Weather Records on 17 March 1981

679 weather records were set or tied worldwide on 17 March 1981. Highest significance: Lewistown AP, US.

Key Facts for 17 March 1981

On 17 March 1981, 679 weather records were set or tied at long-record stations worldwide.
224 were record highs and 121 were record lows, counting maximum and minimum temperature.
By timescale, 2 were all-time records, 20 monthly and 657 daily.
Lewistown AP set a daily record precipitation of 28.2 mm (1.1 in) on 17 March 1981.
Across 161 earlier years (1825 to 2026) the same calendar date averaged 474 records.

Record Map

679 stations

679 station records on 17 March 1981 are marked on the map, coloured by record type. Dot size shows the significance score. Made with Natural Earth.

Weather records on 17 March 1981: highest significance records shown on the map
Station	Country	Type	Value	Significance
Lewistown AP	United States	Record daily precipitation	28.2 mm (1.1 in)	68 of 100 (Major)
La Pocatiere Cda	Canada	Record daily snowfall	51.8 cm (20.4 in)	60 of 100 (Major)
Ennis	United States	Record daily snowfall	14.7 cm (5.8 in)	57 of 100 (Notable)
Pendroy 2 NNW	United States	Record daily precipitation	36.8 mm (1.4 in)	56 of 100 (Notable)
Lewistown AP	United States	Record daily snowfall	24.9 cm (9.8 in)	56 of 100 (Notable)
Ft Benton	United States	Record daily precipitation	25.9 mm (1.0 in)	55 of 100 (Notable)
Causapscal	Canada	Record daily snowfall	32.9 cm (13.0 in)	51 of 100 (Notable)
Arka	Russia	Record daily precipitation	32.0 mm (1.3 in)	50 of 100 (Notable)
Apizaco	Mexico	Record daily precipitation	25.4 mm (1.0 in)	49 of 100 (Notable)
Instituto Biologico	Brazil	Record daily precipitation	77.5 mm (3.1 in)	48 of 100 (Notable)
Kemptville	Canada	Record daily snowfall	27.9 cm (11.0 in)	46 of 100 (Notable)
Changsha	China	Record daily precipitation	48.9 mm (1.9 in)	46 of 100 (Notable)
Highwood 7 NE	United States	Record daily precipitation	27.9 mm (1.1 in)	46 of 100 (Notable)
Goldbutte 7 N	United States	Record daily snowfall	30.5 cm (12.0 in)	45 of 100 (Notable)
Santa Isabel	Brazil	Record daily precipitation	78.0 mm (3.1 in)	44 of 100 (Notable)
St Elzear de Bonaventure	Canada	Record daily precipitation	51.0 mm (2.0 in)	44 of 100 (Notable)
Caplan	Canada	Record daily precipitation	47.0 mm (1.9 in)	43 of 100 (Notable)
Ste Rose du Degelis	Canada	Record daily snowfall	31.0 cm (12.2 in)	43 of 100 (Notable)
St Pamphile	Canada	Record daily snowfall	34.3 cm (13.5 in)	42 of 100 (Notable)
Galata 16 SW	United States	Record daily precipitation	35.6 mm (1.4 in)	42 of 100 (Notable)
Trinite des Monts	Canada	Record daily snowfall	45.0 cm (17.7 in)	41 of 100 (Notable)
Alferes	Brazil	Record daily precipitation	71.6 mm (2.8 in)	40 of 100 (Notable)
Shahat	Libya	Record high maximum temperature	31.0 C (87.8 F)	40 of 100 (Notable)
Manhattan	United States	Record daily snowfall	8.9 cm (3.5 in)	40 of 100 (Notable)
Jaborandi	Brazil	Record daily precipitation	112.5 mm (4.4 in)	39 of 100 (Notable)
