Weather Records on 31 December 1978

2,791 weather records were set or tied worldwide on 31 December 1978. Highest significance: Port Stanley, CA.

Key Facts for 31 December 1978

On 31 December 1978, 2,791 weather records were set or tied at long-record stations worldwide.
277 were record highs and 1,402 were record lows, counting maximum and minimum temperature.
By timescale, 88 were all-time records, 293 monthly and 2,410 daily.
Port Stanley set a daily record precipitation of 28.8 mm (1.1 in) on 31 December 1978.
Across 157 earlier years (1797 to 2025) the same calendar date averaged 472 records.

Record Map

2,000 stations, highest significance shown

2,000 station records on 31 December 1978 are marked on the map, coloured by record type. Dot size shows the significance score. Made with Natural Earth.

Weather records on 31 December 1978: highest significance records shown on the map
Station	Country	Type	Value	Significance
Port Stanley	Canada	Record daily precipitation	28.8 mm (1.1 in)	63 of 100 (Major)
Walnut	United States	Record daily snowfall	30.5 cm (12.0 in)	62 of 100 (Major)
Walnut	United States	Record snow depth	45.7 cm (18.0 in)	62 of 100 (Major)
Ottawa	United States	Record daily snowfall	25.4 cm (10.0 in)	57 of 100 (Notable)
Kiel-Kronshagen	Germany	Record snow depth	45.0 cm (17.7 in)	56 of 100 (Notable)
Worms	Germany	Record daily precipitation	32.5 mm (1.3 in)	54 of 100 (Notable)
Elatma	Russia	Record low maximum temperature	-35.7 C (-32.3 F)	54 of 100 (Notable)
Newell	United States	Record daily precipitation	35.6 mm (1.4 in)	54 of 100 (Notable)
Basin	United States	Record low maximum temperature	-30.6 C (-23.1 F)	54 of 100 (Notable)
Knysna (Tnk)	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	45.0 mm (1.8 in)	53 of 100 (Notable)
Geneseo	United States	Record daily snowfall	24.9 cm (9.8 in)	52 of 100 (Notable)
Coleman	Germany	Record daily precipitation	28.4 mm (1.1 in)	51 of 100 (Notable)
Harnosand	Sweden	Record low minimum temperature	-34.7 C (-30.5 F)	51 of 100 (Notable)
1 ENE Fairfield	United States	Record daily precipitation	51.1 mm (2.0 in)	51 of 100 (Notable)
Cureton Rch	United States	Record daily precipitation	31.8 mm (1.3 in)	51 of 100 (Notable)
Malmo	Sweden	Record daily precipitation	33.9 mm (1.3 in)	50 of 100 (Notable)
Mitchell 2 NW	United States	Record low minimum temperature	-23.3 C (-9.9 F)	50 of 100 (Notable)
Riomedina	United States	Record daily precipitation	81.3 mm (3.2 in)	50 of 100 (Notable)
Voru	Estonia	Record low maximum temperature	-28.9 C (-20.0 F)	49 of 100 (Notable)
Utsira Fyr	Norway	Record low minimum temperature	-12.6 C (9.3 F)	49 of 100 (Notable)
Mena	United States	Record daily precipitation	61.2 mm (2.4 in)	49 of 100 (Notable)
Subiaco	United States	Record daily precipitation	74.2 mm (2.9 in)	49 of 100 (Notable)
Dublin Phoenix Park	Ireland	Record low maximum temperature	-1.0 C (30.2 F)	48 of 100 (Notable)
Pskov	Russia	Record low maximum temperature	-30.9 C (-23.6 F)	48 of 100 (Notable)
Paris	United States	Record daily precipitation	74.4 mm (2.9 in)	48 of 100 (Notable)
