Weather Records on 21 October 1979

1,958 weather records were set or tied worldwide on 21 October 1979. Highest significance: Maatsuyker Island Lighthouse, AU.

Key Facts for 21 October 1979

On 21 October 1979, 1,958 weather records were set or tied at long-record stations worldwide.
1,475 were record highs and 91 were record lows, counting maximum and minimum temperature.
By timescale, 0 were all-time records, 84 monthly and 1,874 daily.
Maatsuyker Island Lighthouse set a daily record precipitation of 37.0 mm (1.5 in) on 21 October 1979.
Across 167 earlier years (1795 to 2025) the same calendar date averaged 411 records.

Record Map

1,958 stations

1,958 station records on 21 October 1979 are marked on the map, coloured by record type. Dot size shows the significance score. Made with Natural Earth.

Weather records on 21 October 1979: highest significance records shown on the map
Station	Country	Type	Value	Significance
Maatsuyker Island Lighthouse	Australia	Record daily precipitation	37.0 mm (1.5 in)	64 of 100 (Major)
Doornfontein	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	106.0 mm (4.2 in)	62 of 100 (Major)
Petropavlovsk-Kamchatskij	Russia	Record daily precipitation	97.9 mm (3.9 in)	61 of 100 (Major)
Tabl.Mtn Molteno Rsv	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	41.0 mm (1.6 in)	61 of 100 (Major)
Pretoria-New Cemetry	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	69.5 mm (2.7 in)	58 of 100 (Notable)
Lebanon (Bos)	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	65.3 mm (2.6 in)	57 of 100 (Notable)
Table.Mtn Woodhead Tunnel	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	54.2 mm (2.1 in)	53 of 100 (Notable)
Cape Town Maitland (Cem)	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	26.8 mm (1.1 in)	53 of 100 (Notable)
Table.Mtn Platteklip	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	41.3 mm (1.6 in)	52 of 100 (Notable)
Moorddrift	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	117.0 mm (4.6 in)	52 of 100 (Notable)
Aspen	United States	Record snow depth	15.2 cm (6.0 in)	52 of 100 (Notable)
Delmas (Pol)	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	96.5 mm (3.8 in)	51 of 100 (Notable)
Wis Rapids Grand Av B	United States	Record daily precipitation	56.6 mm (2.2 in)	51 of 100 (Notable)
Nachiki	Russia	Record daily precipitation	72.3 mm (2.8 in)	50 of 100 (Notable)
Ft Valley	United States	Record daily precipitation	44.2 mm (1.7 in)	50 of 100 (Notable)
Cheyenne Wells 2NE	United States	Record daily snowfall	10.2 cm (4.0 in)	50 of 100 (Notable)
Fruitland	United States	Record daily precipitation	32.0 mm (1.3 in)	50 of 100 (Notable)
Palapye	Botswana	Record daily precipitation	44.5 mm (1.8 in)	49 of 100 (Notable)
Beer Sheva	Israel	Record daily precipitation	29.2 mm (1.1 in)	49 of 100 (Notable)
Palomar Mtn Obsy	United States	Record daily precipitation	67.3 mm (2.6 in)	47 of 100 (Notable)
Nebo	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	49.0 mm (1.9 in)	46 of 100 (Notable)
Cuyamaca	United States	Record daily precipitation	91.2 mm (3.6 in)	45 of 100 (Notable)
Crawfordsville Pwr Plt	United States	Record high minimum temperature	20.6 C (69.1 F)	45 of 100 (Notable)
Toronto	Canada	Record high minimum temperature	14.3 C (57.7 F)	44 of 100 (Notable)
