precipitation	50.0 mm (2.0 in)	53 of 100 (Notable)
Lagoa da Canoa	Brazil	Record daily precipitation	51.4 mm (2.0 in)	52 of 100 (Notable)
Chornomorske	Ukraine	Record daily precipitation	26.7 mm (1.1 in)	51 of 100 (Notable)
Merriman	United States	Record snow depth	25.4 cm (10.0 in)	50 of 100 (Notable)
Red Lodge	United States	Record snow depth	119.4 cm (47.0 in)	49 of 100 (Notable)
Billings Intl AP	United States	Record snow depth	61.0 cm (24.0 in)	49 of 100 (Notable)
Glen Innes Post Office	Australia	Record daily precipitation	62.0 mm (2.4 in)	48 of 100 (Notable)
Koroit	Australia	Record daily precipitation	40.2 mm (1.6 in)	47 of 100 (Notable)
Albion	United States	Record snow depth	35.6 cm (14.0 in)	46 of 100 (Notable)
Chadron 3SW	United States	Record snow depth	38.1 cm (15.0 in)	46 of 100 (Notable)
Oelrichs	United States	Record snow depth	35.6 cm (14.0 in)	46 of 100 (Notable)
Diversion Dam	United States	Record daily snowfall	30.5 cm (12.0 in)	46 of 100 (Notable)
Mount Wilkin	Australia	Record daily precipitation	72.0 mm (2.8 in)	42 of 100 (Notable)
Covington	United States	Record daily precipitation	55.1 mm (2.2 in)	42 of 100 (Notable)
Hot Springs	United States	Record daily snowfall	12.7 cm (5.0 in)	41 of 100 (Notable)
Gaffney 6 E	United States	Record daily precipitation	55.4 mm (2.2 in)	40 of 100 (Notable)
Anatone	United States	Record daily snowfall	20.3 cm (8.0 in)	40 of 100 (Notable)
Kaycee	United States	Record snow depth	33.0 cm (13.0 in)	40 of 100 (Notable)
Hot Springs	United States	Record snow depth	25.4 cm (10.0 in)	39 of 100 (Notable)
Haleakala Exp Farm 434	United States	Record daily precipitation	119.4 mm (4.7 in)	39 of 100 (Notable)
Cape Bruny Lighthouse	Australia	Record daily precipitation	37.8 mm (1.5 in)	38 of 100 (Notable)
Zmeinogorsk	Russia	Record daily precipitation	30.7 mm (1.2 in)	38 of 100 (Notable)
Onawa 3NW	United States	Record snow depth	30.5 cm (12.0 in)	38 of 100 (Notable)
Emblem	United States	Record daily snowfall	5.1 cm (2.0 in)	38 of 100 (Notable)
Proa Station	Australia	Record daily precipitation	81.0 mm (3.2 in)	37 of 100 (Notable)
Tweed Heads Golf Club	Australia	Record daily precipitation	35.0 mm (1.4 in)	37 of 100 (Notable)
Greenville	United States	Record daily precipitation	57.9 mm (2.3 in)	37 of 100 (Notable)
Woodbury	United States	Record daily precipitation	55.1 mm (2.2 in)	37 of 100 (Notable)
University	United States	Record low maximum temperature	0.6 C (33.1 F)	37 of 100 (Notable)
Mocksville 5SE	United States	Record daily precipitation	33.3 mm (1.3 in)	37 of 100 (Notable)
Pennington Gap	United States	Record daily precipitation	52.1 mm (2.1 in)	37 of 100 (Notable)
Boulia Airport	Australia	Record low minimum temperature	13.0 C (55.4 F)	36 of 100 (Notable)
Campbell Town (Greenhill)	Australia	Record daily precipitation	35.0 mm (1.4 in)	36 of 100 (Notable)
Elk City 1NE	United States	Record daily precipitation	31.8 mm (1.3 in)	36 of 100 (Notable)
Castana Exp Farm	United States	Record snow depth	33.0 cm (13.0 in)	36 of 100 (Notable)
Sheridan AP	United States	Record snow depth	40.6 cm (16.0 in)	36 of 100 (Notable)
Cut Bank AP	United States	Record snow depth	17.8 cm (7.0 in)	36 of 100 (Notable)
Granada Station	Australia	Record daily precipitation	76.0 mm (3.0 in)	35 of 100 (Notable)
Experiment	United States	Record daily precipitation	68.3 mm (2.7 in)	35 of 100 (Notable)
Calhoun 2 N	United States	Record low maximum temperature	1.7 C (35.1 F)	35 of 100 (Notable)
Stapleton 5 SSE	United States	Record snow depth	35.6 cm (14.0 in)	35 of 100 (Notable)
Pilot Rock 1 SE	United States	Record daily precipitation	30.5 mm (1.2 in)	35 of 100 (Notable)
Ukiah	United States	Record daily snowfall	20.3 cm (8.0 in)	35 of 100 (Notable)
Lawrenceville 3 E	United States	Record daily precipitation	38.1 mm (1.5 in)	35 of 100 (Notable)
Gillette 3SE	United States	Record daily snowfall	8.6 cm (3.4 in)	35 of 100 (Notable)
Pahala 21	United States	Record daily precipitation	53.3 mm (2.1 in)	35 of 100 (Notable)
Wandsworth (Strabanne)	Australia	Record daily precipitation	37.0 mm (1.5 in)	34 of 100 (Routine)
Pedro Alexandre (Voturuna)	Brazil	Record daily precipitation	40.8 mm (1.6 in)	34 of 100 (Routine)
Little Hills	United States	Record snow depth	38.1 cm (15.0 in)	34 of 100 (Routine)
Monticello	United States	Record daily precipitation	36.8 mm (1.4 in)	34 of 100 (Routine)
Storm Lake	United States	Record snow depth	25.4 cm (10.0 in)	34 of 100 (Routine)
Jennings	United States	Record low maximum temperature	5.6 C (42.1 F)	34 of 100 (Routine)
Lake Arthur 7 SW	United States	Record low maximum temperature	6.1 C (43.0 F)	34 of 100 (Routine)
Water Valley	United States	Record low maximum temperature	1.1 C (34.0 F)	34 of 100 (Routine)
Uanda	Australia	Record daily precipitation	32.0 mm (1.3 in)	33 of 100 (Routine)
Brinkley	United States	Record low maximum temperature	-0.6 C (30.9 F)	33 of 100 (Routine)

