Weather Records on 21 December 1986

404 weather records were set or tied worldwide on 21 December 1986. Highest significance: Alpine, US.

Key Facts for 21 December 1986

On 21 December 1986, 404 weather records were set or tied at long-record stations worldwide.
74 were record highs and 86 were record lows, counting maximum and minimum temperature.
By timescale, 0 were all-time records, 10 monthly and 394 daily.
Alpine set a daily record precipitation of 25.9 mm (1.0 in) on 21 December 1986.
Across 158 earlier years (1793 to 2025) the same calendar date averaged 490 records.

Record Map

404 stations

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

Weather records on 21 December 1986: highest significance records shown on the map
Station	Country	Type	Value	Significance
Alpine	United States	Record daily precipitation	25.9 mm (1.0 in)	65 of 100 (Major)
Sabinal	United States	Record daily precipitation	43.2 mm (1.7 in)	60 of 100 (Major)
Balmorhea	United States	Record daily precipitation	50.8 mm (2.0 in)	56 of 100 (Notable)
Grandfalls 3SSE	United States	Record daily precipitation	42.4 mm (1.7 in)	55 of 100 (Notable)
Delicias (Dge)	Mexico	Record daily precipitation	26.9 mm (1.1 in)	54 of 100 (Notable)
Hillsboro	United States	Record daily precipitation	31.2 mm (1.2 in)	52 of 100 (Notable)
Las Burras	Mexico	Record daily precipitation	25.9 mm (1.0 in)	50 of 100 (Notable)
Candelaria	United States	Record daily precipitation	25.4 mm (1.0 in)	48 of 100 (Notable)
Samalayuca	Mexico	Record daily precipitation	49.8 mm (2.0 in)	47 of 100 (Notable)
Tilden 4 SSE	United States	Record daily precipitation	66.0 mm (2.6 in)	47 of 100 (Notable)
Ojinaga (Smn)	Mexico	Record daily precipitation	43.9 mm (1.7 in)	45 of 100 (Notable)
Salinillas	Mexico	Record daily precipitation	39.9 mm (1.6 in)	44 of 100 (Notable)
Hovaling	Tajikistan	Record daily precipitation	40.3 mm (1.6 in)	40 of 100 (Notable)
Augustine 2E	United States	Record daily snowfall	7.6 cm (3.0 in)	37 of 100 (Notable)
Crossroads 2	United States	Record daily snowfall	10.2 cm (4.0 in)	37 of 100 (Notable)
Ackerly 4SE	United States	Record daily precipitation	34.3 mm (1.4 in)	37 of 100 (Notable)
Syktyvkar	Russia	Record low maximum temperature	-26.1 C (-15.0 F)	36 of 100 (Notable)
Huajintlan	Mexico	Record high minimum temperature	17.8 C (64.0 F)	35 of 100 (Notable)
Cape Vasileva	Russia	Record daily precipitation	38.2 mm (1.5 in)	34 of 100 (Routine)
Jokkmokk	Sweden	Record low minimum temperature	-40.0 C (-40.0 F)	34 of 100 (Routine)
Yeso 2 S	United States	Record daily snowfall	11.4 cm (4.5 in)	32 of 100 (Routine)
Bulverde	United States	Record daily precipitation	34.3 mm (1.4 in)	32 of 100 (Routine)
Lockhart	United States	Record daily precipitation	34.3 mm (1.4 in)	31 of 100 (Routine)
Matias Romero (Smn)	Mexico	Record high minimum temperature	22.2 C (72.0 F)	27 of 100 (Routine)
Marre-Sale	Russia	Record low minimum temperature	-39.9 C (-39.8 F)	27 of 100 (Routine)
San Javier	Mexico	Record high minimum temperature	16.7 C (62.1 F)	26 of 100 (Routine)
