Weather Records on 16 March 1986

549 weather records were set or tied worldwide on 16 March 1986. Highest significance: Turffontein, ZA.

Key Facts for 16 March 1986

On 16 March 1986, 549 weather records were set or tied at long-record stations worldwide.
163 were record highs and 139 were record lows, counting maximum and minimum temperature.
By timescale, 0 were all-time records, 11 monthly and 538 daily.
Turffontein set a daily record precipitation of 73.0 mm (2.9 in) on 16 March 1986.
Across 162 earlier years (1801 to 2026) the same calendar date averaged 464 records.

Record Map

549 stations

549 station records on 16 March 1986 are marked on the map, coloured by record type. Dot size shows the significance score. Made with Natural Earth.

Weather records on 16 March 1986: highest significance records shown on the map
Station	Country	Type	Value	Significance
Turffontein	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	73.0 mm (2.9 in)	61 of 100 (Major)
Rietfontein	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	78.0 mm (3.1 in)	58 of 100 (Notable)
Catharinasvlei	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	45.5 mm (1.8 in)	49 of 100 (Notable)
Oorsprong-Oos	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	47.5 mm (1.9 in)	48 of 100 (Notable)
Newhall S Fc32Ce	United States	Record daily precipitation	49.5 mm (1.9 in)	44 of 100 (Notable)
Paxton	United States	Record daily snowfall	15.2 cm (6.0 in)	44 of 100 (Notable)
Villa Purificacion (Dge)	Mexico	Record high minimum temperature	25.0 C (77.0 F)	41 of 100 (Notable)
Ellsworth 2W	United States	Record daily snowfall	15.2 cm (6.0 in)	40 of 100 (Notable)
Ellsworth 24 NNE	United States	Record daily snowfall	15.2 cm (6.0 in)	40 of 100 (Notable)
Corupa (Hansa)	Brazil	Record daily precipitation	83.2 mm (3.3 in)	39 of 100 (Notable)
Richfield	United States	Record daily snowfall	7.4 cm (2.9 in)	39 of 100 (Notable)
Jhb-Turffontein	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	43.4 mm (1.7 in)	38 of 100 (Notable)
Gyzylarbat	Turkmenistan	Record low minimum temperature	-5.5 C (22.1 F)	38 of 100 (Notable)
Mt Wilson Cbs	United States	Record daily precipitation	144.8 mm (5.7 in)	38 of 100 (Notable)
Hiawatha	United States	Record daily snowfall	21.6 cm (8.5 in)	38 of 100 (Notable)
Nevada City	United States	Record low maximum temperature	3.9 C (39.0 F)	37 of 100 (Notable)
Aparecida	Brazil	Record daily precipitation	91.7 mm (3.6 in)	36 of 100 (Notable)
Anza	United States	Record daily precipitation	31.8 mm (1.3 in)	36 of 100 (Notable)
Inverell Comparison	Australia	Record high maximum temperature	34.7 C (94.5 F)	35 of 100 (Notable)
King City	United States	Record daily precipitation	58.4 mm (2.3 in)	34 of 100 (Routine)
Whitingham 1 W	United States	Record daily precipitation	64.3 mm (2.5 in)	34 of 100 (Routine)
Idyllwild Fire Dept	United States	Record daily snowfall	40.6 cm (16.0 in)	33 of 100 (Routine)
Tavernier	United States	Record daily precipitation	40.4 mm (1.6 in)	32 of 100 (Routine)
Alton	United States	Record daily snowfall	16.0 cm (6.3 in)	32 of 100 (Routine)
Flagstaff AP	United States	Record daily snowfall	44.7 cm (17.6 in)	32 of 100 (Routine)