Aspen	United States	Record daily snowfall	15.2 cm (6.0 in)	44 of 100 (Notable)
Hamilton	United States	Record daily precipitation	39.6 mm (1.6 in)	44 of 100 (Notable)
Saginaw Mbs Intl AP	United States	Record high minimum temperature	20.0 C (68.0 F)	44 of 100 (Notable)
S Bend AP	United States	Record high minimum temperature	21.7 C (71.1 F)	44 of 100 (Notable)
Telluride 4WNW	United States	Record daily snowfall	22.9 cm (9.0 in)	43 of 100 (Notable)
Lebanon 2W	United States	Record high minimum temperature	22.8 C (73.0 F)	43 of 100 (Notable)
Cortez	United States	Record daily precipitation	27.2 mm (1.1 in)	42 of 100 (Notable)
Ouray	United States	Record daily precipitation	28.2 mm (1.1 in)	42 of 100 (Notable)
Sedan	United States	Record high minimum temperature	22.2 C (72.0 F)	42 of 100 (Notable)
Lexington 3E	United States	Record high minimum temperature	21.7 C (71.1 F)	42 of 100 (Notable)
Angelica	United States	Record high minimum temperature	15.6 C (60.1 F)	42 of 100 (Notable)
Goodland	United States	Record daily snowfall	12.7 cm (5.0 in)	42 of 100 (Notable)
Excelsior (Mun)	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	46.0 mm (1.8 in)	41 of 100 (Notable)
Toledo Blade	United States	Record high minimum temperature	17.8 C (64.0 F)	41 of 100 (Notable)
Chaco Canyon Natl Mon	United States	Record daily precipitation	34.5 mm (1.4 in)	40 of 100 (Notable)
Newark Liberty Intl AP	United States	Record high minimum temperature	16.7 C (62.1 F)	40 of 100 (Notable)
Didcot	Australia	Record daily precipitation	60.0 mm (2.4 in)	39 of 100 (Notable)
Toowoomba	Australia	Record daily precipitation	68.6 mm (2.7 in)	39 of 100 (Notable)
Port Dover	Canada	Record high minimum temperature	15.0 C (59.0 F)	39 of 100 (Notable)
Petropavlovskij Majak	Russia	Record daily precipitation	71.0 mm (2.8 in)	39 of 100 (Notable)
Betatakin	United States	Record daily precipitation	37.1 mm (1.5 in)	39 of 100 (Notable)
Subiaco	United States	Record high minimum temperature	22.8 C (73.0 F)	39 of 100 (Notable)
Decatur Wtp	United States	Record high minimum temperature	20.6 C (69.1 F)	39 of 100 (Notable)
Rushville	United States	Record high minimum temperature	20.6 C (69.1 F)	39 of 100 (Notable)
Fall Rvr Lake	United States	Record high minimum temperature	20.6 C (69.1 F)	39 of 100 (Notable)
Harbor Beach 1 SSE	United States	Record high minimum temperature	18.3 C (64.9 F)	39 of 100 (Notable)
Windsor	United States	Record high minimum temperature	19.4 C (66.9 F)	39 of 100 (Notable)
Mt Morris 2W	United States	Record high minimum temperature	14.4 C (57.9 F)	39 of 100 (Notable)
Brady	United States	Record high maximum temperature	33.9 C (93.0 F)	39 of 100 (Notable)
Sao Raimundo Nonato	Brazil	Record daily precipitation	36.0 mm (1.4 in)	38 of 100 (Notable)
Crystal Falls	Canada	Record high minimum temperature	16.0 C (60.8 F)	38 of 100 (Notable)
Groot Constantia	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	34.4 mm (1.4 in)	38 of 100 (Notable)
Henshaw Dam	United States	Record daily precipitation	45.5 mm (1.8 in)	38 of 100 (Notable)
Monmouth	United States	Record high minimum temperature	18.9 C (66.0 F)	38 of 100 (Notable)
Atchison	United States	Record high minimum temperature	23.3 C (73.9 F)	38 of 100 (Notable)
Olathe 3E	United States	Record high minimum temperature	20.0 C (68.0 F)	38 of 100 (Notable)

