Weather Records on 31 December 1981

786 weather records were set or tied worldwide on 31 December 1981. Highest significance: Emmett 2 E, US.

Key Facts for 31 December 1981

On 31 December 1981, 786 weather records were set or tied at long-record stations worldwide.
251 were record highs and 39 were record lows, counting maximum and minimum temperature.
By timescale, 0 were all-time records, 21 monthly and 765 daily.
Emmett 2 E set a daily record snow depth of 22.9 cm (9.0 in) on 31 December 1981.
Across 157 earlier years (1797 to 2025) the same calendar date averaged 485 records.

Record Map

786 stations

786 station records on 31 December 1981 are marked on the map, coloured by record type. Dot size shows the significance score. Made with Natural Earth.

Weather records on 31 December 1981: highest significance records shown on the map
Station	Country	Type	Value	Significance
Emmett 2 E	United States	Record snow depth	22.9 cm (9.0 in)	64 of 100 (Major)
Paramirim	Brazil	Record daily precipitation	75.0 mm (3.0 in)	55 of 100 (Notable)
Munising	United States	Record daily precipitation	25.9 mm (1.0 in)	55 of 100 (Notable)
Anahuac	United States	Record daily precipitation	88.9 mm (3.5 in)	54 of 100 (Notable)
Simao Dias (Anapolis)	Brazil	Record daily precipitation	55.0 mm (2.2 in)	52 of 100 (Notable)
Owyhee Dam	United States	Record snow depth	25.4 cm (10.0 in)	52 of 100 (Notable)
Silverton	United States	Record daily precipitation	55.9 mm (2.2 in)	51 of 100 (Notable)
Munising	United States	Record daily snowfall	27.7 cm (10.9 in)	50 of 100 (Notable)
Columbia UNIV of Sc	United States	Record daily precipitation	64.8 mm (2.6 in)	50 of 100 (Notable)
Orange	United States	Record daily precipitation	114.3 mm (4.5 in)	47 of 100 (Notable)
Itapicuru	Brazil	Record daily precipitation	61.3 mm (2.4 in)	46 of 100 (Notable)
Eiland	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	110.0 mm (4.3 in)	46 of 100 (Notable)
Oy-Mittelberg	Germany	Record snow depth	130.0 cm (51.2 in)	45 of 100 (Notable)
Edgefield 3 NNE	United States	Record daily precipitation	66.0 mm (2.6 in)	45 of 100 (Notable)
Pyramid	United States	Record daily snowfall	35.6 cm (14.0 in)	44 of 100 (Notable)
Watseka Public Works	United States	Record snow depth	30.5 cm (12.0 in)	44 of 100 (Notable)
Selb/Oberfranken-Wildenau	Germany	Record snow depth	56.0 cm (22.0 in)	43 of 100 (Notable)
Milaca	United States	Record daily snowfall	20.3 cm (8.0 in)	43 of 100 (Notable)
Brule Island	United States	Record daily snowfall	16.3 cm (6.4 in)	42 of 100 (Notable)
Weiden	Germany	Record snow depth	35.0 cm (13.8 in)	41 of 100 (Notable)
Dublin	United States	Record daily precipitation	58.4 mm (2.3 in)	41 of 100 (Notable)
Cochrane	Canada	Record daily snowfall	20.3 cm (8.0 in)	40 of 100 (Notable)
Hof (Stadt)	Germany	Record snow depth	38.0 cm (15.0 in)	40 of 100 (Notable)
Lautertal-Oberlauter	Germany	Record snow depth	37.0 cm (14.6 in)	40 of 100 (Notable)
Champion van Riper Pk	United States	Record daily snowfall	25.7 cm (10.1 in)	40 of 100 (Notable)
