Weather Records on 21 January 1986

883 weather records were set or tied worldwide on 21 January 1986. Highest significance: Mount House Station, AU.

Key Facts for 21 January 1986

On 21 January 1986, 883 weather records were set or tied at long-record stations worldwide.
447 were record highs and 110 were record lows, counting maximum and minimum temperature.
By timescale, 4 were all-time records, 39 monthly and 840 daily.
Mount House Station set an all-time record daily precipitation of 222.4 mm (8.8 in) on 21 January 1986.
Across 163 earlier years (1793 to 2026) the same calendar date averaged 465 records.

Record Map

883 stations

883 station records on 21 January 1986 are marked on the map, coloured by record type. Dot size shows the significance score. Made with Natural Earth.

Weather records on 21 January 1986: highest significance records shown on the map
Station	Country	Type	Value	Significance
Mount House Station	Australia	Record daily precipitation	222.4 mm (8.8 in)	61 of 100 (Major)
Mays Point Lock 25	United States	Record daily precipitation	45.5 mm (1.8 in)	59 of 100 (Notable)
Newark	United States	Record daily precipitation	64.0 mm (2.5 in)	58 of 100 (Notable)
Redig 11 NE	United States	Record daily snowfall	20.3 cm (8.0 in)	57 of 100 (Notable)
Lead	United States	Record daily snowfall	31.5 cm (12.4 in)	56 of 100 (Notable)
Itanhaem	Brazil	Record daily precipitation	168.6 mm (6.6 in)	55 of 100 (Notable)
Weston 1 E	United States	Record daily snowfall	20.3 cm (8.0 in)	55 of 100 (Notable)
Yeeda	Australia	Record daily precipitation	114.0 mm (4.5 in)	54 of 100 (Notable)
Gibb River	Australia	Record daily precipitation	123.6 mm (4.9 in)	51 of 100 (Notable)
Lusikisiki (Tnk)	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	139.9 mm (5.5 in)	50 of 100 (Notable)
Talon	Russia	Record daily precipitation	25.9 mm (1.0 in)	49 of 100 (Notable)
Bulwer (Tnk)	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	68.0 mm (2.7 in)	49 of 100 (Notable)
Harding 3 SE	United States	Record daily snowfall	15.2 cm (6.0 in)	48 of 100 (Notable)
Jubilee Downs	Australia	Record daily precipitation	72.0 mm (2.8 in)	47 of 100 (Notable)
Leopold Downs	Australia	Record daily precipitation	80.8 mm (3.2 in)	46 of 100 (Notable)
Kittanning Lock 7	United States	Record daily precipitation	37.1 mm (1.5 in)	46 of 100 (Notable)
Meda	Australia	Record daily precipitation	130.0 mm (5.1 in)	45 of 100 (Notable)
Elandshoek, Boston	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	57.2 mm (2.3 in)	45 of 100 (Notable)
Teriberka	Russia	Record low minimum temperature	-26.8 C (-16.2 F)	44 of 100 (Notable)
Pretty Rock	United States	Record daily snowfall	14.0 cm (5.5 in)	44 of 100 (Notable)
Uniontown 1 NE	United States	Record daily precipitation	30.7 mm (1.2 in)	44 of 100 (Notable)
Zeona 10 SSW	United States	Record daily snowfall	15.2 cm (6.0 in)	44 of 100 (Notable)
Sheridan Fld STN	United States	Record daily snowfall	12.4 cm (4.9 in)	44 of 100 (Notable)
Hettinger	United States	Record daily snowfall	15.2 cm (6.0 in)	43 of 100 (Notable)
Valley Head	United States	Record daily snowfall	27.9 cm (11.0 in)	42 of 100 (Notable)
