Weather Records on 17 October 1979

468 weather records were set or tied worldwide on 17 October 1979. Highest significance: Engcobo (Tnk), ZA.

Key Facts for 17 October 1979

On 17 October 1979, 468 weather records were set or tied at long-record stations worldwide.
249 were record highs and 47 were record lows, counting maximum and minimum temperature.
By timescale, 0 were all-time records, 16 monthly and 452 daily.
Engcobo (Tnk) set a daily record precipitation of 70.5 mm (2.8 in) on 17 October 1979.
Across 162 earlier years (1793 to 2025) the same calendar date averaged 439 records.

Record Map

468 stations

468 station records on 17 October 1979 are marked on the map, coloured by record type. Dot size shows the significance score. Made with Natural Earth.

Weather records on 17 October 1979: highest significance records shown on the map
Station	Country	Type	Value	Significance
Engcobo (Tnk)	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	70.5 mm (2.8 in)	56 of 100 (Notable)
Parysfontein	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	68.0 mm (2.7 in)	56 of 100 (Notable)
Britstown (Pol)	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	25.0 mm (1.0 in)	55 of 100 (Notable)
Schootefountain	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	41.0 mm (1.6 in)	48 of 100 (Notable)
Ohotsk	Russia	Record daily precipitation	31.0 mm (1.2 in)	45 of 100 (Notable)
Tsolo	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	40.5 mm (1.6 in)	43 of 100 (Notable)
Goedemoed (Pol)	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	30.0 mm (1.2 in)	39 of 100 (Notable)
Piracuruca	Brazil	Record daily precipitation	37.4 mm (1.5 in)	38 of 100 (Notable)
Asmara	Eritrea	Record daily precipitation	45.0 mm (1.8 in)	38 of 100 (Notable)
Neozhidannyj	Russia	Record daily precipitation	58.7 mm (2.3 in)	38 of 100 (Notable)
Hornepayne	Canada	Record daily precipitation	28.4 mm (1.1 in)	37 of 100 (Notable)
Lady Grey (Pol)	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	43.0 mm (1.7 in)	37 of 100 (Notable)
Makwassie	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	32.0 mm (1.3 in)	37 of 100 (Notable)
Mocambo	Brazil	Record daily precipitation	60.1 mm (2.4 in)	36 of 100 (Notable)
Kondoma	Russia	Record daily precipitation	40.8 mm (1.6 in)	36 of 100 (Notable)
Compton	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	52.0 mm (2.0 in)	35 of 100 (Notable)
Eastport	United States	Record low minimum temperature	-2.2 C (28.0 F)	34 of 100 (Routine)
Apatzingan (Smn)	Mexico	Record high minimum temperature	28.3 C (82.9 F)	33 of 100 (Routine)
Palmerville	Australia	Record high minimum temperature	22.5 C (72.5 F)	32 of 100 (Routine)
Vestmannaeyjar	Iceland	Record daily precipitation	35.4 mm (1.4 in)	32 of 100 (Routine)
Vytegra	Russia	Record high minimum temperature	11.3 C (52.3 F)	31 of 100 (Routine)
Waialua 847	United States	Record high maximum temperature	31.7 C (89.1 F)	30 of 100 (Routine)
Zitacuaro	Mexico	Record high maximum temperature	30.0 C (86.0 F)	29 of 100 (Routine)
Kargopol	Russia	Record high minimum temperature	8.0 C (46.4 F)	29 of 100 (Routine)
Grootdam	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	33.0 mm (1.3 in)	29 of 100 (Routine)
Doringkuil	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	32.0 mm (1.3 in)	28 of 100 (Routine)
Leeuwfontein	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	49.0 mm (1.9 in)	28 of 100 (Routine)
Vryburg (Pol)	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	26.0 mm (1.0 in)	28 of 100 (Routine)
