Weather Records on 16 January 1979

1,043 weather records were set or tied worldwide on 16 January 1979. Highest significance: Barrow Creek, AU.

Key Facts for 16 January 1979

On 16 January 1979, 1,043 weather records were set or tied at long-record stations worldwide.
82 were record highs and 143 were record lows, counting maximum and minimum temperature.
By timescale, 61 were all-time records, 67 monthly and 915 daily.
Barrow Creek set a daily record precipitation of 81.2 mm (3.2 in) on 16 January 1979.
Across 161 earlier years (1795 to 2026) the same calendar date averaged 497 records.

Record Map

1,043 stations

1,043 station records on 16 January 1979 are marked on the map, coloured by record type. Dot size shows the significance score. Made with Natural Earth.

Weather records on 16 January 1979: highest significance records shown on the map
Station	Country	Type	Value	Significance
Barrow Creek	Australia	Record daily precipitation	81.2 mm (3.2 in)	71 of 100 (Major)
La Harpe	United States	Record snow depth	53.3 cm (21.0 in)	69 of 100 (Major)
Wellton	United States	Record daily precipitation	50.3 mm (2.0 in)	68 of 100 (Major)
Tohatchi 1 ESE	United States	Record daily precipitation	38.1 mm (1.5 in)	62 of 100 (Major)
Herington	United States	Record snow depth	30.5 cm (12.0 in)	60 of 100 (Major)
Lincoln 1 SE	United States	Record snow depth	35.6 cm (14.0 in)	60 of 100 (Major)
Poco Das Trincheiras	Brazil	Record daily precipitation	105.2 mm (4.1 in)	59 of 100 (Notable)
Pella 1S	United States	Record snow depth	45.7 cm (18.0 in)	59 of 100 (Notable)
Minneapolis	United States	Record snow depth	30.5 cm (12.0 in)	59 of 100 (Notable)
Steffenville	United States	Record snow depth	48.3 cm (19.0 in)	59 of 100 (Notable)
San Felipe	Mexico	Record daily precipitation	63.0 mm (2.5 in)	56 of 100 (Notable)
Guanambi	Brazil	Record daily precipitation	103.4 mm (4.1 in)	54 of 100 (Notable)
Muscatine	United States	Record snow depth	55.9 cm (22.0 in)	54 of 100 (Notable)
Ellsworth	United States	Record snow depth	25.4 cm (10.0 in)	54 of 100 (Notable)
Labelle	United States	Record snow depth	38.1 cm (15.0 in)	54 of 100 (Notable)
Antioch	United States	Record snow depth	99.1 cm (39.0 in)	53 of 100 (Notable)
Geneseo	United States	Record snow depth	73.7 cm (29.0 in)	53 of 100 (Notable)
Bloomfield	United States	Record snow depth	58.4 cm (23.0 in)	52 of 100 (Notable)
Hastings	United States	Record snow depth	53.3 cm (21.0 in)	52 of 100 (Notable)
Mutooroo	Australia	Record daily precipitation	30.0 mm (1.2 in)	51 of 100 (Notable)
Colonia Guerrero	Mexico	Record daily precipitation	79.8 mm (3.1 in)	50 of 100 (Notable)
Chicago Midway AP 3SW	United States	Record snow depth	68.6 cm (27.0 in)	50 of 100 (Notable)
Milan	United States	Record snow depth	66.0 cm (26.0 in)	50 of 100 (Notable)
Yuma WSO AP	United States	Record daily precipitation	30.7 mm (1.2 in)	50 of 100 (Notable)
Riito	Mexico	Record daily precipitation	28.2 mm (1.1 in)	49 of 100 (Notable)
