Weather Records on 15 December 1978

499 weather records were set or tied worldwide on 15 December 1978. Highest significance: Ardath, AU.

Key Facts for 15 December 1978

On 15 December 1978, 499 weather records were set or tied at long-record stations worldwide.
52 were record highs and 96 were record lows, counting maximum and minimum temperature.
By timescale, 1 were all-time records, 7 monthly and 491 daily.
Ardath set a daily record precipitation of 42.0 mm (1.7 in) on 15 December 1978.
Across 168 earlier years (1793 to 2025) the same calendar date averaged 455 records.

Record Map

499 stations

499 station records on 15 December 1978 are marked on the map, coloured by record type. Dot size shows the significance score. Made with Natural Earth.

Weather records on 15 December 1978: highest significance records shown on the map
Station	Country	Type	Value	Significance
Ardath	Australia	Record daily precipitation	42.0 mm (1.7 in)	62 of 100 (Major)
Narndee	Australia	Record daily precipitation	29.0 mm (1.1 in)	57 of 100 (Notable)
The Granites	Australia	Record daily precipitation	39.4 mm (1.6 in)	50 of 100 (Notable)
Yalta	Ukraine	Record daily precipitation	45.3 mm (1.8 in)	50 of 100 (Notable)
Red Lodge	United States	Record snow depth	106.7 cm (42.0 in)	50 of 100 (Notable)
Bulyee	Australia	Record daily precipitation	27.8 mm (1.1 in)	49 of 100 (Notable)
Bailey	United States	Record snow depth	30.5 cm (12.0 in)	49 of 100 (Notable)
Seymour Falls	Canada	Record daily snowfall	40.0 cm (15.7 in)	48 of 100 (Notable)
Casuarina Vale	Australia	Record daily precipitation	34.0 mm (1.3 in)	44 of 100 (Notable)
Kumminin	Australia	Record daily precipitation	28.0 mm (1.1 in)	44 of 100 (Notable)
Bad Lippspringe	Germany	Record daily precipitation	28.0 mm (1.1 in)	43 of 100 (Notable)
Lemmer (Gemaal Buma)	Netherlands	Record daily precipitation	26.1 mm (1.0 in)	43 of 100 (Notable)
Dull Ctr 1SE	United States	Record snow depth	33.0 cm (13.0 in)	43 of 100 (Notable)
Indiga	Russia	Record low maximum temperature	-39.2 C (-38.6 F)	42 of 100 (Notable)
Merriman	United States	Record snow depth	17.8 cm (7.0 in)	41 of 100 (Notable)
Kaycee	United States	Record snow depth	30.5 cm (12.0 in)	40 of 100 (Notable)
A Coruna	Spain	Record daily precipitation	48.2 mm (1.9 in)	39 of 100 (Notable)
Butte Bert Mooney AP	United States	Record snow depth	30.5 cm (12.0 in)	39 of 100 (Notable)
Vila Prosperidade (Gm)	Brazil	Record daily precipitation	54.8 mm (2.2 in)	37 of 100 (Notable)
Rochelle 7ENE	United States	Record snow depth	20.3 cm (8.0 in)	37 of 100 (Notable)
Lerida	Australia	Record daily precipitation	38.2 mm (1.5 in)	34 of 100 (Routine)
Rewan Station	Australia	Record daily precipitation	48.0 mm (1.9 in)	33 of 100 (Routine)
Sodankyla AWS	Finland	Record low maximum temperature	-35.0 C (-31.0 F)	33 of 100 (Routine)
Stanton	United States	Record snow depth	12.7 cm (5.0 in)	33 of 100 (Routine)
Arhangelsk	Russia	Record low minimum temperature	-35.8 C (-32.4 F)	32 of 100 (Routine)