Paulista	Brazil	Record daily precipitation	59.3 mm (2.3 in)	39 of 100 (Notable)
Aroostook	Canada	Record daily snowfall	29.8 cm (11.7 in)	39 of 100 (Notable)
Billings Intl AP	United States	Record daily snowfall	18.5 cm (7.3 in)	39 of 100 (Notable)
Albany 3 SE	United States	Record low minimum temperature	-3.3 C (26.1 F)	38 of 100 (Notable)
Iguape	Brazil	Record daily precipitation	172.9 mm (6.8 in)	37 of 100 (Notable)
Woodstock	Canada	Record daily snowfall	35.0 cm (13.8 in)	37 of 100 (Notable)
Aurora	Brazil	Record daily precipitation	90.2 mm (3.6 in)	36 of 100 (Notable)
Carway	Canada	Record daily snowfall	22.0 cm (8.7 in)	36 of 100 (Notable)
Greenwood A	Canada	Record daily precipitation	40.3 mm (1.6 in)	36 of 100 (Notable)
Lingling	China	Record daily precipitation	34.2 mm (1.3 in)	36 of 100 (Notable)
Tartu	Estonia	Record low minimum temperature	-21.7 C (-7.1 F)	36 of 100 (Notable)
Kamferskraal	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	51.0 mm (2.0 in)	36 of 100 (Notable)
Ft Logan 4 ESE	United States	Record daily snowfall	15.2 cm (6.0 in)	36 of 100 (Notable)
Echo Dam	United States	Record daily snowfall	17.8 cm (7.0 in)	36 of 100 (Notable)
Kotzebue AP	United States	Record high minimum temperature	-2.8 C (27.0 F)	36 of 100 (Notable)
Monte Belo	Brazil	Record daily precipitation	67.0 mm (2.6 in)	35 of 100 (Notable)
Kemptville	Canada	Record daily precipitation	47.7 mm (1.9 in)	35 of 100 (Notable)
Viljujsk	Russia	Record high maximum temperature	3.4 C (38.1 F)	35 of 100 (Notable)
De Funiak Springs 1 E	United States	Record low minimum temperature	-2.8 C (27.0 F)	35 of 100 (Notable)
Salgadinho	Brazil	Record daily precipitation	66.6 mm (2.6 in)	34 of 100 (Routine)
Foremost	Canada	Record daily snowfall	14.0 cm (5.5 in)	34 of 100 (Routine)
Hafslo	Norway	Record snow depth	119.0 cm (46.9 in)	34 of 100 (Routine)
Union Springs 9 S	United States	Record low minimum temperature	-1.7 C (28.9 F)	34 of 100 (Routine)
Forsyth 6 NNW	United States	Record low minimum temperature	-3.9 C (25.0 F)	34 of 100 (Routine)
Talbotton	United States	Record low minimum temperature	-3.9 C (25.0 F)	34 of 100 (Routine)
Cordova AP	United States	Record high minimum temperature	5.6 C (42.1 F)	34 of 100 (Routine)
Salvacao	Brazil	Record daily precipitation	72.0 mm (2.8 in)	33 of 100 (Routine)
Araripe	Brazil	Record daily precipitation	61.5 mm (2.4 in)	33 of 100 (Routine)
Port Aux Basques	Canada	Record high maximum temperature	5.7 C (42.3 F)	33 of 100 (Routine)
Espirito Santo	Brazil	Record daily precipitation	88.3 mm (3.5 in)	32 of 100 (Routine)
Sheenboro	Canada	Record daily snowfall	19.0 cm (7.5 in)	32 of 100 (Routine)
Mont Louis	Canada	Record daily precipitation	41.0 mm (1.6 in)	32 of 100 (Routine)
Bolsoy Santar	Russia	Record high maximum temperature	4.4 C (39.9 F)	32 of 100 (Routine)
Little Mtn	United States	Record low minimum temperature	-4.4 C (24.1 F)	32 of 100 (Routine)
McColl 3 NNW	United States	Record low minimum temperature	-4.4 C (24.1 F)	32 of 100 (Routine)

