Weather Records on 20 January 1988

1,637 weather records were set or tied worldwide on 20 January 1988. Highest significance: St Peter, US.

Key Facts for 20 January 1988

On 20 January 1988, 1,637 weather records were set or tied at long-record stations worldwide.
351 were record highs and 263 were record lows, counting maximum and minimum temperature.
By timescale, 17 were all-time records, 96 monthly and 1,524 daily.
St Peter set a daily record snowfall of 35.6 cm (14.0 in) on 20 January 1988.
Across 157 earlier years (1795 to 2026) the same calendar date averaged 504 records.

Record Map

1,637 stations

1,637 station records on 20 January 1988 are marked on the map, coloured by record type. Dot size shows the significance score. Made with Natural Earth.

Weather records on 20 January 1988: highest significance records shown on the map
Station	Country	Type	Value	Significance
St Peter	United States	Record daily snowfall	35.6 cm (14.0 in)	77 of 100 (Major)
Gregory	United States	Record daily precipitation	53.3 mm (2.1 in)	77 of 100 (Major)
Oconto 4 W	United States	Record daily precipitation	43.2 mm (1.7 in)	77 of 100 (Major)
Sheldon	United States	Record daily precipitation	37.1 mm (1.5 in)	73 of 100 (Major)
Chatham Exp Fa	United States	Record daily snowfall	40.6 cm (16.0 in)	72 of 100 (Major)
Gregory	United States	Record daily snowfall	43.2 cm (17.0 in)	69 of 100 (Major)
Black Rock	United States	Record snow depth	58.4 cm (23.0 in)	69 of 100 (Major)
Fairmont	United States	Record daily snowfall	25.4 cm (10.0 in)	68 of 100 (Major)
Tryon	United States	Record daily snowfall	55.9 cm (22.0 in)	67 of 100 (Major)
Oshkosh	United States	Record daily snowfall	17.8 cm (7.0 in)	65 of 100 (Major)
Faribault	United States	Record daily precipitation	26.2 mm (1.0 in)	64 of 100 (Major)
Mitchell 2 N	United States	Record daily precipitation	26.7 mm (1.1 in)	64 of 100 (Major)
Windom	United States	Record daily precipitation	32.3 mm (1.3 in)	63 of 100 (Major)
Waupaca	United States	Record daily snowfall	30.5 cm (12.0 in)	63 of 100 (Major)
Inglewood Post Office	Australia	Record daily precipitation	114.0 mm (4.5 in)	62 of 100 (Major)
Lake Park 3SSE	United States	Record daily precipitation	48.5 mm (1.9 in)	62 of 100 (Major)
Marinette	United States	Record daily precipitation	31.0 mm (1.2 in)	62 of 100 (Major)
Sibley	United States	Record daily snowfall	24.1 cm (9.5 in)	61 of 100 (Major)
Carrollton Lock 1	United States	Record daily precipitation	56.6 mm (2.2 in)	61 of 100 (Major)
Wellfleet	United States	Record daily snowfall	12.7 cm (5.0 in)	61 of 100 (Major)
Breakwater	United States	Record daily snowfall	21.6 cm (8.5 in)	61 of 100 (Major)
Brule Island	United States	Record daily snowfall	21.1 cm (8.3 in)	61 of 100 (Major)
Portage Wwtp	United States	Record daily snowfall	17.8 cm (7.0 in)	61 of 100 (Major)
Theilman 1SSW	United States	Record daily precipitation	42.9 mm (1.7 in)	60 of 100 (Major)
Hartington	United States	Record daily snowfall	29.0 cm (11.4 in)	60 of 100 (Major)
