Weather Records on 21 March 1987

948 weather records were set or tied worldwide on 21 March 1987. Highest significance: Upton, US.

Key Facts for 21 March 1987

On 21 March 1987, 948 weather records were set or tied at long-record stations worldwide.
200 were record highs and 188 were record lows, counting maximum and minimum temperature.
By timescale, 3 were all-time records, 39 monthly and 906 daily.
Upton set a daily record snowfall of 17.8 cm (7.0 in) on 21 March 1987.
Across 157 earlier years (1797 to 2026) the same calendar date averaged 480 records.

Record Map

948 stations

948 station records on 21 March 1987 are marked on the map, coloured by record type. Dot size shows the significance score. Made with Natural Earth.

Weather records on 21 March 1987: highest significance records shown on the map
Station	Country	Type	Value	Significance
Upton	United States	Record daily snowfall	17.8 cm (7.0 in)	71 of 100 (Major)
Glasgow	United States	Record daily snowfall	22.9 cm (9.0 in)	65 of 100 (Major)
Ralph 1 N	United States	Record daily precipitation	45.0 mm (1.8 in)	61 of 100 (Major)
Eastport	United States	Record daily precipitation	38.4 mm (1.5 in)	60 of 100 (Major)
Belle Fourche	United States	Record snow depth	40.6 cm (16.0 in)	60 of 100 (Major)
Ridgeway 1 S	United States	Record daily snowfall	40.6 cm (16.0 in)	59 of 100 (Notable)
Hay Springs	United States	Record daily snowfall	30.5 cm (12.0 in)	59 of 100 (Notable)
Deadwood	United States	Record daily precipitation	45.7 mm (1.8 in)	59 of 100 (Notable)
Wolf Pt	United States	Record daily precipitation	30.5 mm (1.2 in)	58 of 100 (Notable)
Amidon	United States	Record daily precipitation	33.5 mm (1.3 in)	58 of 100 (Notable)
Lead	United States	Record daily snowfall	57.7 cm (22.7 in)	58 of 100 (Notable)
Dickinson Exp STN	United States	Record daily precipitation	27.4 mm (1.1 in)	55 of 100 (Notable)
Faith	United States	Record daily precipitation	45.5 mm (1.8 in)	55 of 100 (Notable)
Sundance	United States	Record daily snowfall	22.9 cm (9.0 in)	55 of 100 (Notable)
Baker	United States	Record daily precipitation	28.7 mm (1.1 in)	54 of 100 (Notable)
New England	United States	Record daily precipitation	25.9 mm (1.0 in)	54 of 100 (Notable)
Reeder	United States	Record daily precipitation	37.6 mm (1.5 in)	54 of 100 (Notable)
Mott	United States	Record daily precipitation	35.6 mm (1.4 in)	53 of 100 (Notable)
Donkerhoek (Skl)	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	78.0 mm (3.1 in)	51 of 100 (Notable)
Amidon	United States	Record daily snowfall	15.2 cm (6.0 in)	51 of 100 (Notable)
Plevna	United States	Record daily snowfall	20.3 cm (8.0 in)	50 of 100 (Notable)
Wilgerivier (Sar)	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	89.6 mm (3.5 in)	49 of 100 (Notable)
Usta 8 WNW Kelly Rch	United States	Record daily precipitation	27.2 mm (1.1 in)	49 of 100 (Notable)
Ogies (Pol)	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	55.0 mm (2.2 in)	48 of 100 (Notable)
Mizpah 4 NNW	United States	Record daily snowfall	17.8 cm (7.0 in)	47 of 100 (Notable)