Canton 4 SE	United States	Record daily precipitation	27.2 mm (1.1 in)	42 of 100 (Notable)
Fitzroy Crossing Comp.	Australia	Record daily precipitation	127.0 mm (5.0 in)	41 of 100 (Notable)
Cacahoatan	Mexico	Record daily precipitation	42.2 mm (1.7 in)	41 of 100 (Notable)
Bowman	United States	Record daily snowfall	12.7 cm (5.0 in)	41 of 100 (Notable)
Reeder 13 N	United States	Record daily snowfall	10.2 cm (4.0 in)	41 of 100 (Notable)
Oenpelli	Australia	Record daily precipitation	117.8 mm (4.6 in)	40 of 100 (Notable)
Perdeberg (Sar)	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	100.0 mm (3.9 in)	39 of 100 (Notable)
Lakin	United States	Record high maximum temperature	26.7 C (80.1 F)	39 of 100 (Notable)
Helena 1 SSE	United States	Record high maximum temperature	26.1 C (79.0 F)	39 of 100 (Notable)
Derry 4 SW	United States	Record daily precipitation	34.5 mm (1.4 in)	39 of 100 (Notable)
Elm Springs 3 ESE	United States	Record daily snowfall	7.6 cm (3.0 in)	39 of 100 (Notable)
Qunu (Bos)	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	44.0 mm (1.7 in)	38 of 100 (Notable)
Elliotdale (Tnk)	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	36.0 mm (1.4 in)	38 of 100 (Notable)
Creighton	United States	Record high maximum temperature	17.2 C (63.0 F)	38 of 100 (Notable)
Oakdale	United States	Record high maximum temperature	17.2 C (63.0 F)	38 of 100 (Notable)
Capitan	United States	Record high minimum temperature	5.0 C (41.0 F)	38 of 100 (Notable)
Ludlow 3 SSE	United States	Record daily snowfall	25.4 cm (10.0 in)	38 of 100 (Notable)
Derby Post Office	Australia	Record daily precipitation	116.3 mm (4.6 in)	37 of 100 (Notable)
Montrose #2	United States	Record high maximum temperature	15.6 C (60.1 F)	37 of 100 (Notable)
David City 4E	United States	Record high maximum temperature	17.2 C (63.0 F)	37 of 100 (Notable)
Fairbury 7S	United States	Record high maximum temperature	19.4 C (66.9 F)	37 of 100 (Notable)
Tres Piedras	United States	Record high maximum temperature	14.4 C (57.9 F)	37 of 100 (Notable)
Baldwinsville	United States	Record daily precipitation	38.4 mm (1.5 in)	37 of 100 (Notable)
Donegal 2 NW	United States	Record daily snowfall	10.2 cm (4.0 in)	37 of 100 (Notable)
Chillagoe Atherton Street	Australia	Record daily precipitation	99.0 mm (3.9 in)	36 of 100 (Notable)
Millaa Millaa Post Office	Australia	Record daily precipitation	155.3 mm (6.1 in)	36 of 100 (Notable)
Albion	United States	Record high maximum temperature	21.1 C (70.0 F)	36 of 100 (Notable)
1 ENE Fairfield	United States	Record high maximum temperature	20.0 C (68.0 F)	36 of 100 (Notable)
Plevna	United States	Record snow depth	73.7 cm (29.0 in)	36 of 100 (Notable)
Fremont	United States	Record high maximum temperature	16.7 C (62.1 F)	36 of 100 (Notable)
Tekamah	United States	Record high maximum temperature	15.6 C (60.1 F)	36 of 100 (Notable)
Ralph 1 N	United States	Record daily snowfall	35.6 cm (14.0 in)	36 of 100 (Notable)
Henrietta	United States	Record high maximum temperature	28.9 C (84.0 F)	36 of 100 (Notable)
Colony	United States	Record daily snowfall	15.2 cm (6.0 in)	36 of 100 (Notable)
Cold Bay AP	United States	Record snow depth	45.7 cm (18.0 in)	36 of 100 (Notable)