Coldwater	United States	Record daily precipitation	28.4 mm (1.1 in)	28 of 100 (Routine)
Riddle	United States	Record high minimum temperature	11.7 C (53.1 F)	28 of 100 (Routine)
Guirapa (Umburanas)	Brazil	Record daily precipitation	58.6 mm (2.3 in)	27 of 100 (Routine)
Metapa de Dominguez	Mexico	Record high minimum temperature	24.4 C (75.9 F)	27 of 100 (Routine)
San Gregorio	Mexico	Record high maximum temperature	27.8 C (82.0 F)	27 of 100 (Routine)
Irene	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	25.0 mm (1.0 in)	27 of 100 (Routine)
Tatum	United States	Record high maximum temperature	32.2 C (90.0 F)	26 of 100 (Routine)
Saint Paul Is AP	United States	Record high maximum temperature	10.0 C (50.0 F)	26 of 100 (Routine)
Vasilevici	Belarus	Record high maximum temperature	20.5 C (68.9 F)	25 of 100 (Routine)
Panuco (Smn)	Mexico	Record low minimum temperature	12.8 C (55.0 F)	25 of 100 (Routine)
Springfontein (Mun)	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	37.0 mm (1.5 in)	25 of 100 (Routine)
Jacobsdal (Pol)	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	26.0 mm (1.0 in)	25 of 100 (Routine)
Dublin 2SE	United States	Record high maximum temperature	33.9 C (93.0 F)	25 of 100 (Routine)
Raymondville	United States	Record high maximum temperature	36.1 C (97.0 F)	25 of 100 (Routine)
San Francisco de Los Romo (Sm	Mexico	Record high maximum temperature	35.0 C (95.0 F)	23 of 100 (Routine)
Quito	Mexico	Record high maximum temperature	33.3 C (91.9 F)	23 of 100 (Routine)
Vytegra	Russia	Record high maximum temperature	14.4 C (57.9 F)	23 of 100 (Routine)
Krasnyj Chikoj	Russia	Record low minimum temperature	-14.4 C (6.1 F)	23 of 100 (Routine)
Lillydale	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	31.5 mm (1.2 in)	23 of 100 (Routine)
Tehachapi	United States	Record high minimum temperature	12.8 C (55.0 F)	23 of 100 (Routine)
Como	Australia	Record daily precipitation	58.8 mm (2.3 in)	22 of 100 (Routine)
Nicolet	Canada	Record low minimum temperature	-5.6 C (21.9 F)	22 of 100 (Routine)
Sackville	Canada	Record low minimum temperature	-3.5 C (25.7 F)	22 of 100 (Routine)
Jerecuaro	Mexico	Record low minimum temperature	0.6 C (33.1 F)	22 of 100 (Routine)
Tepeaca	Mexico	Record high maximum temperature	27.8 C (82.0 F)	22 of 100 (Routine)
Kargopol	Russia	Record high maximum temperature	12.5 C (54.5 F)	22 of 100 (Routine)
St George	Canada	Record low minimum temperature	-6.0 C (21.2 F)	21 of 100 (Routine)
Szombathely	Hungary	Record high minimum temperature	13.1 C (55.6 F)	21 of 100 (Routine)
Ejutla	Mexico	Record high maximum temperature	35.6 C (96.1 F)	21 of 100 (Routine)
Likatlong	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	35.5 mm (1.4 in)	21 of 100 (Routine)
Albuquerque Intl AP	United States	Record high minimum temperature	12.8 C (55.0 F)	21 of 100 (Routine)
Medford Intl AP	United States	Record high minimum temperature	11.1 C (52.0 F)	21 of 100 (Routine)

Counts by Type and Timescale

468 records

Records set or tied on 17 October 1979 by type: Highest daily maximum 146, Lowest daily maximum 4, Highest daily minimum 103, Lowest daily minimum 43, Heaviest daily rainfall 165, Deepest snow cover 7.

Records on 17 October 1979 by type
Record type	Records
Highest daily maximum	146
Lowest daily maximum	4
Highest daily minimum	103
Lowest daily minimum	43
Heaviest daily rainfall	165
Heaviest daily snowfall	0
Deepest snow cover	7

Records on 17 October 1979 by timescale: all-time 0, monthly 16, daily 452.