Counts by Type and Timescale

1,958 records

Records set or tied on 21 October 1979 by type: Highest daily maximum 461, Lowest daily maximum 60, Highest daily minimum 1,014, Lowest daily minimum 31, Heaviest daily rainfall 307, Heaviest daily snowfall 60, Deepest snow cover 25.

Records on 21 October 1979 by type
Record type	Records
Highest daily maximum	461
Lowest daily maximum	60
Highest daily minimum	1,014
Lowest daily minimum	31
Heaviest daily rainfall	307
Heaviest daily snowfall	60
Deepest snow cover	25

Records on 21 October 1979 by timescale: all-time 0, monthly 84, daily 1,874.

How Much Records Were Beaten By

1,618 broken records

Margins by which the 1,618 broken records beat the old ones, in degrees Celsius for temperature and millimetres for precipitation and snow; the largest margin was 203.0. Ties are not counted.

Top 20 by Significance

21 October 1979

Top 20 records on 21 October 1979 by significance
Date	Station	Record	Value	Beat old record by	Old record stood	Significance
21 October 1979	Maatsuyker Island Lighthouse, AU	daily rain	37.0 mm (1.5 in)	18.7 mm (0.7 in)	74 years	64 of 100 (Major)
21 October 1979	Doornfontein, ZA	monthly rain	106.0 mm (4.2 in)	37.4 mm (1.5 in)	43 years	62 of 100 (Major)
21 October 1979	Petropavlovsk-Kamchatskij, RU	daily rain	97.9 mm (3.9 in)	56.9 mm (2.2 in)	44 years	61 of 100 (Major)
21 October 1979	Tabl.Mtn Molteno Rsv, ZA	daily rain	41.0 mm (1.6 in)	29.3 mm (1.2 in)	62 years	61 of 100 (Major)
21 October 1979	Pretoria-New Cemetry, ZA	daily rain	69.5 mm (2.7 in)	48.2 mm (1.9 in)	41 years	58 of 100 (Notable)
21 October 1979	Lebanon (Bos), ZA	daily rain	65.3 mm (2.6 in)	34.8 mm (1.4 in)	53 years	57 of 100 (Notable)
21 October 1979	Table.Mtn Woodhead Tunnel, ZA	daily rain	54.2 mm (2.1 in)	35.9 mm (1.4 in)	36 years	53 of 100 (Notable)
21 October 1979	Cape Town Maitland (Cem), ZA	daily rain	26.8 mm (1.1 in)	16.4 mm (0.6 in)	62 years	53 of 100 (Notable)
21 October 1979	Table.Mtn Platteklip, ZA	daily rain	41.3 mm (1.6 in)	25.0 mm (1.0 in)	62 years	52 of 100 (Notable)
21 October 1979	Moorddrift, ZA	monthly rain	117.0 mm (4.6 in)	33.2 mm (1.3 in)	35 years	52 of 100 (Notable)
21 October 1979	Aspen, US	daily snow depth	15.2 cm (6.0 in)	15.2 cm (6.0 in)	62 years	52 of 100 (Notable)
21 October 1979	Delmas (Pol), ZA	daily rain	96.5 mm (3.8 in)	59.0 mm (2.3 in)	14 years	51 of 100 (Notable)
21 October 1979	Wis Rapids Grand Av B, US	daily rain	56.6 mm (2.2 in)	44.7 mm (1.8 in)	28 years	51 of 100 (Notable)
21 October 1979	Nachiki, RU	daily rain	72.3 mm (2.8 in)	55.3 mm (2.2 in)	22 years	50 of 100 (Notable)
21 October 1979	Ft Valley, US	daily rain	44.2 mm (1.7 in)	31.8 mm (1.3 in)	37 years	50 of 100 (Notable)
21 October 1979	Cheyenne Wells 2NE, US	daily snowfall	10.2 cm (4.0 in)	7.7 cm (3.0 in)	68 years	50 of 100 (Notable)
21 October 1979	Fruitland, US	daily rain	32.0 mm (1.3 in)	16.0 mm (0.6 in)	64 years	50 of 100 (Notable)
21 October 1979	Palapye, BW	daily rain	44.5 mm (1.8 in)	28.7 mm (1.1 in)	53 years	49 of 100 (Notable)
21 October 1979	Beer Sheva, IL	daily rain	29.2 mm (1.1 in)	22.7 mm (0.9 in)	16 years	49 of 100 (Notable)
21 October 1979	Palomar Mtn Obsy, US	daily rain	67.3 mm (2.6 in)	48.8 mm (1.9 in)	0 years	47 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 1,958 records.

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

Records on 10-21 in each year
Year	Records
1795	1
1802	2
1805	1
1808	1
1810	1
1834	1
1835	1
1840	1
1845	1
1847	1
1850	1
1851	2
1854	1
1859	1
1863	1
1864	1
1866	3
1867	1
1868	3
1869	2
1871	1
1872	1
1873	1
1874	1
1876	4
1877	2
1878	1
1880	3
1881	1
1883	1
1886	1
1888	2
1889	2
1890	3
1891	6
1892	6
1893	1
1894	1
1895	2
1896	5
1898	6
1899	3
1900	2
1901	9
1902	2
1903	3
1904	30
1905	15
1906	11
1907	35
1908	35
1909	19
1910	21
1911	10
1912	18
1913	59
1914	35
1915	43
1916	70
1917	208
1918	18
1919	102
1920	149
1921	58
1922	78
1923	81
1924	389
1925	150
1926	77
1927	187
1928	78
1929	200
1930	492
1931	217
1932	165
1933	733
1934	407
1935	707
1936	407
1937	132
1938	121
1939	491
1940	537
1941	644
1942	258
1943	421
1944	367
1945	538
1946	297
1947	977
1948	266
1949	1,015
1950	438
1951	382
1952	848
1953	1,579
1954	279
1955	481
1956	276
1957	511
1958	322
1959	410
1960	408
1961	553
1962	359
1963	725
1964	457
1965	465
1966	425
1967	472
1968	174
1969	881
1970	548
1971	498
1972	813
1973	464
1974	866
1975	509
1976	1,467
1977	451
1978	616
1979	1,958
1980	378
1981	667
1982	870
1983	786
1984	1,872
1985	776
1986	814
1987	852
1988	696
1989	1,668
1990	807
1991	877
1992	1,095
1993	845
1994	670
1995	1,120
1996	1,581
1997	915
1998	711
1999	688
2000	771
2001	610
2002	1,241
2003	2,066
2004	1,674
2005	949
2006	1,057
2007	916
2008	610
2009	713
2010	710
2011	662
2012	703
2013	440
2014	716
2015	493
2016	734
2017	750
2018	440
2019	757
2020	1,135
2021	574
2022	629
2023	890
2024	1,138
2025	364

Download the Data

Data for records on 1979-10-21: 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 2026-10-13 (13 October 2026). Records are computed by this site and are not official.

Data as of 2026-10-12. Last revised 12 October 2026 (2026-10-12).

Margin	Records
0 to 50	1,588
50 to 100	24
100 to 150	3
150 to 200	2
200 to 250	1