Huajintlan	Mexico	Record low maximum temperature	23.9 C (75.0 F)	31 of 100 (Routine)
Saint Francis	United States	Record daily snowfall	17.8 cm (7.0 in)	31 of 100 (Routine)
Rushville	United States	Record daily snowfall	12.7 cm (5.0 in)	31 of 100 (Routine)
Mbabane	Swaziland	Record daily precipitation	37.2 mm (1.5 in)	31 of 100 (Routine)
Jacarei	Brazil	Record daily precipitation	49.2 mm (1.9 in)	30 of 100 (Routine)
Yahualica de Gonzalez Gallo (	Mexico	Record low minimum temperature	-2.8 C (27.0 F)	30 of 100 (Routine)
Tromso	Norway	Record high maximum temperature	8.2 C (46.8 F)	30 of 100 (Routine)
Senekal (Agr)	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	28.5 mm (1.1 in)	30 of 100 (Routine)
Woudzicht	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	43.2 mm (1.7 in)	30 of 100 (Routine)
Bothaville (Mun)	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	29.0 mm (1.1 in)	30 of 100 (Routine)
Viljoenskroon (Mun)	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	46.0 mm (1.8 in)	30 of 100 (Routine)
Bartlett Dam	United States	Record daily precipitation	26.7 mm (1.1 in)	30 of 100 (Routine)
Friant Government Camp	United States	Record daily precipitation	29.2 mm (1.1 in)	30 of 100 (Routine)
Los Alamos	United States	Record daily precipitation	37.8 mm (1.5 in)	30 of 100 (Routine)
Maricopa	United States	Record low minimum temperature	0.6 C (33.1 F)	30 of 100 (Routine)
Gustavus	United States	Record high maximum temperature	8.9 C (48.0 F)	30 of 100 (Routine)
El Alamo	Mexico	Record daily precipitation	25.9 mm (1.0 in)	29 of 100 (Routine)
El Nogal	Mexico	Record low maximum temperature	17.8 C (64.0 F)	29 of 100 (Routine)
Culver City	United States	Record daily precipitation	67.8 mm (2.7 in)	29 of 100 (Routine)
Boswell 1 S	United States	Record daily precipitation	37.1 mm (1.5 in)	29 of 100 (Routine)
Los Angeles Intl AP	United States	Record daily precipitation	48.0 mm (1.9 in)	29 of 100 (Routine)
Crescent City	United States	Record daily precipitation	53.3 mm (2.1 in)	28 of 100 (Routine)
Merriman	United States	Record daily snowfall	5.1 cm (2.0 in)	28 of 100 (Routine)
Flagstaff AP	United States	Record low maximum temperature	1.1 C (34.0 F)	28 of 100 (Routine)
Marble Bar Comparison	Australia	Record high minimum temperature	29.3 C (84.7 F)	27 of 100 (Routine)
Colonia Guerrero	Mexico	Record daily precipitation	29.0 mm (1.1 in)	27 of 100 (Routine)
Salekhard	Russia	Record high minimum temperature	-2.9 C (26.8 F)	27 of 100 (Routine)
Roodepoort (Mun)	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	26.0 mm (1.0 in)	27 of 100 (Routine)
Schelm	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	50.0 mm (2.0 in)	27 of 100 (Routine)
Gem Lake	United States	Record daily precipitation	34.5 mm (1.4 in)	27 of 100 (Routine)
Wauneta	United States	Record daily snowfall	16.5 cm (6.5 in)	27 of 100 (Routine)
Fitzwilliam 2 W	United States	Record daily precipitation	56.4 mm (2.2 in)	27 of 100 (Routine)
Dijon-Longvic	France	Record low minimum temperature	-5.2 C (22.6 F)	26 of 100 (Routine)
Ft Lauderdale	United States	Record daily precipitation	36.1 mm (1.4 in)	26 of 100 (Routine)
Tuckerton 2 NE	United States	Record high minimum temperature	8.3 C (46.9 F)	26 of 100 (Routine)