Counts by Type and Timescale

960 records

Records set or tied on 5 December 1978 by type: Highest daily maximum 118, Lowest daily maximum 151, Highest daily minimum 52, Lowest daily minimum 88, Heaviest daily rainfall 346, Heaviest daily snowfall 78, Deepest snow cover 127.

Records on 5 December 1978 by type
Record type	Records
Highest daily maximum	118
Lowest daily maximum	151
Highest daily minimum	52
Lowest daily minimum	88
Heaviest daily rainfall	346
Heaviest daily snowfall	78
Deepest snow cover	127

Records on 5 December 1978 by timescale: all-time 1, monthly 41, daily 918.

How Much Records Were Beaten By

800 broken records

Margins by which the 800 broken records beat the old ones, in degrees Celsius for temperature and millimetres for precipitation and snow; the largest margin was 788.0. Ties are not counted.

Top 20 by Significance

5 December 1978

Top 20 records on 5 December 1978 by significance
Date	Station	Record	Value	Beat old record by	Old record stood	Significance
5 December 1978	Red Lodge, US	daily snowfall	40.6 cm (16.0 in)	27.9 cm (11.0 in)	69 years	68 of 100 (Major)
5 December 1978	Allenspark 2SE, US	monthly snowfall	71.1 cm (28.0 in)	38.1 cm (15.0 in)	18 years	58 of 100 (Notable)
5 December 1978	Timbauba, BR	daily rain	50.0 mm (2.0 in)	38.9 mm (1.5 in)	37 years	57 of 100 (Notable)
5 December 1978	Rapelje, US	daily snowfall	21.6 cm (8.5 in)	14.0 cm (5.5 in)	69 years	56 of 100 (Notable)
5 December 1978	Red Range (Victoria St), AU	daily rain	50.0 mm (2.0 in)	25.1 mm (1.0 in)	77 years	53 of 100 (Notable)
5 December 1978	Lagoa da Canoa, BR	daily rain	51.4 mm (2.0 in)	36.4 mm (1.4 in)	57 years	52 of 100 (Notable)
5 December 1978	Chornomorske, UA	daily rain	26.7 mm (1.1 in)	17.7 mm (0.7 in)	25 years	51 of 100 (Notable)
5 December 1978	Merriman, US	daily snow depth	25.4 cm (10.0 in)	7.6 cm (3.0 in)	80 years	50 of 100 (Notable)
5 December 1978	Red Lodge, US	daily snow depth	119.4 cm (47.0 in)	78.8 cm (31.0 in)	5 years	49 of 100 (Notable)
5 December 1978	Billings Intl AP, US	monthly snow depth	61.0 cm (24.0 in)	25.4 cm (10.0 in)	2 years	49 of 100 (Notable)
5 December 1978	Glen Innes Post Office, AU	daily rain	62.0 mm (2.4 in)	36.9 mm (1.5 in)	32 years	48 of 100 (Notable)
5 December 1978	Koroit, AU	daily rain	40.2 mm (1.6 in)	12.0 mm (0.5 in)	67 years	47 of 100 (Notable)
5 December 1978	Albion, US	daily snow depth	35.6 cm (14.0 in)	17.8 cm (7.0 in)	59 years	46 of 100 (Notable)
5 December 1978	Chadron 3SW, US	monthly snow depth	38.1 cm (15.0 in)	5.1 cm (2.0 in)	63 years	46 of 100 (Notable)