Brookings 2 NE	United States	Record daily snowfall	25.4 cm (10.0 in)	60 of 100 (Major)
Mather 3 NW	United States	Record daily snowfall	30.5 cm (12.0 in)	60 of 100 (Major)
Lake Park 3SSE	United States	Record daily snowfall	25.4 cm (10.0 in)	59 of 100 (Notable)
Winnebago	United States	Record daily snowfall	25.4 cm (10.0 in)	59 of 100 (Notable)
Forestburg 4 NNE	United States	Record snow depth	76.2 cm (30.0 in)	59 of 100 (Notable)
Britt 3E	United States	Record daily snowfall	15.2 cm (6.0 in)	58 of 100 (Notable)
Grand Meadow	United States	Record daily snowfall	19.1 cm (7.5 in)	58 of 100 (Notable)
Windom	United States	Record daily snowfall	33.0 cm (13.0 in)	58 of 100 (Notable)
Chilo Meldahl Locks & Dam	United States	Record daily precipitation	55.9 mm (2.2 in)	58 of 100 (Notable)
Laona 6 SW	United States	Record daily snowfall	32.0 cm (12.6 in)	58 of 100 (Notable)
Marinette	United States	Record daily snowfall	31.0 cm (12.2 in)	58 of 100 (Notable)
Beito	Norway	Record daily precipitation	38.2 mm (1.5 in)	57 of 100 (Notable)
Shelbyville 1 E	United States	Record daily precipitation	64.0 mm (2.5 in)	57 of 100 (Notable)
Wilsonville	United States	Record daily snowfall	8.9 cm (3.5 in)	57 of 100 (Notable)
Salina	United States	Record snow depth	33.0 cm (13.0 in)	57 of 100 (Notable)
Frankfort Downtown	United States	Record daily precipitation	61.0 mm (2.4 in)	56 of 100 (Notable)
Mitchell Post Office	Australia	Record daily precipitation	112.4 mm (4.4 in)	55 of 100 (Notable)
Iron Mtn-Kingsford Wwtp	United States	Record daily snowfall	21.6 cm (8.5 in)	55 of 100 (Notable)
Stephenson 5WSW	United States	Record daily snowfall	27.9 cm (11.0 in)	55 of 100 (Notable)
Tracy	United States	Record daily snowfall	25.4 cm (10.0 in)	55 of 100 (Notable)
Beaver Dam Wwtp	United States	Record daily snowfall	10.2 cm (4.0 in)	55 of 100 (Notable)
Manitowoc	United States	Record daily snowfall	17.8 cm (7.0 in)	55 of 100 (Notable)
Oconto 4 W	United States	Record daily snowfall	25.4 cm (10.0 in)	55 of 100 (Notable)
Sparta	United States	Record daily snowfall	22.9 cm (9.0 in)	55 of 100 (Notable)
Waupaca	United States	Record daily precipitation	25.9 mm (1.0 in)	55 of 100 (Notable)
Marquette	United States	Record daily snowfall	31.5 cm (12.4 in)	55 of 100 (Notable)
Rauland	Norway	Record daily precipitation	28.8 mm (1.1 in)	54 of 100 (Notable)
Hopkinsville	United States	Record daily precipitation	89.9 mm (3.5 in)	54 of 100 (Notable)
Elgin 2SSW	United States	Record daily snowfall	25.4 cm (10.0 in)	54 of 100 (Notable)
Fairmont	United States	Record daily precipitation	29.2 mm (1.1 in)	54 of 100 (Notable)
Clintonville	United States	Record daily snowfall	30.5 cm (12.0 in)	54 of 100 (Notable)
Gest Lock 3	United States	Record daily precipitation	59.7 mm (2.4 in)	53 of 100 (Notable)
Martin U of T Branch Exp STN	United States	Record daily precipitation	91.7 mm (3.6 in)	53 of 100 (Notable)
Mauston 1 SE	United States	Record daily snowfall	22.9 cm (9.0 in)	53 of 100 (Notable)
Western Creek	Australia	Record daily precipitation	50.0 mm (2.0 in)	52 of 100 (Notable)

