Weather Records on 21 January 1988

771 weather records were set or tied worldwide on 21 January 1988. Highest significance: Ainsworth, US.

Key Facts for 21 January 1988

On 21 January 1988, 771 weather records were set or tied at long-record stations worldwide.
302 were record highs and 220 were record lows, counting maximum and minimum temperature.
By timescale, 23 were all-time records, 35 monthly and 713 daily.
Ainsworth set a daily record snow depth of 73.7 cm (29.0 in) on 21 January 1988.
Across 163 earlier years (1793 to 2026) the same calendar date averaged 465 records.

Record Map

771 stations

771 station records on 21 January 1988 are marked on the map, coloured by record type. Dot size shows the significance score. Made with Natural Earth.

Weather records on 21 January 1988: highest significance records shown on the map
Station	Country	Type	Value	Significance
Ainsworth	United States	Record snow depth	73.7 cm (29.0 in)	59 of 100 (Notable)
Forestburg 4 NNE	United States	Record snow depth	76.2 cm (30.0 in)	59 of 100 (Notable)
Escarcega (Smn)	Mexico	Record daily precipitation	45.0 mm (1.8 in)	56 of 100 (Notable)
Black Rock	United States	Record snow depth	53.3 cm (21.0 in)	55 of 100 (Notable)
Sterling	United States	Record snow depth	20.3 cm (8.0 in)	51 of 100 (Notable)
Blaauwkop	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	117.0 mm (4.6 in)	50 of 100 (Notable)
Centennial 1NE	United States	Record snow depth	40.6 cm (16.0 in)	50 of 100 (Notable)
Palapye	Botswana	Record daily precipitation	85.0 mm (3.3 in)	47 of 100 (Notable)
Lake City 2 E	United States	Record daily precipitation	87.4 mm (3.4 in)	47 of 100 (Notable)
Ironwood	United States	Record daily snowfall	36.8 cm (14.5 in)	47 of 100 (Notable)
Platte	United States	Record snow depth	45.7 cm (18.0 in)	45 of 100 (Notable)
Goodland	United States	Record snow depth	38.1 cm (15.0 in)	45 of 100 (Notable)
Lichinga	Mozambique	Record daily precipitation	98.5 mm (3.9 in)	43 of 100 (Notable)
Mullen 3S	United States	Record snow depth	66.0 cm (26.0 in)	43 of 100 (Notable)
Brooksville Chin Hill	United States	Record daily precipitation	63.5 mm (2.5 in)	42 of 100 (Notable)
Temilpa	Mexico	Record high maximum temperature	40.0 C (104.0 F)	41 of 100 (Notable)
Alberta Ford For Ctr	United States	Record daily snowfall	26.7 cm (10.5 in)	41 of 100 (Notable)
Blue	United States	Record low maximum temperature	1.1 C (34.0 F)	39 of 100 (Notable)
Olenja Rechka	Russia	Record low minimum temperature	-41.0 C (-41.8 F)	37 of 100 (Notable)
Federal Pt	United States	Record daily precipitation	57.2 mm (2.3 in)	37 of 100 (Notable)
Glen St Mary 1 W	United States	Record daily precipitation	67.3 mm (2.6 in)	37 of 100 (Notable)
Woodlea	Australia	Record daily precipitation	127.0 mm (5.0 in)	36 of 100 (Notable)
Nueva Esperanza	Mexico	Record high minimum temperature	27.2 C (81.0 F)	36 of 100 (Notable)
Cuba	United States	Record snow depth	48.3 cm (19.0 in)	36 of 100 (Notable)
Alexandria	United States	Record snow depth	38.1 cm (15.0 in)	36 of 100 (Notable)
Partoun	United States	Record snow depth	17.8 cm (7.0 in)	36 of 100 (Notable)
Richmond Post Office	Australia	Record high maximum temperature	43.0 C (109.4 F)	35 of 100 (Notable)
Ahuacatlan	Mexico	Record low minimum temperature	0.6 C (33.1 F)	35 of 100 (Notable)
Ibapah	United States	Record snow depth	33.0 cm (13.0 in)	35 of 100 (Notable)
Juneau AP	United States	Record daily precipitation	33.8 mm (1.3 in)	35 of 100 (Notable)
Tapalpa (Smn)	Mexico	Record low minimum temperature	-3.3 C (26.1 F)	34 of 100 (Routine)
Timiryazevskij	Russia	Record high minimum temperature	-5.8 C (21.6 F)	34 of 100 (Routine)
Avon Park 2 W	United States	Record high minimum temperature	20.0 C (68.0 F)	34 of 100 (Routine)
Nephi	United States	Record snow depth	38.1 cm (15.0 in)	34 of 100 (Routine)
Salina	United States	Record snow depth	30.5 cm (12.0 in)	34 of 100 (Routine)
Ocala	United States	Record daily precipitation	52.1 mm (2.1 in)	33 of 100 (Routine)
Detour Village	United States	Record daily snowfall	15.2 cm (6.0 in)	33 of 100 (Routine)
Georgetown Post Office	Australia	Record high maximum temperature	38.7 C (101.7 F)	32 of 100 (Routine)
Excame	Mexico	Record low minimum temperature	-9.4 C (15.1 F)	32 of 100 (Routine)
Del Norte 3ENE	United States	Record snow depth	25.4 cm (10.0 in)	32 of 100 (Routine)
Mullen 21 NW	United States	Record snow depth	55.9 cm (22.0 in)	32 of 100 (Routine)
Ciudad Venustiano Carranza	Mexico	Record low minimum temperature	-3.3 C (26.1 F)	31 of 100 (Routine)
Marlinton	United States	Record high maximum temperature	14.4 C (57.9 F)	31 of 100 (Routine)
Naze	Japan	Record daily precipitation	77.5 mm (3.1 in)	30 of 100 (Routine)
Madera	Mexico	Record low minimum temperature	-25.0 C (-13.0 F)	30 of 100 (Routine)
Nochistlan	Mexico	Record low minimum temperature	-7.2 C (19.0 F)	30 of 100 (Routine)
Nenastnaja	Russia	Record low minimum temperature	-37.1 C (-34.8 F)	30 of 100 (Routine)
Alpine	United States	Record low maximum temperature	-2.8 C (27.0 F)	30 of 100 (Routine)
N Platte Rgnl AP	United States	Record snow depth	27.9 cm (11.0 in)	30 of 100 (Routine)
Haidarakan	Kyrgyzstan	Record daily precipitation	27.0 mm (1.1 in)	29 of 100 (Routine)
La Junta	Mexico	Record low minimum temperature	-14.4 C (6.1 F)	29 of 100 (Routine)
Cosala	Mexico	Record low minimum temperature	2.8 C (37.0 F)	29 of 100 (Routine)
Tenosique (Smn)	Mexico	Record high minimum temperature	21.7 C (71.1 F)	29 of 100 (Routine)
Risnes I Fjotland	Norway	Record daily precipitation	28.5 mm (1.1 in)	29 of 100 (Routine)
Bikin	Russia	Record high maximum temperature	0.2 C (32.4 F)	29 of 100 (Routine)
Crowe's Place,Seven	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	50.0 mm (2.0 in)	29 of 100 (Routine)
Julesburg	United States	Record snow depth	63.5 cm (25.0 in)	29 of 100 (Routine)
Usher Twr	United States	Record daily precipitation	108.2 mm (4.3 in)	29 of 100 (Routine)
Hayes Center 1NW	United States	Record snow depth	40.6 cm (16.0 in)	29 of 100 (Routine)
Ulleungdo	Korea, South	Record high minimum temperature	6.8 C (44.2 F)	28 of 100 (Routine)