Counts by Type and Timescale

679 records

Records set or tied on 17 March 1981 by type: Highest daily maximum 116, Lowest daily maximum 21, Highest daily minimum 108, Lowest daily minimum 100, Heaviest daily rainfall 246, Heaviest daily snowfall 73, Deepest snow cover 15.

Records on 17 March 1981 by type
Record type	Records
Highest daily maximum	116
Lowest daily maximum	21
Highest daily minimum	108
Lowest daily minimum	100
Heaviest daily rainfall	246
Heaviest daily snowfall	73
Deepest snow cover	15

Records on 17 March 1981 by timescale: all-time 2, monthly 20, daily 657.

How Much Records Were Beaten By

549 broken records

Margins by which the 549 broken records beat the old ones, in degrees Celsius for temperature and millimetres for precipitation and snow; the largest margin was 340.0. Ties are not counted.

Top 20 by Significance

17 March 1981

Top 20 records on 17 March 1981 by significance
Date	Station	Record	Value	Beat old record by	Old record stood	Significance
17 March 1981	Lewistown AP, US	daily rain	28.2 mm (1.1 in)	18.5 mm (0.7 in)	67 years	68 of 100 (Major)
17 March 1981	La Pocatiere Cda, CA	daily snowfall	51.8 cm (20.4 in)	34.0 cm (13.4 in)	40 years	60 of 100 (Major)
17 March 1981	Ennis, US	daily snowfall	14.7 cm (5.8 in)	14.7 cm (5.8 in)	63 years	57 of 100 (Notable)
17 March 1981	Pendroy 2 NNW, US	monthly rain	36.8 mm (1.4 in)	15.2 mm (0.6 in)	8 years	56 of 100 (Notable)
17 March 1981	Lewistown AP, US	daily snowfall	24.9 cm (9.8 in)	13.5 cm (5.3 in)	67 years	56 of 100 (Notable)
17 March 1981	Ft Benton, US	daily rain	25.9 mm (1.0 in)	18.3 mm (0.7 in)	26 years	55 of 100 (Notable)
17 March 1981	Causapscal, CA	daily snowfall	32.9 cm (13.0 in)	17.7 cm (7.0 in)	52 years	51 of 100 (Notable)
17 March 1981	Arka, RU	monthly rain	32.0 mm (1.3 in)	7.3 mm (0.29 in)	28 years	50 of 100 (Notable)
17 March 1981	Apizaco, MX	daily rain	25.4 mm (1.0 in)	21.8 mm (0.9 in)	30 years	49 of 100 (Notable)
17 March 1981	Instituto Biologico, BR	daily rain	77.5 mm (3.1 in)	51.4 mm (2.0 in)	28 years	48 of 100 (Notable)
17 March 1981	Kemptville, CA	daily snowfall	27.9 cm (11.0 in)	20.3 cm (8.0 in)	11 years	46 of 100 (Notable)
17 March 1981	Changsha, CN	daily rain	48.9 mm (1.9 in)	38.6 mm (1.5 in)	12 years	46 of 100 (Notable)
17 March 1981	Highwood 7 NE, US	daily rain	27.9 mm (1.1 in)	20.3 mm (0.8 in)	12 years	46 of 100 (Notable)
17 March 1981	Goldbutte 7 N, US	monthly snowfall	30.5 cm (12.0 in)	5.1 cm (2.0 in)	42 years	45 of 100 (Notable)
17 March 1981	Santa Isabel, BR	daily rain	78.0 mm (3.1 in)	53.3 mm (2.1 in)	12 years	44 of 100 (Notable)
17 March 1981	St Elzear de Bonaventure, CA	daily rain	51.0 mm (2.0 in)	39.1 mm (1.5 in)	4 years	44 of 100 (Notable)
17 March 1981	Caplan, CA	daily rain	47.0 mm (1.9 in)	28.6 mm (1.1 in)	0 years	43 of 100 (Notable)
17 March 1981	Ste Rose du Degelis, CA	daily snowfall	31.0 cm (12.2 in)	15.8 cm (6.2 in)	40 years	43 of 100 (Notable)
17 March 1981	St Pamphile, CA	daily snowfall	34.3 cm (13.5 in)	24.1 cm (9.5 in)	28 years	42 of 100 (Notable)
17 March 1981	Galata 16 SW, US	monthly rain	35.6 mm (1.4 in)	8.4 mm (0.33 in)	3 years	42 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

1825 to 1981

Records set or tied on this calendar date in each year from 1825 to 1981. 1981 had 679 records.

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

Records on 03-17 in each year
Year	Records
1825	2
1839	1
1845	1
1850	2
1852	1
1853	1
1856	1
1857	1
1863	1
1866	2
1867	1
1869	1
1870	1
1872	1
1874	3
1876	1
1877	2
1878	3
1879	1
1881	1
1882	4
1883	1
1884	3
1885	3
1886	1
1887	3
1888	2
1889	3
1890	2
1892	1
1895	5
1896	2
1897	9
1898	14
1899	5
1900	5
1901	4
1902	16
1903	10
1904	11
1905	10
1906	15
1907	14
1908	20
1909	20
1910	17
1911	7
1912	7
1913	31
1914	28
1915	22
1916	40
1917	52
1918	26
1919	86
1920	50
1921	96
1922	49
1923	130
1924	78
1925	143
1926	185
1927	369
1928	230
1929	85
1930	306
1931	124
1932	484
1933	198
1934	368
1935	259
1936	601
1937	455
1938	394
1939	583
1940	250
1941	689
1942	783
1943	500
1944	288
1945	1,345
1946	810
1947	332
1948	340
1949	178
1950	1,105
1951	489
1952	527
1953	236
1954	365
1955	385
1956	573
1957	327
1958	535
1959	471
1960	814
1961	679
1962	321
1963	738
1964	241
1965	1,115
1966	970
1967	856
1968	849
1969	651
1970	768
1971	361
1972	1,013
1973	943
1974	837
1975	475
1976	534
1977	479
1978	787
1979	507
1980	658
1981	679
1982	1,315
1983	912
1984	599
1985	662
1986	551
1987	1,362
1988	1,325
1989	1,082
1990	1,916
1991	756
1992	740
1993	1,608
1994	822
1995	989
1996	689
1997	895
1998	972
1999	688
2000	792
2001	1,349
2002	1,210
2003	1,244
2004	1,406
2005	1,475
2006	579
2007	1,470
2008	955
2009	717
2010	584
2011	926
2012	2,715
2013	723
2014	1,039
2015	1,145
2016	545
2017	847
2018	891
2019	738
2020	454
2021	502
2022	452
2023	875
2024	668
2025	722
2026	2,522

Download the Data

Data for records on 1981-03-17: 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 2026-10-16 (16 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 50	500
50 to 100	30
100 to 150	11
150 to 200	4
200 to 250	2
250 to 300	1
300 to 350	1