Sheridan AP	United States	Record snow depth	27.9 cm (11.0 in)	32 of 100 (Routine)
Kirkalocka	Australia	Record daily precipitation	35.0 mm (1.4 in)	31 of 100 (Routine)
Karaby-Yala	Ukraine	Record daily precipitation	36.6 mm (1.4 in)	31 of 100 (Routine)
Bridger 2 N	United States	Record snow depth	25.4 cm (10.0 in)	30 of 100 (Routine)
Southport 5 N	United States	Record low minimum temperature	-8.3 C (17.1 F)	30 of 100 (Routine)
McKenzie Rvr Rs	United States	Record low maximum temperature	1.1 C (34.0 F)	30 of 100 (Routine)
Quellington	Australia	Record daily precipitation	32.0 mm (1.3 in)	29 of 100 (Routine)
Teriberka	Russia	Record low minimum temperature	-22.9 C (-9.2 F)	29 of 100 (Routine)
Indiga	Russia	Record low minimum temperature	-41.5 C (-42.7 F)	29 of 100 (Routine)
Ust Tzilma	Russia	Record low maximum temperature	-42.0 C (-43.6 F)	29 of 100 (Routine)
Zharkent	Kazakhstan	Record high minimum temperature	0.0 C (32.0 F)	28 of 100 (Routine)
Narjan Mar	Russia	Record low maximum temperature	-40.6 C (-41.1 F)	28 of 100 (Routine)
Narjan Mar	Russia	Record low minimum temperature	-44.2 C (-47.6 F)	28 of 100 (Routine)
Redig 11 NE	United States	Record snow depth	25.4 cm (10.0 in)	28 of 100 (Routine)
Doodenanning	Australia	Record daily precipitation	28.4 mm (1.1 in)	27 of 100 (Routine)
Catemaco	Mexico	Record low minimum temperature	3.9 C (39.0 F)	27 of 100 (Routine)
Vardoe	Norway	Record low minimum temperature	-14.0 C (6.8 F)	27 of 100 (Routine)
Glomfjord	Norway	Record low minimum temperature	-12.6 C (9.3 F)	26 of 100 (Routine)
Kandalaksa	Russia	Record low maximum temperature	-24.3 C (-11.7 F)	26 of 100 (Routine)
Kem-Port	Russia	Record low minimum temperature	-30.3 C (-22.5 F)	26 of 100 (Routine)
Kolguev Severnyi	Russia	Record low maximum temperature	-28.4 C (-19.1 F)	25 of 100 (Routine)
Kolguev Severnyi	Russia	Record low minimum temperature	-30.5 C (-22.9 F)	25 of 100 (Routine)
Krasnoshelye	Russia	Record low maximum temperature	-35.9 C (-32.6 F)	25 of 100 (Routine)
Midwest	United States	Record snow depth	20.3 cm (8.0 in)	25 of 100 (Routine)
Ribeirao Do Sul	Brazil	Record daily precipitation	39.7 mm (1.6 in)	24 of 100 (Routine)
Fazenda Aterradinho	Brazil	Record daily precipitation	34.8 mm (1.4 in)	24 of 100 (Routine)
Schierke	Germany	Record daily precipitation	26.8 mm (1.1 in)	24 of 100 (Routine)
Cardara	Kazakhstan	Record daily precipitation	39.1 mm (1.5 in)	24 of 100 (Routine)
Arecibo 3 ESE	Puerto Rico [United States]	Record high maximum temperature	32.2 C (90.0 F)	24 of 100 (Routine)
Karesuando	Sweden	Record low maximum temperature	-29.2 C (-20.6 F)	24 of 100 (Routine)
Bermagui South (Young Street)	Australia	Record daily precipitation	105.8 mm (4.2 in)	23 of 100 (Routine)
Kinuso Rs	Canada	Record high minimum temperature	-1.0 C (30.2 F)	23 of 100 (Routine)
Kojnas	Russia	Record low minimum temperature	-46.8 C (-52.2 F)	23 of 100 (Routine)
Chadron 3SW	United States	Record snow depth	22.9 cm (9.0 in)	23 of 100 (Routine)
Gothenburg	United States	Record snow depth	20.3 cm (8.0 in)	23 of 100 (Routine)