Homer AP	United States	Record daily precipitation	46.5 mm (1.8 in)	47 of 100 (Notable)
Devon (Pol)	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	50.0 mm (2.0 in)	44 of 100 (Notable)
Goldfield	United States	Record daily snowfall	15.2 cm (6.0 in)	44 of 100 (Notable)
Medora	United States	Record daily snowfall	20.3 cm (8.0 in)	44 of 100 (Notable)
Hannover	Germany	Record snow depth	13.0 cm (5.1 in)	43 of 100 (Notable)
Auberry 2 NW	United States	Record daily snowfall	7.6 cm (3.0 in)	43 of 100 (Notable)
Baker	United States	Record daily snowfall	27.9 cm (11.0 in)	43 of 100 (Notable)
Red Owl	United States	Record daily snowfall	20.3 cm (8.0 in)	43 of 100 (Notable)
Forks 4 NNE	United States	Record daily snowfall	10.2 cm (4.0 in)	42 of 100 (Notable)
Milesville 5 NE	United States	Record daily precipitation	39.9 mm (1.6 in)	42 of 100 (Notable)
Buckland Downs	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	34.0 mm (1.3 in)	41 of 100 (Notable)
Sidney	United States	Record daily snowfall	10.2 cm (4.0 in)	41 of 100 (Notable)
Faith	United States	Record daily snowfall	15.2 cm (6.0 in)	41 of 100 (Notable)
Nigniy_Studeniy	Ukraine	Record daily precipitation	28.9 mm (1.1 in)	40 of 100 (Notable)
Elm Springs 3 ESE	United States	Record daily snowfall	10.2 cm (4.0 in)	40 of 100 (Notable)
Brusett 3 E	United States	Record daily snowfall	15.2 cm (6.0 in)	39 of 100 (Notable)
Ingomar 9 E	United States	Record daily snowfall	10.2 cm (4.0 in)	39 of 100 (Notable)
Lead	United States	Record daily precipitation	39.9 mm (1.6 in)	39 of 100 (Notable)
Upton 13 SW	United States	Record daily snowfall	15.2 cm (6.0 in)	39 of 100 (Notable)
Philip AP	United States	Record daily precipitation	31.8 mm (1.3 in)	39 of 100 (Notable)
Innsbruck	Austria	Record low minimum temperature	-8.1 C (17.4 F)	38 of 100 (Notable)
Babuskin	Russia	Record low maximum temperature	-13.5 C (7.7 F)	38 of 100 (Notable)
Bison	United States	Record daily precipitation	48.3 mm (1.9 in)	38 of 100 (Notable)
Dupree	United States	Record daily precipitation	39.9 mm (1.6 in)	38 of 100 (Notable)
Cut Bank AP	United States	Record snow depth	25.4 cm (10.0 in)	38 of 100 (Notable)
Eastport	United States	Record daily snowfall	24.4 cm (9.6 in)	37 of 100 (Notable)
Hutchinson 1 N	United States	Record high minimum temperature	3.9 C (39.0 F)	37 of 100 (Notable)
Hettinger	United States	Record daily precipitation	29.5 mm (1.2 in)	37 of 100 (Notable)
Longvalley	United States	Record daily snowfall	15.2 cm (6.0 in)	37 of 100 (Notable)
Casper-Natrona Co AP	United States	Record snow depth	20.3 cm (8.0 in)	37 of 100 (Notable)
Whitewater	United States	Record daily snowfall	15.2 cm (6.0 in)	36 of 100 (Notable)
Sand I Ryfylke II	Norway	Record snow depth	79.0 cm (31.1 in)	35 of 100 (Notable)
Mullen 21 NW	United States	Record daily snowfall	15.2 cm (6.0 in)	35 of 100 (Notable)
Lemmon	United States	Record daily precipitation	31.2 mm (1.2 in)	35 of 100 (Notable)
Leola	United States	Record high minimum temperature	2.2 C (36.0 F)	35 of 100 (Notable)