Guadalupe Y Calvo (Smn)	Mexico	Record low maximum temperature	10.0 C (50.0 F)	26 of 100 (Routine)
Thornton 1SSE	United States	Record daily precipitation	48.3 mm (1.9 in)	26 of 100 (Routine)
Galeana	Mexico	Record low maximum temperature	2.8 C (37.0 F)	25 of 100 (Routine)
Tres Hermanos	Mexico	Record low minimum temperature	2.8 C (37.0 F)	25 of 100 (Routine)
Kuljab	Tajikistan	Record daily precipitation	28.5 mm (1.1 in)	25 of 100 (Routine)
Yeso 2 S	United States	Record snow depth	12.7 cm (5.0 in)	25 of 100 (Routine)
Acambaro	Mexico	Record high minimum temperature	13.3 C (55.9 F)	24 of 100 (Routine)
Quiriego (Smn)	Mexico	Record low maximum temperature	19.4 C (66.9 F)	24 of 100 (Routine)
Fischers Store	United States	Record daily precipitation	50.8 mm (2.0 in)	24 of 100 (Routine)
Petrun	Russia	Record low minimum temperature	-43.3 C (-45.9 F)	23 of 100 (Routine)
Iol	Tajikistan	Record daily precipitation	30.4 mm (1.2 in)	23 of 100 (Routine)
Joinville (Rvpsc)	Brazil	Record daily precipitation	72.2 mm (2.8 in)	22 of 100 (Routine)
Narjan Mar	Russia	Record low minimum temperature	-38.4 C (-37.1 F)	22 of 100 (Routine)
Tavil-Dora	Tajikistan	Record daily precipitation	33.4 mm (1.3 in)	22 of 100 (Routine)
Kalay-Khumb	Tajikistan	Record daily precipitation	32.7 mm (1.3 in)	22 of 100 (Routine)
Forbes (Camp Street)	Australia	Record low minimum temperature	7.2 C (45.0 F)	21 of 100 (Routine)
Manlio Fabio Altamiramo	Mexico	Record high minimum temperature	21.7 C (71.1 F)	21 of 100 (Routine)
Ust-USA	Russia	Record low minimum temperature	-39.9 C (-39.8 F)	21 of 100 (Routine)
Glenwood 2WNW	United States	Record high maximum temperature	6.7 C (44.1 F)	21 of 100 (Routine)
Camargo (Smn)	Mexico	Record daily precipitation	18.3 mm (0.7 in)	20 of 100 (Routine)
Chardzhev	Turkmenistan	Record daily precipitation	17.9 mm (0.7 in)	20 of 100 (Routine)
Meoqui (Smn)	Mexico	Record daily precipitation	24.9 mm (1.0 in)	20 of 100 (Routine)
Velikie Luki	Russia	Record daily precipitation	12.1 mm (0.5 in)	20 of 100 (Routine)
Jimenez (Smn)	Mexico	Record daily precipitation	9.4 mm (0.37 in)	20 of 100 (Routine)
Presa Francisco I. Madero	Mexico	Record daily precipitation	17.8 mm (0.7 in)	20 of 100 (Routine)
Anahuac	Mexico	Record daily precipitation	22.4 mm (0.9 in)	20 of 100 (Routine)
Caballo Dam	United States	Record daily precipitation	16.5 mm (0.6 in)	20 of 100 (Routine)
Shirabad	Uzbekistan	Record daily precipitation	20.2 mm (0.8 in)	20 of 100 (Routine)
Vasilevici	Belarus	Record daily precipitation	19.7 mm (0.8 in)	20 of 100 (Routine)
Deming	United States	Record daily precipitation	17.0 mm (0.7 in)	20 of 100 (Routine)
Yeso 2 S	United States	Record daily precipitation	15.5 mm (0.6 in)	20 of 100 (Routine)
Cuatro Cienegas (Smn)	Mexico	Record daily precipitation	7.9 mm (0.31 in)	20 of 100 (Routine)
Augustine 2E	United States	Record daily precipitation	7.6 mm (0.30 in)	20 of 100 (Routine)
El Maguey	Mexico	Record daily precipitation	19.8 mm (0.8 in)	20 of 100 (Routine)

