Weather Records on 13 December 1981

912 weather records were set or tied worldwide on 13 December 1981. Highest significance: Ponce 4 E, PR.

Key Facts for 13 December 1981

On 13 December 1981, 912 weather records were set or tied at long-record stations worldwide.
224 were record highs and 273 were record lows, counting maximum and minimum temperature.
By timescale, 5 were all-time records, 35 monthly and 872 daily.
Ponce 4 E set a daily record precipitation of 45.7 mm (1.8 in) on 13 December 1981.
Across 160 earlier years (1796 to 2025) the same calendar date averaged 447 records.

Record Map

912 stations

912 station records on 13 December 1981 are marked on the map, coloured by record type. Dot size shows the significance score. Made with Natural Earth.

Weather records on 13 December 1981: highest significance records shown on the map
Station	Country	Type	Value	Significance
Ponce 4 E	Puerto Rico [United States]	Record daily precipitation	45.7 mm (1.8 in)	63 of 100 (Major)
Cet Central England	United Kingdom	Record low minimum temperature	-15.9 C (3.4 F)	62 of 100 (Major)
Bond Springs Homestead	Australia	Record daily precipitation	45.0 mm (1.8 in)	56 of 100 (Notable)
Fajardo	Puerto Rico [United States]	Record daily precipitation	219.7 mm (8.6 in)	56 of 100 (Notable)
Texas Downs	Australia	Record daily precipitation	125.0 mm (4.9 in)	55 of 100 (Notable)
Oxford	United Kingdom	Record low minimum temperature	-16.1 C (3.0 F)	53 of 100 (Notable)
Essen-Bredeney	Germany	Record snow depth	15.0 cm (5.9 in)	52 of 100 (Notable)
Alice Springs Airport	Australia	Record daily precipitation	63.0 mm (2.5 in)	51 of 100 (Notable)
Mont-de-Marsan	France	Record daily precipitation	60.1 mm (2.4 in)	51 of 100 (Notable)
Vardo	Norway	Record daily precipitation	27.0 mm (1.1 in)	50 of 100 (Notable)
Sao Manuel	Brazil	Record daily precipitation	111.7 mm (4.4 in)	49 of 100 (Notable)
Utsira Fyr	Norway	Record snow depth	55.0 cm (21.7 in)	47 of 100 (Notable)
Galway	Ireland	Record low minimum temperature	-6.4 C (20.5 F)	46 of 100 (Notable)
Dorado 2 WNW	Puerto Rico [United States]	Record daily precipitation	125.7 mm (4.9 in)	46 of 100 (Notable)
Seymour (Mag)	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	30.0 mm (1.2 in)	46 of 100 (Notable)
Lautertal-Oberlauter	Germany	Record snow depth	40.0 cm (15.7 in)	45 of 100 (Notable)
Hof (Stadt)	Germany	Record snow depth	39.0 cm (15.4 in)	44 of 100 (Notable)
Zerbst	Germany	Record snow depth	16.0 cm (6.3 in)	44 of 100 (Notable)
Magdeburg	Germany	Record snow depth	15.0 cm (5.9 in)	43 of 100 (Notable)
Sonneberg-Neufang	Germany	Record snow depth	108.0 cm (42.5 in)	43 of 100 (Notable)
Bordeaux-Merignac	France	Record daily precipitation	44.1 mm (1.7 in)	42 of 100 (Notable)
Embrun	France	Record daily precipitation	41.3 mm (1.6 in)	42 of 100 (Notable)
Dortmund	Germany	Record snow depth	11.0 cm (4.3 in)	42 of 100 (Notable)
Vestervig	Denmark	Record low minimum temperature	-14.4 C (6.1 F)	41 of 100 (Notable)