How Much Records Were Beaten By

375 broken records

Margins by which the 375 broken records beat the old ones, in degrees Celsius for temperature and millimetres for precipitation and snow; the largest margin was 40.0. Ties are not counted.

Top 20 by Significance

17 October 1979

Top 20 records on 17 October 1979 by significance
Date	Station	Record	Value	Beat old record by	Old record stood	Significance
17 October 1979	Engcobo (Tnk), ZA	daily rain	70.5 mm (2.8 in)	37.2 mm (1.5 in)	36 years	56 of 100 (Notable)
17 October 1979	Parysfontein, ZA	monthly rain	68.0 mm (2.7 in)	35.5 mm (1.4 in)	3 years	56 of 100 (Notable)
17 October 1979	Britstown (Pol), ZA	daily rain	25.0 mm (1.0 in)	21.2 mm (0.8 in)	89 years	55 of 100 (Notable)
17 October 1979	Schootefountain, ZA	daily rain	41.0 mm (1.6 in)	35.3 mm (1.4 in)	12 years	48 of 100 (Notable)
17 October 1979	Ohotsk, RU	daily rain	31.0 mm (1.2 in)	8.0 mm (0.31 in)	82 years	45 of 100 (Notable)
17 October 1979	Tsolo, ZA	daily rain	40.5 mm (1.6 in)	24.5 mm (1.0 in)	36 years	43 of 100 (Notable)
17 October 1979	Goedemoed (Pol), ZA	daily rain	30.0 mm (1.2 in)	20.6 mm (0.8 in)	52 years	39 of 100 (Notable)
17 October 1979	Piracuruca, BR	daily rain	37.4 mm (1.5 in)	22.6 mm (0.9 in)	40 years	38 of 100 (Notable)
17 October 1979	Asmara, ER	monthly rain	45.0 mm (1.8 in)	15.1 mm (0.6 in)	1 year	38 of 100 (Notable)
17 October 1979	Neozhidannyj, RU	daily rain	58.7 mm (2.3 in)	19.6 mm (0.8 in)	14 years	38 of 100 (Notable)
17 October 1979	Hornepayne, CA	daily rain	28.4 mm (1.1 in)	10.1 mm (0.4 in)	56 years	37 of 100 (Notable)
17 October 1979	Lady Grey (Pol), ZA	daily rain	43.0 mm (1.7 in)	23.0 mm (0.9 in)	21 years	37 of 100 (Notable)
17 October 1979	Makwassie, ZA	daily rain	32.0 mm (1.3 in)	22.3 mm (0.9 in)	36 years	37 of 100 (Notable)
17 October 1979	Mocambo, BR	daily rain	60.1 mm (2.4 in)	31.9 mm (1.3 in)	29 years	36 of 100 (Notable)
17 October 1979	Kondoma, RU	daily rain	40.8 mm (1.6 in)	18.4 mm (0.7 in)	14 years	36 of 100 (Notable)
17 October 1979	Compton, ZA	daily rain	52.0 mm (2.0 in)	26.0 mm (1.0 in)	21 years	35 of 100 (Notable)
17 October 1979	Eastport, US	daily low min	-2.2 C (28.0 F)	1.1 C (2.0 F)	78 years	34 of 100 (Routine)
17 October 1979	Apatzingan (Smn), MX	monthly high min	28.3 C (82.9 F)	0.5 C (0.9 F)	55 years	33 of 100 (Routine)
17 October 1979	Palmerville, AU	daily high min	22.5 C (72.5 F)	0.1 C (0.2 F)	81 years	32 of 100 (Routine)
17 October 1979	Vestmannaeyjar, IS	daily rain	35.4 mm (1.4 in)	20.1 mm (0.8 in)	13 years	32 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

1793 to 1979

Records set or tied on this calendar date in each year from 1793 to 1979. 1979 had 468 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 1979-10-17: 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 5	286
5 to 10	36
10 to 15	20
15 to 20	12
20 to 25	12
25 to 30	3
30 to 35	2
35 to 40	4