Counts by Type and Timescale

404 records

Records set or tied on 21 December 1986 by type: Highest daily maximum 33, Lowest daily maximum 46, Highest daily minimum 41, Lowest daily minimum 40, Heaviest daily rainfall 236, Heaviest daily snowfall 4, Deepest snow cover 4.

Records on 21 December 1986 by type
Record type	Records
Highest daily maximum	33
Lowest daily maximum	46
Highest daily minimum	41
Lowest daily minimum	40
Heaviest daily rainfall	236
Heaviest daily snowfall	4
Deepest snow cover	4

Records on 21 December 1986 by timescale: all-time 0, monthly 10, daily 394.

How Much Records Were Beaten By

356 broken records

Margins by which the 356 broken records beat the old ones, in degrees Celsius for temperature and millimetres for precipitation and snow; the largest margin was 114.0. Ties are not counted.

Top 20 by Significance

21 December 1986

Top 20 records on 21 December 1986 by significance
Date	Station	Record	Value	Beat old record by	Old record stood	Significance
21 December 1986	Alpine, US	daily rain	25.9 mm (1.0 in)	22.9 mm (0.9 in)	56 years	65 of 100 (Major)
21 December 1986	Sabinal, US	daily rain	43.2 mm (1.7 in)	35.1 mm (1.4 in)	56 years	60 of 100 (Major)
21 December 1986	Balmorhea, US	monthly rain	50.8 mm (2.0 in)	26.4 mm (1.0 in)	2 years	56 of 100 (Notable)
21 December 1986	Grandfalls 3SSE, US	daily rain	42.4 mm (1.7 in)	24.4 mm (1.0 in)	44 years	55 of 100 (Notable)
21 December 1986	Delicias (Dge), MX	daily rain	26.9 mm (1.1 in)	16.5 mm (0.6 in)	47 years	54 of 100 (Notable)
21 December 1986	Hillsboro, US	daily rain	31.2 mm (1.2 in)	18.5 mm (0.7 in)	44 years	52 of 100 (Notable)
21 December 1986	Las Burras, MX	daily rain	25.9 mm (1.0 in)	25.1 mm (1.0 in)	24 years	50 of 100 (Notable)
21 December 1986	Candelaria, US	daily rain	25.4 mm (1.0 in)	24.6 mm (1.0 in)	16 years	48 of 100 (Notable)
21 December 1986	Samalayuca, MX	daily rain	49.8 mm (2.0 in)	44.0 mm (1.7 in)	11 years	47 of 100 (Notable)
21 December 1986	Tilden 4 SSE, US	monthly rain	66.0 mm (2.6 in)	17.0 mm (0.7 in)	27 years	47 of 100 (Notable)
21 December 1986	Ojinaga (Smn), MX	monthly rain	43.9 mm (1.7 in)	12.1 mm (0.5 in)	39 years	45 of 100 (Notable)
21 December 1986	Salinillas, MX	monthly rain	39.9 mm (1.6 in)	13.5 mm (0.5 in)	4 years	44 of 100 (Notable)
21 December 1986	Hovaling, TJ	daily rain	40.3 mm (1.6 in)	22.8 mm (0.9 in)	31 years	40 of 100 (Notable)
21 December 1986	Augustine 2E, US	daily snowfall	7.6 cm (3.0 in)	7.6 cm (3.0 in)	60 years	37 of 100 (Notable)
21 December 1986	Crossroads 2, US	daily snowfall	10.2 cm (4.0 in)	8.9 cm (3.5 in)	51 years	37 of 100 (Notable)
21 December 1986	Ackerly 4SE, US	monthly rain	34.3 mm (1.4 in)	6.9 mm (0.27 in)	44 years	37 of 100 (Notable)
21 December 1986	Syktyvkar, RU	daily low max	-26.1 C (-15.0 F)	1.1 C (2.0 F)	88 years	36 of 100 (Notable)
21 December 1986	Huajintlan, MX	daily high min	17.8 C (64.0 F)	2.8 C (5.0 F)	60 years	35 of 100 (Notable)
21 December 1986	Cape Vasileva, RU	daily rain	38.2 mm (1.5 in)	16.3 mm (0.6 in)	19 years	34 of 100 (Routine)
21 December 1986	Jokkmokk, SE	daily low min	-40.0 C (-40.0 F)	4.5 C (8.1 F)	69 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

1793 to 1986

Records set or tied on this calendar date in each year from 1793 to 1986. 1986 had 404 records.

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

Records on 12-21 in each year
Year	Records
1793	1
1794	1
1799	1
1801	2
1808	3
1825	1
1828	1
1839	1
1846	1
1850	1
1855	7
1859	1
1860	1
1868	1
1870	1
1871	2
1874	2
1875	3
1876	1
1877	1
1878	1
1879	1
1880	1
1884	1
1886	3
1889	1
1890	4
1893	4
1894	1
1895	5
1896	3
1897	3
1898	1
1900	8
1901	15
1902	5
1903	25
1904	3
1905	15
1906	15
1907	17
1908	19
1909	20
1910	29
1911	36
1912	23
1913	11
1914	107
1915	43
1916	40
1917	18
1918	41
1919	57
1920	30
1921	104
1922	34
1923	323
1924	377
1925	120
1926	178
1927	147
1928	70
1929	156
1930	66
1931	556
1932	150
1933	581
1934	230
1935	398
1936	323
1937	189
1938	145
1939	140
1940	622
1941	651
1942	968
1943	148
1944	762
1945	396
1946	495
1947	700
1948	297
1949	1,281
1950	504
1951	1,061
1952	197
1953	256
1954	444
1955	888
1956	672
1957	846
1958	516
1959	272
1960	585
1961	254
1962	563
1963	1,137
1964	613
1965	247
1966	400
1967	1,923
1968	818
1969	828
1970	547
1971	680
1972	651
1973	1,292
1974	374
1975	548
1976	446
1977	470
1978	517
1979	558
1980	726
1981	1,476
1982	702
1983	3,324
1984	1,012
1985	979
1986	404
1987	775
1988	717
1989	3,203
1990	2,701
1991	1,125
1992	751
1993	967
1994	793
1995	878
1996	1,114
1997	810
1998	1,142
1999	851
2000	944
2001	650
2002	579
2003	1,103
2004	675
2005	606
2006	1,443
2007	946
2008	1,062
2009	1,097
2010	2,039
2011	653
2012	759
2013	1,029
2014	878
2015	1,173
2016	543
2017	459
2018	742
2019	755
2020	965
2021	323
2022	528
2023	1,170
2024	778
2025	1,099

Download the Data

Data for records on 1986-12-21: 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 20	339
20 to 40	10
40 to 60	2
60 to 80	2
80 to 100	1
100 to 120	2