Counts by Type and Timescale

549 records

Records set or tied on 16 March 1986 by type: Highest daily maximum 74, Lowest daily maximum 63, Highest daily minimum 89, Lowest daily minimum 76, Heaviest daily rainfall 195, Heaviest daily snowfall 42, Deepest snow cover 10.

Records on 16 March 1986 by type
Record type	Records
Highest daily maximum	74
Lowest daily maximum	63
Highest daily minimum	89
Lowest daily minimum	76
Heaviest daily rainfall	195
Heaviest daily snowfall	42
Deepest snow cover	10

Records on 16 March 1986 by timescale: all-time 0, monthly 11, daily 538.

How Much Records Were Beaten By

447 broken records

Margins by which the 447 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

16 March 1986

Top 20 records on 16 March 1986 by significance
Date	Station	Record	Value	Beat old record by	Old record stood	Significance
16 March 1986	Turffontein, ZA	daily rain	73.0 mm (2.9 in)	50.1 mm (2.0 in)	59 years	61 of 100 (Major)
16 March 1986	Rietfontein, ZA	monthly rain	78.0 mm (3.1 in)	21.4 mm (0.8 in)	69 years	58 of 100 (Notable)
16 March 1986	Catharinasvlei, ZA	daily rain	45.5 mm (1.8 in)	32.8 mm (1.3 in)	45 years	49 of 100 (Notable)
16 March 1986	Oorsprong-Oos, ZA	daily rain	47.5 mm (1.9 in)	26.2 mm (1.0 in)	59 years	48 of 100 (Notable)
16 March 1986	Newhall S Fc32Ce, US	daily rain	49.5 mm (1.9 in)	27.7 mm (1.1 in)	80 years	44 of 100 (Notable)
16 March 1986	Paxton, US	daily snowfall	15.2 cm (6.0 in)	10.1 cm (4.0 in)	68 years	44 of 100 (Notable)
16 March 1986	Villa Purificacion (Dge), MX	daily high min	25.0 C (77.0 F)	7.8 C (14.0 F)	19 years	41 of 100 (Notable)
16 March 1986	Ellsworth 2W, US	daily snowfall	15.2 cm (6.0 in)	12.7 cm (5.0 in)	40 years	40 of 100 (Notable)
16 March 1986	Ellsworth 24 NNE, US	daily snowfall	15.2 cm (6.0 in)	12.7 cm (5.0 in)	28 years	40 of 100 (Notable)
16 March 1986	Corupa (Hansa), BR	daily rain	83.2 mm (3.3 in)	38.9 mm (1.5 in)	28 years	39 of 100 (Notable)
16 March 1986	Richfield, US	daily snowfall	7.4 cm (2.9 in)	4.9 cm (1.9 in)	73 years	39 of 100 (Notable)
16 March 1986	Jhb-Turffontein, ZA	daily rain	43.4 mm (1.7 in)	17.0 mm (0.7 in)	60 years	38 of 100 (Notable)
16 March 1986	Gyzylarbat, TM	daily low min	-5.5 C (22.1 F)	2.0 C (3.6 F)	80 years	38 of 100 (Notable)
16 March 1986	Mt Wilson Cbs, US	daily rain	144.8 mm (5.7 in)	90.7 mm (3.6 in)	28 years	38 of 100 (Notable)
16 March 1986	Hiawatha, US	daily snowfall	21.6 cm (8.5 in)	16.5 cm (6.5 in)	33 years	38 of 100 (Notable)
16 March 1986	Nevada City, US	daily low max	3.9 C (39.0 F)	1.7 C (3.1 F)	87 years	37 of 100 (Notable)
16 March 1986	Aparecida, BR	daily rain	91.7 mm (3.6 in)	45.0 mm (1.8 in)	5 years	36 of 100 (Notable)
16 March 1986	Anza, US	daily rain	31.8 mm (1.3 in)	26.2 mm (1.0 in)	28 years	36 of 100 (Notable)
16 March 1986	Inverell Comparison, AU	daily high max	34.7 C (94.5 F)	0.3 C (0.5 F)	84 years	35 of 100 (Notable)
16 March 1986	King City, US	daily rain	58.4 mm (2.3 in)	16.5 mm (0.6 in)	32 years	34 of 100 (Routine)

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

1801 to 1986

Records set or tied on this calendar date in each year from 1801 to 1986. 1986 had 549 records.

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

Records on 03-16 in each year
Year	Records
1801	1
1822	1
1825	1
1828	1
1843	1
1845	4
1846	1
1849	1
1850	1
1853	1
1862	1
1864	1
1866	1
1867	1
1875	1
1877	2
1878	1
1879	1
1880	1
1881	1
1882	3
1883	2
1884	6
1885	2
1886	2
1887	4
1888	4
1889	7
1890	4
1891	2
1892	1
1893	5
1895	5
1896	8
1897	2
1898	3
1899	5
1900	6
1901	8
1902	17
1904	7
1905	6
1906	13
1907	14
1908	33
1909	11
1910	18
1911	23
1912	19
1913	47
1914	42
1915	16
1916	39
1917	22
1918	40
1919	64
1920	56
1921	272
1922	19
1923	105
1924	70
1925	55
1926	117
1927	468
1928	208
1929	150
1930	391
1931	98
1932	337
1933	101
1934	283
1935	533
1936	321
1937	758
1938	537
1939	326
1940	230
1941	228
1942	786
1943	692
1944	410
1945	1,481
1946	1,341
1947	355
1948	482
1949	352
1950	388
1951	283
1952	584
1953	245
1954	259
1955	419
1956	802
1957	341
1958	409
1959	269
1960	955
1961	367
1962	376
1963	521
1964	172
1965	273
1966	1,204
1967	761
1968	656
1969	842
1970	670
1971	338
1972	817
1973	736
1974	622
1975	526
1976	486
1977	595
1978	719
1979	845
1980	557
1981	707
1982	1,211
1983	858
1984	617
1985	725
1986	549
1987	886
1988	1,331
1989	992
1990	2,159
1991	823
1992	1,013
1993	1,661
1994	959
1995	1,074
1996	732
1997	1,327
1998	1,193
1999	828
2000	709
2001	884
2002	1,096
2003	1,093
2004	1,367
2005	1,292
2006	717
2007	1,293
2008	899
2009	681
2010	630
2011	856
2012	2,749
2013	1,096
2014	631
2015	1,537
2016	972
2017	1,302
2018	540
2019	762
2020	659
2021	647
2022	432
2023	897
2024	814
2025	936
2026	1,412

Download the Data

Data for records on 1986-03-16: 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 2026-10-17 (17 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	431
50 to 100	9
100 to 150	5
150 to 200	1
200 to 250	1