Counts by Type and Timescale

948 records

Records set or tied on 21 March 1987 by type: Highest daily maximum 108, Lowest daily maximum 103, Highest daily minimum 92, Lowest daily minimum 85, Heaviest daily rainfall 347, Heaviest daily snowfall 79, Deepest snow cover 134.

Records on 21 March 1987 by type
Record type	Records
Highest daily maximum	108
Lowest daily maximum	103
Highest daily minimum	92
Lowest daily minimum	85
Heaviest daily rainfall	347
Heaviest daily snowfall	79
Deepest snow cover	134

Records on 21 March 1987 by timescale: all-time 3, monthly 39, daily 906.

How Much Records Were Beaten By

785 broken records

Margins by which the 785 broken records beat the old ones, in degrees Celsius for temperature and millimetres for precipitation and snow; the largest margin was 406.0. Ties are not counted.

Top 20 by Significance

21 March 1987

Top 20 records on 21 March 1987 by significance
Date	Station	Record	Value	Beat old record by	Old record stood	Significance
21 March 1987	Upton, US	daily snowfall	17.8 cm (7.0 in)	17.8 cm (7.0 in)	77 years	71 of 100 (Major)
21 March 1987	Glasgow, US	monthly snowfall	22.9 cm (9.0 in)	9.2 cm (3.6 in)	38 years	65 of 100 (Major)
21 March 1987	Ralph 1 N, US	monthly rain	45.0 mm (1.8 in)	14.5 mm (0.6 in)	40 years	61 of 100 (Major)
21 March 1987	Eastport, US	daily rain	38.4 mm (1.5 in)	23.2 mm (0.9 in)	84 years	60 of 100 (Major)
21 March 1987	Belle Fourche, US	daily snow depth	40.6 cm (16.0 in)	30.4 cm (12.0 in)	42 years	60 of 100 (Major)
21 March 1987	Ridgeway 1 S, US	monthly snowfall	40.6 cm (16.0 in)	25.4 cm (10.0 in)	21 years	59 of 100 (Notable)
21 March 1987	Hay Springs, US	daily snowfall	30.5 cm (12.0 in)	20.3 cm (8.0 in)	62 years	59 of 100 (Notable)
21 March 1987	Deadwood, US	daily rain	45.7 mm (1.8 in)	32.0 mm (1.3 in)	40 years	59 of 100 (Notable)
21 March 1987	Wolf Pt, US	daily rain	30.5 mm (1.2 in)	27.2 mm (1.1 in)	70 years	58 of 100 (Notable)
21 March 1987	Amidon, US	monthly rain	33.5 mm (1.3 in)	8.1 mm (0.32 in)	66 years	58 of 100 (Notable)
21 March 1987	Lead, US	daily snowfall	57.7 cm (22.7 in)	34.8 cm (13.7 in)	40 years	58 of 100 (Notable)
21 March 1987	Dickinson Exp STN, US	daily rain	27.4 mm (1.1 in)	14.4 mm (0.6 in)	33 years	55 of 100 (Notable)
21 March 1987	Faith, US	daily rain	45.5 mm (1.8 in)	35.1 mm (1.4 in)	40 years	55 of 100 (Notable)
21 March 1987	Sundance, US	daily snowfall	22.9 cm (9.0 in)	11.5 cm (4.5 in)	92 years	55 of 100 (Notable)
21 March 1987	Baker, US	monthly rain	28.7 mm (1.1 in)	7.4 mm (0.29 in)	58 years	54 of 100 (Notable)
21 March 1987	New England, US	daily rain	25.9 mm (1.0 in)	10.7 mm (0.4 in)	92 years	54 of 100 (Notable)
21 March 1987	Reeder, US	monthly rain	37.6 mm (1.5 in)	18.5 mm (0.7 in)	5 years	54 of 100 (Notable)
21 March 1987	Mott, US	monthly rain	35.6 mm (1.4 in)	6.6 mm (0.26 in)	70 years	53 of 100 (Notable)
21 March 1987	Donkerhoek (Skl), ZA	daily rain	78.0 mm (3.1 in)	45.5 mm (1.8 in)	40 years	51 of 100 (Notable)
21 March 1987	Amidon, US	daily snowfall	15.2 cm (6.0 in)	10.9 cm (4.3 in)	34 years	51 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 1987

Records set or tied on this calendar date in each year from 1797 to 1987. 1987 had 948 records.

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

Records on 03-21 in each year
Year	Records
1797	2
1805	1
1806	1
1822	1
1830	1
1836	1
1837	1
1845	1
1846	1
1850	1
1852	2
1857	1
1865	7
1874	1
1877	1
1880	1
1881	1
1883	2
1884	1
1885	5
1886	2
1888	1
1890	3
1892	1
1893	1
1894	1
1895	1
1896	2
1897	2
1898	3
1899	4
1900	4
1901	9
1902	18
1903	23
1904	17
1905	6
1906	3
1907	14
1908	3
1909	11
1910	10
1911	10
1912	36
1913	97
1914	71
1915	27
1916	44
1917	43
1918	43
1919	29
1920	90
1921	96
1922	50
1923	72
1924	96
1925	141
1926	282
1927	179
1928	293
1929	104
1930	99
1931	638
1932	305
1933	235
1934	114
1935	675
1936	225
1937	172
1938	783
1939	280
1940	366
1941	311
1942	330
1943	217
1944	556
1945	294
1946	570
1947	192
1948	948
1949	330
1950	398
1951	779
1952	689
1953	342
1954	211
1955	1,124
1956	686
1957	373
1958	619
1959	230
1960	892
1961	268
1962	548
1963	298
1964	333
1965	1,961
1966	464
1967	487
1968	798
1969	219
1970	612
1971	358
1972	519
1973	385
1974	1,097
1975	751
1976	710
1977	376
1978	838
1979	656
1980	775
1981	676
1982	850
1983	1,673
1984	835
1985	503
1986	1,170
1987	948
1988	1,155
1989	1,396
1990	1,380
1991	1,446
1992	877
1993	687
1994	684
1995	1,141
1996	1,119
1997	1,670
1998	935
1999	1,044
2000	802
2001	1,342
2002	1,593
2003	1,073
2004	1,511
2005	649
2006	1,417
2007	1,220
2008	734
2009	558
2010	1,134
2011	1,451
2012	2,854
2013	727
2014	639
2015	568
2016	553
2017	1,117
2018	809
2019	649
2020	445
2021	489
2022	615
2023	815
2024	432
2025	845
2026	2,614

Download the Data

Data for records on 1987-03-21: 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 100	747
100 to 200	30
200 to 300	4
300 to 400	3
400 to 500	1