Goshen 3SW	United States	Record daily precipitation	27.4 mm (1.1 in)	47 of 100 (Notable)
Lawrence	United States	Record daily snowfall	19.1 cm (7.5 in)	46 of 100 (Notable)
Bosque del Apache	United States	Record daily precipitation	26.2 mm (1.0 in)	46 of 100 (Notable)
Blanco	United States	Record daily precipitation	55.9 mm (2.2 in)	46 of 100 (Notable)
Farson 2NNE	United States	Record low minimum temperature	-46.7 C (-52.1 F)	46 of 100 (Notable)
Tartu-Toravere	Estonia	Record low maximum temperature	-26.9 C (-16.4 F)	45 of 100 (Notable)
Berlin-Dahlem	Germany	Record low maximum temperature	-15.2 C (4.6 F)	45 of 100 (Notable)
Zametchino	Russia	Record low minimum temperature	-39.4 C (-38.9 F)	45 of 100 (Notable)
Perm	Russia	Record low maximum temperature	-43.7 C (-46.7 F)	45 of 100 (Notable)
Princeville	United States	Record daily precipitation	33.0 mm (1.3 in)	45 of 100 (Notable)
Tiskilwa 2 SE	United States	Record daily snowfall	25.4 cm (10.0 in)	45 of 100 (Notable)
Oakville	United States	Record low minimum temperature	-19.4 C (-2.9 F)	45 of 100 (Notable)
Flint Fcwos	United States	Record daily precipitation	26.4 mm (1.0 in)	45 of 100 (Notable)
Glenview NAS	United States	Record daily precipitation	37.1 mm (1.5 in)	45 of 100 (Notable)
Gluckstadt	Germany	Record snow depth	20.0 cm (7.9 in)	44 of 100 (Notable)
Gogland	Russia	Record low minimum temperature	-26.1 C (-15.0 F)	44 of 100 (Notable)
Karlshamn	Sweden	Record low maximum temperature	-10.5 C (13.1 F)	44 of 100 (Notable)
Orebro	Sweden	Record low maximum temperature	-16.9 C (1.6 F)	44 of 100 (Notable)
Prairie du Sac 2 N	United States	Record daily snowfall	15.2 cm (6.0 in)	44 of 100 (Notable)
London Int'l Airport	Canada	Record daily precipitation	28.4 mm (1.1 in)	43 of 100 (Notable)
Nordby (Fano)	Denmark	Record low maximum temperature	-7.6 C (18.3 F)	43 of 100 (Notable)
Tranebjerg	Denmark	Record low maximum temperature	-6.4 C (20.5 F)	43 of 100 (Notable)
Kunzelsau	Germany	Record daily precipitation	33.0 mm (1.3 in)	43 of 100 (Notable)
Bezenchuk	Russia	Record low minimum temperature	-40.2 C (-40.4 F)	43 of 100 (Notable)
Driggs	United States	Record low maximum temperature	-20.6 C (-5.1 F)	43 of 100 (Notable)
Big Rapids Wtp	United States	Record daily snowfall	27.9 cm (11.0 in)	43 of 100 (Notable)
Haskell	United States	Record daily snowfall	5.1 cm (2.0 in)	43 of 100 (Notable)
Sonora	United States	Record low maximum temperature	0.0 C (32.0 F)	43 of 100 (Notable)
S Bend AP	United States	Record daily precipitation	34.0 mm (1.3 in)	43 of 100 (Notable)
Narva	Estonia	Record low maximum temperature	-25.5 C (-13.9 F)	42 of 100 (Notable)
Tartu	Estonia	Record low maximum temperature	-25.1 C (-13.2 F)	42 of 100 (Notable)
Bremen-Seefahrtschule	Germany	Record low maximum temperature	-11.4 C (11.5 F)	42 of 100 (Notable)
Gorlitz	Germany	Record low maximum temperature	-11.2 C (11.8 F)	42 of 100 (Notable)
Clausthal-Zellerfeld	Germany	Record low minimum temperature	-21.7 C (-7.1 F)	42 of 100 (Notable)
Biser	Russia	Record low minimum temperature	-52.5 C (-62.5 F)	42 of 100 (Notable)