Dublin Phoenix Park	Ireland	Record daily precipitation	27.8 mm (1.1 in)	41 of 100 (Notable)
Kronach	Germany	Record snow depth	27.0 cm (10.6 in)	41 of 100 (Notable)
Borkum-Suderstrasse	Germany	Record snow depth	10.0 cm (3.9 in)	41 of 100 (Notable)
Dachwig	Germany	Record snow depth	20.0 cm (7.9 in)	41 of 100 (Notable)
Jever	Germany	Record snow depth	13.0 cm (5.1 in)	40 of 100 (Notable)
Bernburg/Saale (Nord)	Germany	Record snow depth	16.0 cm (6.3 in)	40 of 100 (Notable)
Kaltennordheim	Germany	Record snow depth	51.0 cm (20.1 in)	39 of 100 (Notable)
Oldenburg (A)	Germany	Record snow depth	14.0 cm (5.5 in)	39 of 100 (Notable)
Wisley	United Kingdom	Record low minimum temperature	-14.0 C (6.8 F)	38 of 100 (Notable)
Bad Konigshofen	Germany	Record snow depth	20.0 cm (7.9 in)	37 of 100 (Notable)
Nordby (Fano)	Denmark	Record low minimum temperature	-10.5 C (13.1 F)	36 of 100 (Notable)
Artern	Germany	Record snow depth	20.0 cm (7.9 in)	36 of 100 (Notable)
Juana Diaz Camp	Puerto Rico [United States]	Record daily precipitation	44.2 mm (1.7 in)	36 of 100 (Notable)
Gorlitz	Germany	Record snow depth	14.0 cm (5.5 in)	35 of 100 (Notable)
Leipzig-Holzhausen	Germany	Record snow depth	17.0 cm (6.7 in)	35 of 100 (Notable)
Tg Jiu	Romania	Record daily precipitation	36.0 mm (1.4 in)	35 of 100 (Notable)
Vasteras-Hasslo	Sweden	Record low minimum temperature	-19.0 C (-2.2 F)	35 of 100 (Notable)
Dufur	United States	Record daily snowfall	17.8 cm (7.0 in)	35 of 100 (Notable)
Jubilee Downs	Australia	Record daily precipitation	91.0 mm (3.6 in)	34 of 100 (Routine)
Quanbun Downs	Australia	Record daily precipitation	75.6 mm (3.0 in)	34 of 100 (Routine)
Waldeck	Germany	Record snow depth	24.0 cm (9.4 in)	34 of 100 (Routine)
Cambridge	United States	Record high minimum temperature	0.6 C (33.1 F)	34 of 100 (Routine)
Telemon Station	Australia	Record daily precipitation	51.2 mm (2.0 in)	33 of 100 (Routine)
Celle (Stadt)	Germany	Record snow depth	13.0 cm (5.1 in)	33 of 100 (Routine)
Clausthal-Zellerfeld	Germany	Record snow depth	70.0 cm (27.6 in)	33 of 100 (Routine)
Osmond	United States	Record daily snowfall	7.6 cm (3.0 in)	33 of 100 (Routine)
Rochester Intl AP	United States	Record daily snowfall	6.9 cm (2.7 in)	33 of 100 (Routine)
Catus	France	Record daily precipitation	30.3 mm (1.2 in)	32 of 100 (Routine)
Landsborough Downs	Australia	Record daily precipitation	69.6 mm (2.7 in)	31 of 100 (Routine)
Toulouse-Blagnac	France	Record daily precipitation	46.4 mm (1.8 in)	31 of 100 (Routine)
Zugspitze	Germany	Record snow depth	430.0 cm (169.3 in)	31 of 100 (Routine)
Kassel	Germany	Record snow depth	15.0 cm (5.9 in)	31 of 100 (Routine)
Giessen (Lahntal)	Germany	Record snow depth	11.0 cm (4.3 in)	31 of 100 (Routine)
Bad Lauchstadt	Germany	Record snow depth	15.0 cm (5.9 in)	31 of 100 (Routine)
Mehringen	Germany	Record snow depth	15.0 cm (5.9 in)	31 of 100 (Routine)
Bad Muskau	Germany	Record snow depth	16.0 cm (6.3 in)	31 of 100 (Routine)