Richland	United States	Record snow depth	30.5 cm (12.0 in)	49 of 100 (Notable)
Anningie	Australia	Record daily precipitation	89.0 mm (3.5 in)	48 of 100 (Notable)
Bison 3NW	United States	Record snow depth	33.0 cm (13.0 in)	48 of 100 (Notable)
McPherson	United States	Record snow depth	30.5 cm (12.0 in)	48 of 100 (Notable)
Formosa Do Rio Preto (Pcd)	Brazil	Record daily precipitation	99.2 mm (3.9 in)	47 of 100 (Notable)
Bremerhaven	Germany	Record snow depth	27.0 cm (10.6 in)	47 of 100 (Notable)
San Telmo	Mexico	Record daily precipitation	67.8 mm (2.7 in)	47 of 100 (Notable)
Tenerife/Los Rodeos	Spain	Record daily precipitation	78.0 mm (3.1 in)	47 of 100 (Notable)
Manhattan	United States	Record snow depth	27.9 cm (11.0 in)	47 of 100 (Notable)
Ontario Ksrv	United States	Record snow depth	43.2 cm (17.0 in)	47 of 100 (Notable)
Las Escobas	Mexico	Record daily precipitation	55.4 mm (2.2 in)	46 of 100 (Notable)
El Molino	Mexico	Record daily precipitation	39.9 mm (1.6 in)	46 of 100 (Notable)
Centralia	United States	Record snow depth	43.2 cm (17.0 in)	46 of 100 (Notable)
Lecompton	United States	Record snow depth	35.6 cm (14.0 in)	46 of 100 (Notable)
Mc Farland	United States	Record snow depth	33.0 cm (13.0 in)	46 of 100 (Notable)
Box Butte Exp STN	United States	Record snow depth	68.6 cm (27.0 in)	46 of 100 (Notable)
General Wayne A Downing Intl A	United States	Record snow depth	43.2 cm (17.0 in)	46 of 100 (Notable)
Kanopolis Lake	United States	Record snow depth	35.6 cm (14.0 in)	45 of 100 (Notable)
Lawrence	United States	Record snow depth	35.6 cm (14.0 in)	45 of 100 (Notable)
Troy 3N	United States	Record snow depth	38.1 cm (15.0 in)	45 of 100 (Notable)
Helena 1 SSE	United States	Record snow depth	20.3 cm (8.0 in)	45 of 100 (Notable)
Pedro Alexandre (Voturuna)	Brazil	Record daily precipitation	45.1 mm (1.8 in)	44 of 100 (Notable)
Trier-Petrisberg	Germany	Record snow depth	21.0 cm (8.3 in)	44 of 100 (Notable)
Muscatine 2	United States	Record snow depth	55.9 cm (22.0 in)	44 of 100 (Notable)
Larned	United States	Record snow depth	22.9 cm (9.0 in)	44 of 100 (Notable)
Trousdale 1 NE	United States	Record snow depth	15.2 cm (6.0 in)	44 of 100 (Notable)
Allegan 5NE	United States	Record snow depth	76.2 cm (30.0 in)	44 of 100 (Notable)
Grayling	United States	Record snow depth	106.7 cm (42.0 in)	44 of 100 (Notable)
Concordia	United States	Record snow depth	35.6 cm (14.0 in)	44 of 100 (Notable)
Newcastle	United States	Record snow depth	30.5 cm (12.0 in)	44 of 100 (Notable)
Woodgreen	Australia	Record daily precipitation	38.5 mm (1.5 in)	43 of 100 (Notable)
El Alamo	Mexico	Record daily precipitation	69.9 mm (2.8 in)	43 of 100 (Notable)
Elgin Water	United States	Record snow depth	81.3 cm (32.0 in)	43 of 100 (Notable)
Keithsburg	United States	Record snow depth	50.8 cm (20.0 in)	43 of 100 (Notable)
Wibaux 2 E	United States	Record snow depth	45.7 cm (18.0 in)	43 of 100 (Notable)