Counts by Type and Timescale

2,791 records

Records set or tied on 31 December 1978 by type: Highest daily maximum 136, Lowest daily maximum 744, Highest daily minimum 141, Lowest daily minimum 658, Heaviest daily rainfall 707, Heaviest daily snowfall 247, Deepest snow cover 158.

Records on 31 December 1978 by type
Record type	Records
Highest daily maximum	136
Lowest daily maximum	744
Highest daily minimum	141
Lowest daily minimum	658
Heaviest daily rainfall	707
Heaviest daily snowfall	247
Deepest snow cover	158

Records on 31 December 1978 by timescale: all-time 88, monthly 293, daily 2,410.

How Much Records Were Beaten By

2,462 broken records

Margins by which the 2,462 broken records beat the old ones, in degrees Celsius for temperature and millimetres for precipitation and snow; the largest margin was 178.0. Ties are not counted.

Top 20 by Significance

31 December 1978

Top 20 records on 31 December 1978 by significance
Date	Station	Record	Value	Beat old record by	Old record stood	Significance
31 December 1978	Port Stanley, CA	daily rain	28.8 mm (1.1 in)	15.6 mm (0.6 in)	106 years	63 of 100 (Major)
31 December 1978	Walnut, US	all-time snowfall	30.5 cm (12.0 in)	3.8 cm (1.5 in)	85 years	62 of 100 (Major)
31 December 1978	Walnut, US	all-time snow depth	45.7 cm (18.0 in)	10.1 cm (4.0 in)	60 years	62 of 100 (Major)
31 December 1978	Ottawa, US	daily snowfall	25.4 cm (10.0 in)	15.2 cm (6.0 in)	49 years	57 of 100 (Notable)
31 December 1978	Kiel-Kronshagen, DE	all-time snow depth	45.0 cm (17.7 in)	11.0 cm (4.3 in)	0 years	56 of 100 (Notable)
31 December 1978	Worms, DE	monthly rain	32.5 mm (1.3 in)	13.9 mm (0.5 in)	1 year	54 of 100 (Notable)
31 December 1978	Elatma, RU	all-time low max	-35.7 C (-32.3 F)	0.2 C (0.4 F)	86 years	54 of 100 (Notable)
31 December 1978	Newell, US	daily rain	35.6 mm (1.4 in)	19.1 mm (0.8 in)	67 years	54 of 100 (Notable)
31 December 1978	Basin, US	all-time low max	-30.6 C (-23.1 F)	2.3 C (4.1 F)	79 years	54 of 100 (Notable)
31 December 1978	Knysna (Tnk), ZA	daily rain	45.0 mm (1.8 in)	23.9 mm (0.9 in)	65 years	53 of 100 (Notable)
31 December 1978	Geneseo, US	monthly snowfall	24.9 cm (9.8 in)	4.6 cm (1.8 in)	75 years	52 of 100 (Notable)
31 December 1978	Coleman, DE	daily rain	28.4 mm (1.1 in)	15.5 mm (0.6 in)	27 years	51 of 100 (Notable)
31 December 1978	Harnosand, SE	monthly low min	-34.7 C (-30.5 F)	3.7 C (6.7 F)	91 years	51 of 100 (Notable)
31 December 1978	1 ENE Fairfield, US	daily rain	51.1 mm (2.0 in)	28.7 mm (1.1 in)	56 years	51 of 100 (Notable)
31 December 1978	Cureton Rch, US	daily rain	31.8 mm (1.3 in)	29.3 mm (1.2 in)	27 years	51 of 100 (Notable)
31 December 1978	Uil, KZ	monthly rain	24.3 mm (1.0 in)	6.5 mm (0.26 in)	52 years	20 of 100 (Routine)
31 December 1978	Pinsk, BY	daily rain	11.9 mm (0.5 in)	4.4 mm (0.17 in)	91 years	20 of 100 (Routine)
31 December 1978	Cerlak, RU	daily rain	10.7 mm (0.4 in)	7.8 mm (0.31 in)	37 years	20 of 100 (Routine)
31 December 1978	Novoalekseevka, KZ	daily rain	18.1 mm (0.7 in)	12.3 mm (0.5 in)	28 years	20 of 100 (Routine)
31 December 1978	Volodarskoe, KZ	daily rain	9.4 mm (0.37 in)	7.9 mm (0.31 in)	24 years	20 of 100 (Routine)

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

1797 to 1978

Records set or tied on this calendar date in each year from 1797 to 1978. 1978 had 2,791 records.

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

Records on 12-31 in each year
Year	Records
1797	1
1799	2
1826	1
1836	1
1842	2
1850	3
1853	1
1854	1
1859	1
1860	1
1867	1
1870	2
1872	2
1874	4
1875	2
1876	2
1878	2
1879	2
1880	2
1882	1
1884	2
1885	1
1886	3
1887	1
1888	2
1890	2
1891	8
1892	4
1895	4
1897	6
1898	5
1899	4
1900	3
1901	16
1902	3
1903	3
1904	11
1905	9
1906	31
1907	11
1908	7
1909	5
1910	25
1911	14
1912	17
1913	46
1914	34
1915	32
1916	25
1917	239
1918	24
1919	38
1920	64
1921	130
1922	83
1923	280
1924	113
1925	183
1926	77
1927	491
1928	53
1929	224
1930	58
1931	543
1932	394
1933	409
1934	181
1935	309
1936	567
1937	500
1938	247
1939	298
1940	467
1941	159
1942	352
1943	159
1944	259
1945	210
1946	707
1947	461
1948	591
1949	384
1950	310
1951	1,421
1952	377
1953	410
1954	286
1955	429
1956	216
1957	724
1958	584
1959	414
1960	389
1961	309
1962	810
1963	1,015
1964	388
1965	1,371
1966	326
1967	1,023
1968	1,371
1969	825
1970	579
1971	568
1972	836
1973	1,370
1974	590
1975	791
1976	1,306
1977	641
1978	2,791
1979	448
1980	1,448
1981	786
1982	639
1983	2,220
1984	942
1985	593
1986	616
1987	845
1988	600
1989	506
1990	1,379
1991	703
1992	1,062
1993	718
1994	878
1995	1,151
1996	2,202
1997	988
1998	739
1999	524
2000	1,575
2001	748
2002	1,232
2003	523
2004	1,278
2005	959
2006	2,089
2007	652
2008	656
2009	867
2010	1,544
2011	739
2012	803
2013	606
2014	903
2015	748
2016	678
2017	1,589
2018	620
2019	593
2020	489
2021	1,739
2022	1,497
2023	474
2024	460
2025	760

Download the Data

Data for records on 1978-12-31: 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 25	2,201
25 to 50	149
50 to 75	53
75 to 100	27
100 to 125	18
125 to 150	7
150 to 175	5
175 to 200	2