Counts by Type and Timescale

883 records

Records set or tied on 21 January 1986 by type: Highest daily maximum 334, Lowest daily maximum 39, Highest daily minimum 113, Lowest daily minimum 71, Heaviest daily rainfall 225, Heaviest daily snowfall 71, Deepest snow cover 30.

Records on 21 January 1986 by type
Record type	Records
Highest daily maximum	334
Lowest daily maximum	39
Highest daily minimum	113
Lowest daily minimum	71
Heaviest daily rainfall	225
Heaviest daily snowfall	71
Deepest snow cover	30

Records on 21 January 1986 by timescale: all-time 4, monthly 39, daily 840.

How Much Records Were Beaten By

705 broken records

Margins by which the 705 broken records beat the old ones, in degrees Celsius for temperature and millimetres for precipitation and snow; the largest margin was 213.0. Ties are not counted.

Top 20 by Significance

21 January 1986

Top 20 records on 21 January 1986 by significance
Date	Station	Record	Value	Beat old record by	Old record stood	Significance
21 January 1986	Mount House Station, AU	all-time rain	222.4 mm (8.8 in)	43.3 mm (1.7 in)	42 years	61 of 100 (Major)
21 January 1986	Mays Point Lock 25, US	daily rain	45.5 mm (1.8 in)	29.0 mm (1.1 in)	48 years	59 of 100 (Notable)
21 January 1986	Newark, US	monthly rain	64.0 mm (2.5 in)	36.1 mm (1.4 in)	8 years	58 of 100 (Notable)
21 January 1986	Redig 11 NE, US	daily snowfall	20.3 cm (8.0 in)	15.2 cm (6.0 in)	34 years	57 of 100 (Notable)
21 January 1986	Lead, US	daily snowfall	31.5 cm (12.4 in)	21.3 cm (8.4 in)	32 years	56 of 100 (Notable)
21 January 1986	Itanhaem, BR	daily rain	168.6 mm (6.6 in)	126.3 mm (5.0 in)	39 years	55 of 100 (Notable)
21 January 1986	Weston 1 E, US	monthly snowfall	20.3 cm (8.0 in)	7.6 cm (3.0 in)	20 years	55 of 100 (Notable)
21 January 1986	Yeeda, AU	daily rain	114.0 mm (4.5 in)	62.7 mm (2.5 in)	71 years	54 of 100 (Notable)
21 January 1986	Gibb River, AU	daily rain	123.6 mm (4.9 in)	79.1 mm (3.1 in)	18 years	51 of 100 (Notable)
21 January 1986	Lusikisiki (Tnk), ZA	monthly rain	139.9 mm (5.5 in)	39.9 mm (1.6 in)	2 years	50 of 100 (Notable)
21 January 1986	Talon, RU	daily rain	25.9 mm (1.0 in)	21.2 mm (0.8 in)	23 years	49 of 100 (Notable)
21 January 1986	Bulwer (Tnk), ZA	daily rain	68.0 mm (2.7 in)	42.6 mm (1.7 in)	44 years	49 of 100 (Notable)
21 January 1986	Harding 3 SE, US	daily snowfall	15.2 cm (6.0 in)	10.1 cm (4.0 in)	32 years	48 of 100 (Notable)
21 January 1986	Jubilee Downs, AU	daily rain	72.0 mm (2.8 in)	54.2 mm (2.1 in)	44 years	47 of 100 (Notable)
21 January 1986	Leopold Downs, AU	daily rain	80.8 mm (3.2 in)	38.9 mm (1.5 in)	60 years	46 of 100 (Notable)
21 January 1986	Kittanning Lock 7, US	daily rain	37.1 mm (1.5 in)	24.9 mm (1.0 in)	14 years	46 of 100 (Notable)
21 January 1986	Meda, AU	daily rain	130.0 mm (5.1 in)	53.5 mm (2.1 in)	60 years	45 of 100 (Notable)
21 January 1986	Elandshoek, Boston, ZA	daily rain	57.2 mm (2.3 in)	16.6 mm (0.7 in)	75 years	45 of 100 (Notable)
21 January 1986	Teriberka, RU	monthly low min	-26.8 C (-16.2 F)	0.3 C (0.5 F)	84 years	44 of 100 (Notable)
21 January 1986	Pretty Rock, US	daily snowfall	14.0 cm (5.5 in)	10.2 cm (4.0 in)	34 years	44 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

1793 to 1986

Records set or tied on this calendar date in each year from 1793 to 1986. 1986 had 883 records.

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

Records on 01-21 in each year
Year	Records
1793	1
1795	2
1796	1
1798	1
1800	2
1803	1
1804	2
1829	1
1838	3
1840	2
1845	2
1846	1
1850	2
1864	2
1866	4
1867	1
1869	1
1871	1
1873	2
1876	1
1878	4
1880	3
1881	4
1884	1
1885	1
1886	1
1888	3
1890	2
1891	3
1892	2
1893	1
1894	3
1895	2
1896	2
1897	3
1898	3
1899	15
1900	5
1901	4
1902	8
1903	18
1904	30
1905	3
1906	53
1907	10
1908	11
1909	25
1910	11
1911	8
1912	7
1913	23
1914	37
1915	47
1916	38
1917	83
1918	49
1919	14
1920	75
1921	54
1922	35
1923	62
1924	535
1925	103
1926	157
1927	447
1928	206
1929	132
1930	616
1931	112
1932	167
1933	572
1934	255
1935	771
1936	314
1937	852
1938	250
1939	305
1940	562
1941	205
1942	522
1943	1,168
1944	324
1945	290
1946	339
1947	205
1948	387
1949	452
1950	643
1951	367
1952	436
1953	325
1954	1,094
1955	399
1956	653
1957	527
1958	506
1959	936
1960	319
1961	746
1962	741
1963	761
1964	771
1965	251
1966	636
1967	511
1968	1,179
1969	927
1970	1,770
1971	672
1972	598
1973	573
1974	992
1975	496
1976	860
1977	549
1978	1,301
1979	1,675
1980	425
1981	972
1982	1,339
1983	1,179
1984	2,132
1985	2,457
1986	883
1987	934
1988	771
1989	511
1990	927
1991	559
1992	447
1993	1,763
1994	1,195
1995	1,276
1996	528
1997	950
1998	606
1999	1,387
2000	686
2001	736
2002	796
2003	690
2004	535
2005	1,111
2006	1,116
2007	1,955
2008	1,061
2009	788
2010	1,166
2011	836
2012	1,148
2013	455
2014	522
2015	426
2016	580
2017	1,248
2018	664
2019	526
2020	894
2021	626
2022	430
2023	517
2024	1,015
2025	1,386
2026	201

Download the Data

Data for records on 1986-01-21: 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 2026-10-14 (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 50	657
50 to 100	32
100 to 150	9
150 to 200	6
200 to 250	1