Counts by Type and Timescale

499 records

Records set or tied on 15 December 1978 by type: Highest daily maximum 18, Lowest daily maximum 44, Highest daily minimum 34, Lowest daily minimum 52, Heaviest daily rainfall 307, Heaviest daily snowfall 6, Deepest snow cover 38.

Records on 15 December 1978 by type
Record type	Records
Highest daily maximum	18
Lowest daily maximum	44
Highest daily minimum	34
Lowest daily minimum	52
Heaviest daily rainfall	307
Heaviest daily snowfall	6
Deepest snow cover	38

Records on 15 December 1978 by timescale: all-time 1, monthly 7, daily 491.

How Much Records Were Beaten By

457 broken records

Margins by which the 457 broken records beat the old ones, in degrees Celsius for temperature and millimetres for precipitation and snow; the largest margin was 635.0. Ties are not counted.

Top 20 by Significance

15 December 1978

Top 20 records on 15 December 1978 by significance
Date	Station	Record	Value	Beat old record by	Old record stood	Significance
15 December 1978	Ardath, AU	daily rain	42.0 mm (1.7 in)	40.7 mm (1.6 in)	56 years	62 of 100 (Major)
15 December 1978	Narndee, AU	daily rain	29.0 mm (1.1 in)	26.5 mm (1.0 in)	40 years	57 of 100 (Notable)
15 December 1978	The Granites, AU	daily rain	39.4 mm (1.6 in)	30.8 mm (1.2 in)	56 years	50 of 100 (Notable)
15 December 1978	Yalta, UA	daily rain	45.3 mm (1.8 in)	24.6 mm (1.0 in)	49 years	50 of 100 (Notable)
15 December 1978	Red Lodge, US	daily snow depth	106.7 cm (42.0 in)	63.5 cm (25.0 in)	7 years	50 of 100 (Notable)
15 December 1978	Bulyee, AU	daily rain	27.8 mm (1.1 in)	25.5 mm (1.0 in)	16 years	49 of 100 (Notable)
15 December 1978	Bailey, US	daily snow depth	30.5 cm (12.0 in)	20.3 cm (8.0 in)	17 years	49 of 100 (Notable)
15 December 1978	Seymour Falls, CA	daily snowfall	40.0 cm (15.7 in)	27.3 cm (10.7 in)	51 years	48 of 100 (Notable)
15 December 1978	Casuarina Vale, AU	daily rain	34.0 mm (1.3 in)	28.7 mm (1.1 in)	16 years	44 of 100 (Notable)
15 December 1978	Kumminin, AU	daily rain	28.0 mm (1.1 in)	20.4 mm (0.8 in)	56 years	44 of 100 (Notable)
15 December 1978	Bad Lippspringe, DE	daily rain	28.0 mm (1.1 in)	14.5 mm (0.6 in)	36 years	43 of 100 (Notable)
15 December 1978	Lemmer (Gemaal Buma), NL	daily rain	26.1 mm (1.0 in)	13.6 mm (0.5 in)	28 years	43 of 100 (Notable)
15 December 1978	Dull Ctr 1SE, US	daily snow depth	33.0 cm (13.0 in)	17.8 cm (7.0 in)	5 years	43 of 100 (Notable)
15 December 1978	Indiga, RU	all-time low max	-39.2 C (-38.6 F)	1.2 C (2.2 F)	54 years	42 of 100 (Notable)
15 December 1978	Merriman, US	daily snow depth	17.8 cm (7.0 in)	7.6 cm (3.0 in)	52 years	41 of 100 (Notable)
15 December 1978	Kaycee, US	daily snow depth	30.5 cm (12.0 in)	12.7 cm (5.0 in)	13 years	40 of 100 (Notable)
15 December 1978	A Coruna, ES	daily rain	48.2 mm (1.9 in)	25.4 mm (1.0 in)	9 years	39 of 100 (Notable)
15 December 1978	Butte Bert Mooney AP, US	daily snow depth	30.5 cm (12.0 in)	12.7 cm (5.0 in)	29 years	39 of 100 (Notable)
15 December 1978	Vila Prosperidade (Gm), BR	daily rain	54.8 mm (2.2 in)	35.0 mm (1.4 in)	32 years	37 of 100 (Notable)
15 December 1978	Rochelle 7ENE, US	daily snow depth	20.3 cm (8.0 in)	7.6 cm (3.0 in)	37 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 499 records.

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

Records on 12-15 in each year
Year	Records
1793	1
1796	1
1798	1
1800	1
1808	3
1810	1
1814	3
1815	1
1825	1
1831	1
1840	2
1844	2
1846	3
1847	1
1854	3
1859	2
1863	1
1864	1
1866	1
1867	2
1868	1
1869	1
1870	1
1873	1
1874	1
1878	4
1879	2
1880	2
1881	3
1882	2
1883	1
1885	1
1886	1
1889	3
1890	1
1891	2
1892	4
1893	1
1894	4
1895	1
1896	5
1897	2
1899	12
1900	5
1901	21
1902	3
1903	7
1904	9
1905	6
1906	9
1907	10
1908	5
1909	5
1910	4
1911	23
1912	42
1913	13
1914	239
1915	180
1916	40
1917	40
1918	54
1919	28
1920	35
1921	26
1922	65
1923	132
1924	358
1925	187
1926	226
1927	235
1928	388
1929	500
1930	160
1931	284
1932	385
1933	796
1934	199
1935	140
1936	286
1937	310
1938	100
1939	637
1940	464
1941	373
1942	385
1943	486
1944	281
1945	420
1946	521
1947	634
1948	1,239
1949	135
1950	292
1951	962
1952	367
1953	270
1954	413
1955	371
1956	531
1957	304
1958	531
1959	560
1960	313
1961	883
1962	979
1963	670
1964	371
1965	759
1966	275
1967	948
1968	510
1969	352
1970	215
1971	1,739
1972	1,159
1973	615
1974	511
1975	1,230
1976	349
1977	963
1978	499
1979	560
1980	1,085
1981	1,243
1982	831
1983	1,229
1984	1,397
1985	1,077
1986	502
1987	1,740
1988	519
1989	2,753
1990	846
1991	636
1992	1,263
1993	734
1994	676
1995	848
1996	727
1997	1,521
1998	1,216
1999	621
2000	1,154
2001	1,026
2002	831
2003	846
2004	795
2005	953
2006	1,491
2007	973
2008	1,789
2009	930
2010	1,705
2011	780
2012	1,058
2013	701
2014	1,045
2015	1,398
2016	1,024
2017	332
2018	539
2019	547
2020	400
2021	1,182
2022	1,057
2023	794
2024	369
2025	2,115

Download the Data

Data for records on 1978-12-15: 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	446
100 to 200	8
200 to 300	2
300 to 400	0
400 to 500	0
500 to 600	0
600 to 700	1