Counts by Type and Timescale

912 records

Records set or tied on 13 December 1981 by type: Highest daily maximum 85, Lowest daily maximum 111, Highest daily minimum 139, Lowest daily minimum 162, Heaviest daily rainfall 210, Heaviest daily snowfall 37, Deepest snow cover 168.

Records on 13 December 1981 by type
Record type	Records
Highest daily maximum	85
Lowest daily maximum	111
Highest daily minimum	139
Lowest daily minimum	162
Heaviest daily rainfall	210
Heaviest daily snowfall	37
Deepest snow cover	168

Records on 13 December 1981 by timescale: all-time 5, monthly 35, daily 872.

How Much Records Were Beaten By

802 broken records

Margins by which the 802 broken records beat the old ones, in degrees Celsius for temperature and millimetres for precipitation and snow; the largest margin was 720.0. Ties are not counted.

Top 20 by Significance

13 December 1981

Top 20 records on 13 December 1981 by significance
Date	Station	Record	Value	Beat old record by	Old record stood	Significance
13 December 1981	Ponce 4 E, PR	daily rain	45.7 mm (1.8 in)	33.0 mm (1.3 in)	78 years	63 of 100 (Major)
13 December 1981	Cet Central England, GB	all-time low min	-15.9 C (3.4 F)	2.3 C (4.1 F)	86 years	62 of 100 (Major)
13 December 1981	Bond Springs Homestead, AU	daily rain	45.0 mm (1.8 in)	42.5 mm (1.7 in)	58 years	56 of 100 (Notable)
13 December 1981	Fajardo, PR	monthly rain	219.7 mm (8.6 in)	96.5 mm (3.8 in)	6 years	56 of 100 (Notable)
13 December 1981	Texas Downs, AU	daily rain	125.0 mm (4.9 in)	104.2 mm (4.1 in)	31 years	55 of 100 (Notable)
13 December 1981	Oxford, GB	monthly low min	-16.1 C (3.0 F)	1.4 C (2.5 F)	102 years	53 of 100 (Notable)
13 December 1981	Essen-Bredeney, DE	daily snow depth	15.0 cm (5.9 in)	11.0 cm (4.3 in)	31 years	52 of 100 (Notable)
13 December 1981	Alice Springs Airport, AU	daily rain	63.0 mm (2.5 in)	57.4 mm (2.3 in)	24 years	51 of 100 (Notable)
13 December 1981	Mont-de-Marsan, FR	monthly rain	60.1 mm (2.4 in)	21.6 mm (0.9 in)	27 years	51 of 100 (Notable)
13 December 1981	Vardo, NO	daily rain	27.0 mm (1.1 in)	22.0 mm (0.9 in)	24 years	50 of 100 (Notable)
13 December 1981	Sao Manuel, BR	daily rain	111.7 mm (4.4 in)	73.0 mm (2.9 in)	16 years	49 of 100 (Notable)
13 December 1981	Utsira Fyr, NO	all-time snow depth	55.0 cm (21.7 in)	9.0 cm (3.5 in)	21 years	47 of 100 (Notable)
13 December 1981	Galway, IE	daily low min	-6.4 C (20.5 F)	2.5 C (4.5 F)	99 years	46 of 100 (Notable)
13 December 1981	Dorado 2 WNW, PR	daily rain	125.7 mm (4.9 in)	64.7 mm (2.5 in)	4 years	46 of 100 (Notable)
13 December 1981	Seymour (Mag), ZA	daily rain	30.0 mm (1.2 in)	13.0 mm (0.5 in)	89 years	46 of 100 (Notable)
13 December 1981	Lautertal-Oberlauter, DE	daily snow depth	40.0 cm (15.7 in)	30.0 cm (11.8 in)	7 years	45 of 100 (Notable)
13 December 1981	Hof (Stadt), DE	daily snow depth	39.0 cm (15.4 in)	20.0 cm (7.9 in)	7 years	44 of 100 (Notable)
13 December 1981	Zerbst, DE	daily snow depth	16.0 cm (6.3 in)	6.0 cm (2.4 in)	81 years	44 of 100 (Notable)
13 December 1981	Magdeburg, DE	daily snow depth	15.0 cm (5.9 in)	5.0 cm (2.0 in)	79 years	43 of 100 (Notable)
13 December 1981	Sonneberg-Neufang, DE	daily snow depth	108.0 cm (42.5 in)	72.0 cm (28.3 in)	0 years	43 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

1796 to 1981

Records set or tied on this calendar date in each year from 1796 to 1981. 1981 had 912 records.

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

Records on 12-13 in each year
Year	Records
1796	1
1802	1
1808	2
1814	2
1825	2
1831	1
1835	2
1839	1
1846	2
1849	1
1852	2
1855	2
1862	1
1863	1
1864	1
1867	2
1870	2
1871	1
1873	1
1878	6
1879	1
1880	1
1881	3
1882	2
1885	1
1887	1
1890	1
1891	9
1892	1
1893	4
1894	3
1896	1
1897	2
1898	5
1899	9
1900	5
1901	4
1902	13
1903	13
1904	8
1905	3
1906	7
1907	11
1908	6
1909	23
1910	45
1911	72
1912	42
1913	23
1914	35
1915	51
1916	207
1917	144
1918	87
1919	52
1920	55
1921	65
1922	84
1923	206
1924	139
1925	160
1926	228
1927	566
1928	227
1929	303
1930	52
1931	525
1932	385
1933	422
1934	186
1935	168
1936	242
1937	375
1938	89
1939	159
1940	426
1941	324
1942	312
1943	244
1944	426
1945	355
1946	455
1947	306
1948	450
1949	321
1950	290
1951	226
1952	431
1953	222
1954	345
1955	479
1956	477
1957	566
1958	855
1959	297
1960	981
1961	898
1962	1,365
1963	442
1964	398
1965	811
1966	653
1967	743
1968	593
1969	545
1970	221
1971	567
1972	991
1973	625
1974	291
1975	1,038
1976	411
1977	685
1978	446
1979	1,072
1980	536
1981	912
1982	740
1983	1,121
1984	1,172
1985	1,642
1986	381
1987	675
1988	906
1989	1,355
1990	649
1991	1,734
1992	1,113
1993	960
1994	1,094
1995	1,634
1996	833
1997	1,126
1998	1,221
1999	964
2000	2,914
2001	1,092
2002	602
2003	1,131
2004	493
2005	589
2006	957
2007	720
2008	1,583
2009	1,016
2010	1,776
2011	833
2012	837
2013	451
2014	1,046
2015	2,363
2016	397
2017	749
2018	380
2019	520
2020	445
2021	420
2022	1,122
2023	486
2024	296
2025	1,343

Download the Data

Data for records on 1981-12-13: 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 2026-10-14 (14 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 100	769
100 to 200	27
200 to 300	3
300 to 400	2
400 to 500	0
500 to 600	0
600 to 700	0
700 to 800	1