Counts by Type and Timescale

1,637 records

Records set or tied on 20 January 1988 by type: Highest daily maximum 154, Lowest daily maximum 122, Highest daily minimum 197, Lowest daily minimum 141, Heaviest daily rainfall 663, Heaviest daily snowfall 250, Deepest snow cover 110.

Records on 20 January 1988 by type
Record type	Records
Highest daily maximum	154
Lowest daily maximum	122
Highest daily minimum	197
Lowest daily minimum	141
Heaviest daily rainfall	663
Heaviest daily snowfall	250
Deepest snow cover	110

Records on 20 January 1988 by timescale: all-time 17, monthly 96, daily 1,524.

How Much Records Were Beaten By

1,386 broken records

Margins by which the 1,386 broken records beat the old ones, in degrees Celsius for temperature and millimetres for precipitation and snow; the largest margin was 330.0. Ties are not counted.

Top 20 by Significance

20 January 1988

Top 20 records on 20 January 1988 by significance
Date	Station	Record	Value	Beat old record by	Old record stood	Significance
20 January 1988	St Peter, US	daily snowfall	35.6 cm (14.0 in)	25.4 cm (10.0 in)	93 years	77 of 100 (Major)
20 January 1988	Gregory, US	monthly rain	53.3 mm (2.1 in)	16.5 mm (0.6 in)	81 years	77 of 100 (Major)
20 January 1988	Oconto 4 W, US	daily rain	43.2 mm (1.7 in)	25.2 mm (1.0 in)	93 years	77 of 100 (Major)
20 January 1988	Sheldon, US	monthly rain	37.1 mm (1.5 in)	11.7 mm (0.5 in)	78 years	73 of 100 (Major)
20 January 1988	Chatham Exp Fa, US	daily snowfall	40.6 cm (16.0 in)	24.1 cm (9.5 in)	80 years	72 of 100 (Major)
20 January 1988	Gregory, US	monthly snowfall	43.2 cm (17.0 in)	17.8 cm (7.0 in)	39 years	69 of 100 (Major)
20 January 1988	Black Rock, US	daily snow depth	58.4 cm (23.0 in)	33.0 cm (13.0 in)	70 years	69 of 100 (Major)
20 January 1988	Fairmont, US	daily snowfall	25.4 cm (10.0 in)	15.2 cm (6.0 in)	93 years	68 of 100 (Major)
20 January 1988	Tryon, US	all-time snowfall	55.9 cm (22.0 in)	25.4 cm (10.0 in)	12 years	67 of 100 (Major)
20 January 1988	Oshkosh, US	daily snowfall	17.8 cm (7.0 in)	12.7 cm (5.0 in)	94 years	65 of 100 (Major)
20 January 1988	Faribault, US	daily rain	26.2 mm (1.0 in)	21.9 mm (0.9 in)	50 years	64 of 100 (Major)
20 January 1988	Mitchell 2 N, US	daily rain	26.7 mm (1.1 in)	18.1 mm (0.7 in)	50 years	64 of 100 (Major)
20 January 1988	Windom, US	daily rain	32.3 mm (1.3 in)	27.0 mm (1.1 in)	50 years	63 of 100 (Major)
20 January 1988	Waupaca, US	daily snowfall	30.5 cm (12.0 in)	20.3 cm (8.0 in)	50 years	63 of 100 (Major)
20 January 1988	Inglewood Post Office, AU	daily rain	114.0 mm (4.5 in)	61.2 mm (2.4 in)	54 years	62 of 100 (Major)
20 January 1988	Lake Park 3SSE, US	daily rain	48.5 mm (1.9 in)	39.6 mm (1.6 in)	50 years	62 of 100 (Major)
20 January 1988	Marinette, US	daily rain	31.0 mm (1.2 in)	19.8 mm (0.8 in)	68 years	62 of 100 (Major)
20 January 1988	Sibley, US	daily snowfall	24.1 cm (9.5 in)	13.9 cm (5.5 in)	50 years	61 of 100 (Major)
20 January 1988	Carrollton Lock 1, US	daily rain	56.6 mm (2.2 in)	37.5 mm (1.5 in)	60 years	61 of 100 (Major)
20 January 1988	Wellfleet, US	daily snowfall	12.7 cm (5.0 in)	12.7 cm (5.0 in)	88 years	61 of 100 (Major)

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

1795 to 1988

Records set or tied on this calendar date in each year from 1795 to 1988. 1988 had 1,637 records.

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

Records on 01-20 in each year
Year	Records
1795	2
1796	1
1798	1
1804	2
1820	1
1844	1
1850	1
1858	2
1861	1
1862	1
1863	1
1866	2
1867	1
1872	1
1874	4
1875	4
1878	1
1879	1
1880	5
1881	4
1885	1
1890	2
1891	1
1892	3
1893	3
1894	1
1895	2
1896	1
1897	3
1898	6
1899	12
1900	15
1901	11
1902	5
1903	4
1904	14
1905	2
1906	25
1907	26
1908	9
1909	30
1910	11
1911	3
1912	7
1913	44
1914	57
1915	153
1916	34
1917	123
1918	71
1919	28
1920	103
1921	45
1922	86
1923	41
1924	298
1925	181
1926	110
1927	381
1928	383
1929	203
1930	540
1931	90
1932	139
1933	441
1934	118
1935	904
1936	602
1937	1,041
1938	219
1939	238
1940	1,147
1941	214
1942	979
1943	1,002
1944	568
1945	302
1946	487
1947	534
1948	422
1949	429
1950	653
1951	958
1952	386
1953	476
1954	791
1955	278
1956	906
1957	349
1958	494
1959	603
1960	329
1961	641
1962	1,162
1963	921
1964	567
1965	283
1966	634
1967	556
1968	1,096
1969	859
1970	1,301
1971	936
1972	823
1973	450
1974	978
1975	688
1976	848
1977	997
1978	1,669
1979	1,158
1980	423
1981	823
1982	958
1983	847
1984	1,957
1985	2,188
1986	1,327
1987	1,063
1988	1,637
1989	955
1990	1,257
1991	562
1992	493
1993	1,327
1994	2,035
1995	1,136
1996	851
1997	658
1998	576
1999	1,368
2000	1,132
2001	667
2002	666
2003	732
2004	451
2005	1,335
2006	1,395
2007	2,143
2008	1,366
2009	738
2010	986
2011	731
2012	848
2013	432
2014	480
2015	413
2016	726
2017	1,370
2018	634
2019	722
2020	498
2021	375
2022	346
2023	778
2024	841
2025	1,599
2026	193

Download the Data

Data for records on 1988-01-20: 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	1,189
50 to 100	89
100 to 150	56
150 to 200	26
200 to 250	15
250 to 300	8
300 to 350	3