5 December 1978	Oelrichs, US	monthly snow depth	35.6 cm (14.0 in)	5.1 cm (2.0 in)	62 years	46 of 100 (Notable)
5 December 1978	Diversion Dam, US	all-time snowfall	30.5 cm (12.0 in)	2.6 cm (1.0 in)	50 years	46 of 100 (Notable)
5 December 1978	Mount Wilkin, AU	daily rain	72.0 mm (2.8 in)	42.8 mm (1.7 in)	47 years	42 of 100 (Notable)
5 December 1978	Covington, US	daily rain	55.1 mm (2.2 in)	17.8 mm (0.7 in)	73 years	42 of 100 (Notable)
5 December 1978	Hot Springs, US	daily snowfall	12.7 cm (5.0 in)	6.3 cm (2.5 in)	68 years	41 of 100 (Notable)
5 December 1978	Gaffney 6 E, US	daily rain	55.4 mm (2.2 in)	30.8 mm (1.2 in)	32 years	40 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

1796 to 1978

Records set or tied on this calendar date in each year from 1796 to 1978. 1978 had 960 records.

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

Records on 12-05 in each year
Year	Records
1796	1
1797	2
1808	1
1812	1
1820	1
1823	1
1824	1
1825	2
1827	1
1829	3
1833	2
1841	1
1842	1
1844	2
1846	2
1852	1
1853	1
1856	4
1859	1
1863	1
1866	2
1867	4
1868	4
1869	1
1870	1
1871	1
1872	1
1874	1
1875	2
1876	1
1877	2
1878	1
1879	3
1880	1
1884	1
1885	2
1886	2
1888	3
1891	5
1892	2
1893	1
1895	13
1896	1
1897	1
1898	7
1900	11
1901	1
1902	13
1903	8
1904	4
1905	4
1906	15
1907	6
1908	7
1909	55
1910	10
1911	97
1912	40
1913	35
1914	22
1915	95
1916	81
1917	35
1918	32
1919	48
1920	89
1921	56
1922	99
1923	168
1924	106
1925	220
1926	370
1927	82
1928	168
1929	111
1930	247
1931	224
1932	235
1933	566
1934	164
1935	273
1936	409
1937	336
1938	279
1939	691
1940	244
1941	899
1942	583
1943	276
1944	320
1945	418
1946	552
1947	283
1948	529
1949	139
1950	887
1951	780
1952	324
1953	459
1954	425
1955	568
1956	1,229
1957	348
1958	465
1959	287
1960	898
1961	415
1962	834
1963	326
1964	909
1965	534
1966	1,038
1967	253
1968	766
1969	594
1970	845
1971	690
1972	2,240
1973	910
1974	527
1975	859
1976	533
1977	1,227
1978	960
1979	863
1980	1,054
1981	590
1982	1,577
1983	1,024
1984	1,141
1985	1,324
1986	798
1987	829
1988	581
1989	1,317
1990	887
1991	1,384
1992	1,743
1993	871
1994	1,481
1995	1,094
1996	987
1997	718
1998	2,489
1999	1,060
2000	973
2001	2,046
2002	2,027
2003	1,031
2004	805
2005	1,475
2006	1,646
2007	992
2008	807
2009	1,229
2010	1,237
2011	1,472
2012	1,081
2013	1,763
2014	476
2015	721
2016	636
2017	568
2018	338
2019	463
2020	529
2021	679
2022	454
2023	1,402
2024	796
2025	872

Download the Data

Data for records on 1978-12-05: 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	766
100 to 200	27
200 to 300	5
300 to 400	1
400 to 500	0
500 to 600	0
600 to 700	0
700 to 800	1