Danbury	United States	Record daily snowfall	17.8 cm (7.0 in)	40 of 100 (Notable)
Salina	United States	Record daily snowfall	15.2 cm (6.0 in)	39 of 100 (Notable)
Marquette	United States	Record daily snowfall	21.3 cm (8.4 in)	39 of 100 (Notable)
Ebrach	Germany	Record snow depth	36.0 cm (14.2 in)	38 of 100 (Notable)
Hankinson	United States	Record daily snowfall	10.2 cm (4.0 in)	38 of 100 (Notable)
Ft Mill 4 NW	United States	Record daily precipitation	62.7 mm (2.5 in)	38 of 100 (Notable)
Fife Lake 4 SW	United States	Record daily snowfall	21.6 cm (8.5 in)	37 of 100 (Notable)
Hawthorne AP	United States	Record high minimum temperature	-0.6 C (30.9 F)	37 of 100 (Notable)
Columbia	United States	Record daily precipitation	63.5 mm (2.5 in)	37 of 100 (Notable)
Stambaugh 2SSE	United States	Record daily snowfall	19.1 cm (7.5 in)	36 of 100 (Notable)
Wellston Tippy Dam	United States	Record daily snowfall	22.9 cm (9.0 in)	36 of 100 (Notable)
Fergus Falls	United States	Record daily snowfall	11.4 cm (4.5 in)	36 of 100 (Notable)
Hinckley	United States	Record daily snowfall	15.2 cm (6.0 in)	36 of 100 (Notable)
Walterboro 1 SW	United States	Record daily precipitation	50.8 mm (2.0 in)	36 of 100 (Notable)
Yemassee 1 N	United States	Record daily precipitation	51.3 mm (2.0 in)	36 of 100 (Notable)
Silver Lake Brighton	United States	Record daily precipitation	63.2 mm (2.5 in)	36 of 100 (Notable)
Laona 6 SW	United States	Record daily snowfall	20.8 cm (8.2 in)	36 of 100 (Notable)
Ft Myers Page Fld AP	United States	Record high minimum temperature	20.0 C (68.0 F)	36 of 100 (Notable)
Sonneberg-Neufang	Germany	Record snow depth	97.0 cm (38.2 in)	35 of 100 (Notable)
Eastman 1 W	United States	Record daily precipitation	43.2 mm (1.7 in)	35 of 100 (Notable)
Williamsburg 1E	United States	Record daily snowfall	10.2 cm (4.0 in)	35 of 100 (Notable)
Huntington	United States	Record daily snowfall	12.7 cm (5.0 in)	35 of 100 (Notable)
Squaw Butte-Northern Great Bas	United States	Record snow depth	48.3 cm (19.0 in)	35 of 100 (Notable)
Waialua 847	United States	Record high maximum temperature	30.0 C (86.0 F)	35 of 100 (Notable)
Augusta Bush Fld AP	United States	Record daily precipitation	59.9 mm (2.4 in)	35 of 100 (Notable)
Grantsburg	United States	Record daily snowfall	22.9 cm (9.0 in)	35 of 100 (Notable)
Sugarloaf Rsvr	United States	Record daily snowfall	12.7 cm (5.0 in)	34 of 100 (Routine)
Charlotte	United States	Record snow depth	25.4 cm (10.0 in)	34 of 100 (Routine)
Iron Mtn-Kingsford Wwtp	United States	Record daily snowfall	17.8 cm (7.0 in)	34 of 100 (Routine)
Beulah	United States	Record daily snowfall	11.4 cm (4.5 in)	34 of 100 (Routine)
Arlington	United States	Record daily snowfall	5.1 cm (2.0 in)	34 of 100 (Routine)
Clausthal-Zellerfeld	Germany	Record snow depth	54.0 cm (21.3 in)	33 of 100 (Routine)
Petoskey	United States	Record daily snowfall	22.9 cm (9.0 in)	33 of 100 (Routine)
Pullman 2 NW	United States	Record snow depth	20.3 cm (8.0 in)	33 of 100 (Routine)
Charlotte Douglas AP	United States	Record daily precipitation	54.6 mm (2.1 in)	33 of 100 (Routine)