Counts by Type and Timescale

1,043 records

Records set or tied on 16 January 1979 by type: Highest daily maximum 19, Lowest daily maximum 47, Highest daily minimum 63, Lowest daily minimum 96, Heaviest daily rainfall 247, Heaviest daily snowfall 74, Deepest snow cover 497.

Records on 16 January 1979 by type
Record type	Records
Highest daily maximum	19
Lowest daily maximum	47
Highest daily minimum	63
Lowest daily minimum	96
Heaviest daily rainfall	247
Heaviest daily snowfall	74
Deepest snow cover	497

Records on 16 January 1979 by timescale: all-time 61, monthly 67, daily 915.

How Much Records Were Beaten By

818 broken records

Margins by which the 818 broken records beat the old ones, in degrees Celsius for temperature and millimetres for precipitation and snow; the largest margin was 559.0. Ties are not counted.

Top 20 by Significance

16 January 1979

Top 20 records on 16 January 1979 by significance
Date	Station	Record	Value	Beat old record by	Old record stood	Significance
16 January 1979	Barrow Creek, AU	daily rain	81.2 mm (3.2 in)	57.3 mm (2.3 in)	83 years	71 of 100 (Major)
16 January 1979	La Harpe, US	daily snow depth	53.3 cm (21.0 in)	33.0 cm (13.0 in)	71 years	69 of 100 (Major)
16 January 1979	Wellton, US	monthly rain	50.3 mm (2.0 in)	23.1 mm (0.9 in)	44 years	68 of 100 (Major)
16 January 1979	Tohatchi 1 ESE, US	daily rain	38.1 mm (1.5 in)	30.0 mm (1.2 in)	53 years	62 of 100 (Major)
16 January 1979	Herington, US	daily snow depth	30.5 cm (12.0 in)	20.3 cm (8.0 in)	53 years	60 of 100 (Major)
16 January 1979	Lincoln 1 SE, US	daily snow depth	35.6 cm (14.0 in)	20.4 cm (8.0 in)	60 years	60 of 100 (Major)
16 January 1979	Poco Das Trincheiras, BR	monthly rain	105.2 mm (4.1 in)	41.0 mm (1.6 in)	39 years	59 of 100 (Notable)
16 January 1979	Pella 1S, US	daily snow depth	45.7 cm (18.0 in)	25.4 cm (10.0 in)	68 years	59 of 100 (Notable)
16 January 1979	Minneapolis, US	daily snow depth	30.5 cm (12.0 in)	12.7 cm (5.0 in)	73 years	59 of 100 (Notable)
16 January 1979	Steffenville, US	daily snow depth	48.3 cm (19.0 in)	20.4 cm (8.0 in)	60 years	59 of 100 (Notable)
16 January 1979	San Felipe, MX	monthly rain	63.0 mm (2.5 in)	43.2 mm (1.7 in)	10 years	56 of 100 (Notable)
16 January 1979	Guanambi, BR	daily rain	103.4 mm (4.1 in)	78.4 mm (3.1 in)	36 years	54 of 100 (Notable)
16 January 1979	Muscatine, US	daily snow depth	55.9 cm (22.0 in)	28.0 cm (11.0 in)	39 years	54 of 100 (Notable)
16 January 1979	Ellsworth, US	daily snow depth	25.4 cm (10.0 in)	17.8 cm (7.0 in)	41 years	54 of 100 (Notable)
16 January 1979	Labelle, US	daily snow depth	38.1 cm (15.0 in)	22.9 cm (9.0 in)	33 years	54 of 100 (Notable)
16 January 1979	Antioch, US	all-time snow depth	99.1 cm (39.0 in)	10.2 cm (4.0 in)	60 years	53 of 100 (Notable)
16 January 1979	Geneseo, US	daily snow depth	73.7 cm (29.0 in)	45.8 cm (18.0 in)	16 years	53 of 100 (Notable)
16 January 1979	Bloomfield, US	daily snow depth	58.4 cm (23.0 in)	30.5 cm (12.0 in)	16 years	52 of 100 (Notable)
16 January 1979	Hastings, US	daily snow depth	53.3 cm (21.0 in)	20.3 cm (8.0 in)	75 years	52 of 100 (Notable)
16 January 1979	Mutooroo, AU	daily rain	30.0 mm (1.2 in)	24.4 mm (1.0 in)	83 years	51 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 1979

Records set or tied on this calendar date in each year from 1795 to 1979. 1979 had 1,043 records.

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

Records on 01-16 in each year
Year	Records
1795	1
1799	1
1804	1
1818	1
1820	2
1826	2
1836	1
1838	1
1839	1
1845	3
1847	1
1849	2
1851	1
1852	2
1858	1
1864	1
1866	1
1867	1
1868	1
1869	1
1871	1
1873	2
1875	3
1877	1
1878	2
1881	4
1886	1
1890	2
1891	1
1892	1
1893	8
1895	5
1896	4
1897	2
1898	2
1899	17
1900	1
1901	1
1902	5
1904	6
1905	22
1906	26
1907	17
1908	14
1909	19
1910	21
1911	15
1912	38
1913	52
1914	16
1915	29
1916	28
1917	30
1918	89
1919	50
1920	249
1921	36
1922	29
1923	47
1924	277
1925	237
1926	69
1927	250
1928	327
1929	130
1930	680
1931	160
1932	605
1933	343
1934	99
1935	426
1936	349
1937	186
1938	549
1939	539
1940	284
1941	601
1942	585
1943	628
1944	252
1945	434
1946	430
1947	597
1948	299
1949	933
1950	855
1951	679
1952	614
1953	1,040
1954	882
1955	318
1956	519
1957	795
1958	459
1959	462
1960	349
1961	864
1962	387
1963	996
1964	577
1965	910
1966	464
1967	516
1968	536
1969	630
1970	729
1971	628
1972	1,724
1973	1,134
1974	1,957
1975	717
1976	593
1977	1,430
1978	1,399
1979	1,043
1980	965
1981	815
1982	1,121
1983	759
1984	1,376
1985	846
1986	785
1987	1,465
1988	597
1989	835
1990	1,692
1991	897
1992	1,150
1993	1,351
1994	2,003
1995	1,381
1996	995
1997	1,016
1998	884
1999	816
2000	1,073
2001	753
2002	605
2003	691
2004	1,446
2005	654
2006	746
2007	1,962
2008	777
2009	1,328
2010	739
2011	996
2012	569
2013	990
2014	534
2015	424
2016	453
2017	1,104
2018	1,045
2019	512
2020	1,098
2021	544
2022	576
2023	646
2024	2,401
2025	684
2026	506

Download the Data

Data for records on 1979-01-16: 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	675
100 to 200	86
200 to 300	46
300 to 400	7
400 to 500	3
500 to 600	1