Counts by Type and Timescale

786 records

Records set or tied on 31 December 1981 by type: Highest daily maximum 108, Lowest daily maximum 24, Highest daily minimum 143, Lowest daily minimum 15, Heaviest daily rainfall 259, Heaviest daily snowfall 127, Deepest snow cover 110.

Records on 31 December 1981 by type
Record type	Records
Highest daily maximum	108
Lowest daily maximum	24
Highest daily minimum	143
Lowest daily minimum	15
Heaviest daily rainfall	259
Heaviest daily snowfall	127
Deepest snow cover	110

Records on 31 December 1981 by timescale: all-time 0, monthly 21, daily 765.

How Much Records Were Beaten By

641 broken records

Margins by which the 641 broken records beat the old ones, in degrees Celsius for temperature and millimetres for precipitation and snow; the largest margin was 850.0. Ties are not counted.

Top 20 by Significance

31 December 1981

Top 20 records on 31 December 1981 by significance
Date	Station	Record	Value	Beat old record by	Old record stood	Significance
31 December 1981	Emmett 2 E, US	daily snow depth	22.9 cm (9.0 in)	15.3 cm (6.0 in)	70 years	64 of 100 (Major)
31 December 1981	Paramirim, BR	daily rain	75.0 mm (3.0 in)	55.0 mm (2.2 in)	40 years	55 of 100 (Notable)
31 December 1981	Munising, US	daily rain	25.9 mm (1.0 in)	11.9 mm (0.5 in)	70 years	55 of 100 (Notable)
31 December 1981	Anahuac, US	daily rain	88.9 mm (3.5 in)	62.7 mm (2.5 in)	46 years	54 of 100 (Notable)
31 December 1981	Simao Dias (Anapolis), BR	daily rain	55.0 mm (2.2 in)	38.5 mm (1.5 in)	68 years	52 of 100 (Notable)
31 December 1981	Owyhee Dam, US	daily snow depth	25.4 cm (10.0 in)	17.8 cm (7.0 in)	40 years	52 of 100 (Notable)
31 December 1981	Silverton, US	monthly rain	55.9 mm (2.2 in)	7.6 mm (0.30 in)	73 years	51 of 100 (Notable)
31 December 1981	Munising, US	daily snowfall	27.7 cm (10.9 in)	10.2 cm (4.0 in)	70 years	50 of 100 (Notable)
31 December 1981	Columbia UNIV of Sc, US	daily rain	64.8 mm (2.6 in)	30.8 mm (1.2 in)	50 years	50 of 100 (Notable)
31 December 1981	Orange, US	daily rain	114.3 mm (4.5 in)	74.4 mm (2.9 in)	20 years	47 of 100 (Notable)
31 December 1981	Itapicuru, BR	daily rain	61.3 mm (2.4 in)	49.3 mm (1.9 in)	22 years	46 of 100 (Notable)
31 December 1981	Eiland, ZA	daily rain	110.0 mm (4.3 in)	82.5 mm (3.2 in)	4 years	46 of 100 (Notable)
31 December 1981	Oy-Mittelberg, DE	daily snow depth	130.0 cm (51.2 in)	85.0 cm (33.5 in)	12 years	45 of 100 (Notable)
31 December 1981	Edgefield 3 NNE, US	daily rain	66.0 mm (2.6 in)	27.4 mm (1.1 in)	56 years	45 of 100 (Notable)
31 December 1981	Pyramid, US	daily snowfall	35.6 cm (14.0 in)	15.3 cm (6.0 in)	56 years	44 of 100 (Notable)
31 December 1981	Watseka Public Works, US	daily snow depth	30.5 cm (12.0 in)	17.8 cm (7.0 in)	36 years	44 of 100 (Notable)
31 December 1981	Selb/Oberfranken-Wildenau, DE	daily snow depth	56.0 cm (22.0 in)	28.0 cm (11.0 in)	19 years	43 of 100 (Notable)
31 December 1981	Milaca, US	daily snowfall	20.3 cm (8.0 in)	10.1 cm (4.0 in)	30 years	43 of 100 (Notable)
31 December 1981	Brule Island, US	daily snowfall	16.3 cm (6.4 in)	9.9 cm (3.9 in)	47 years	42 of 100 (Notable)
31 December 1981	Weiden, DE	daily snow depth	35.0 cm (13.8 in)	17.0 cm (6.7 in)	31 years	41 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

1797 to 1981

Records set or tied on this calendar date in each year from 1797 to 1981. 1981 had 786 records.

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

Records on 12-31 in each year
Year	Records
1797	1
1799	2
1826	1
1836	1
1842	2
1850	3
1853	1
1854	1
1859	1
1860	1
1867	1
1870	2
1872	2
1874	4
1875	2
1876	2
1878	2
1879	2
1880	2
1882	1
1884	2
1885	1
1886	3
1887	1
1888	2
1890	2
1891	8
1892	4
1895	4
1897	6
1898	5
1899	4
1900	3
1901	16
1902	3
1903	3
1904	11
1905	9
1906	31
1907	11
1908	7
1909	5
1910	25
1911	14
1912	17
1913	46
1914	34
1915	32
1916	25
1917	239
1918	24
1919	38
1920	64
1921	130
1922	83
1923	280
1924	113
1925	183
1926	77
1927	491
1928	53
1929	224
1930	58
1931	543
1932	394
1933	409
1934	181
1935	309
1936	567
1937	500
1938	247
1939	298
1940	467
1941	159
1942	352
1943	159
1944	259
1945	210
1946	707
1947	461
1948	591
1949	384
1950	310
1951	1,421
1952	377
1953	410
1954	286
1955	429
1956	216
1957	724
1958	584
1959	414
1960	389
1961	309
1962	810
1963	1,015
1964	388
1965	1,371
1966	326
1967	1,023
1968	1,371
1969	825
1970	579
1971	568
1972	836
1973	1,370
1974	590
1975	791
1976	1,306
1977	641
1978	2,791
1979	448
1980	1,448
1981	786
1982	639
1983	2,220
1984	942
1985	593
1986	616
1987	845
1988	600
1989	506
1990	1,379
1991	703
1992	1,062
1993	718
1994	878
1995	1,151
1996	2,202
1997	988
1998	739
1999	524
2000	1,575
2001	748
2002	1,232
2003	523
2004	1,278
2005	959
2006	2,089
2007	652
2008	656
2009	867
2010	1,544
2011	739
2012	803
2013	606
2014	903
2015	748
2016	678
2017	1,589
2018	620
2019	593
2020	489
2021	1,739
2022	1,497
2023	474
2024	460
2025	760

Download the Data

Data for records on 1981-12-31: 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 200	633
200 to 400	7
400 to 600	0
600 to 800	0
800 to 1000	1