Counts by Type and Timescale

771 records

Records set or tied on 21 January 1988 by type: Highest daily maximum 136, Lowest daily maximum 46, Highest daily minimum 166, Lowest daily minimum 174, Heaviest daily rainfall 131, Heaviest daily snowfall 20, Deepest snow cover 98.

Records on 21 January 1988 by type
Record type	Records
Highest daily maximum	136
Lowest daily maximum	46
Highest daily minimum	166
Lowest daily minimum	174
Heaviest daily rainfall	131
Heaviest daily snowfall	20
Deepest snow cover	98

Records on 21 January 1988 by timescale: all-time 23, monthly 35, daily 713.

How Much Records Were Beaten By

582 broken records

Margins by which the 582 broken records beat the old ones, in degrees Celsius for temperature and millimetres for precipitation and snow; the largest margin was 356.0. Ties are not counted.

Top 20 by Significance

21 January 1988

Top 20 records on 21 January 1988 by significance
Date	Station	Record	Value	Beat old record by	Old record stood	Significance
21 January 1988	Ainsworth, US	daily snow depth	73.7 cm (29.0 in)	35.6 cm (14.0 in)	38 years	59 of 100 (Notable)
21 January 1988	Forestburg 4 NNE, US	daily snow depth	76.2 cm (30.0 in)	30.5 cm (12.0 in)	84 years	59 of 100 (Notable)
21 January 1988	Escarcega (Smn), MX	daily rain	45.0 mm (1.8 in)	42.2 mm (1.7 in)	40 years	56 of 100 (Notable)
21 January 1988	Black Rock, US	daily snow depth	53.3 cm (21.0 in)	25.4 cm (10.0 in)	25 years	55 of 100 (Notable)
21 January 1988	Sterling, US	daily snow depth	20.3 cm (8.0 in)	15.2 cm (6.0 in)	70 years	51 of 100 (Notable)
21 January 1988	Blaauwkop, ZA	daily rain	117.0 mm (4.6 in)	70.6 mm (2.8 in)	16 years	50 of 100 (Notable)
21 January 1988	Centennial 1NE, US	daily snow depth	40.6 cm (16.0 in)	15.2 cm (6.0 in)	57 years	50 of 100 (Notable)
21 January 1988	Palapye, BW	daily rain	85.0 mm (3.3 in)	57.0 mm (2.2 in)	16 years	47 of 100 (Notable)
21 January 1988	Lake City 2 E, US	daily rain	87.4 mm (3.4 in)	48.0 mm (1.9 in)	8 years	47 of 100 (Notable)
21 January 1988	Ironwood, US	daily snowfall	36.8 cm (14.5 in)	21.6 cm (8.5 in)	13 years	47 of 100 (Notable)
21 January 1988	Platte, US	daily snow depth	45.7 cm (18.0 in)	22.8 cm (9.0 in)	24 years	45 of 100 (Notable)
21 January 1988	Goodland, US	daily snow depth	38.1 cm (15.0 in)	17.8 cm (7.0 in)	28 years	45 of 100 (Notable)
21 January 1988	Lichinga, MZ	daily rain	98.5 mm (3.9 in)	59.6 mm (2.3 in)	2 years	43 of 100 (Notable)
21 January 1988	Mullen 3S, US	daily snow depth	66.0 cm (26.0 in)	35.5 cm (14.0 in)	8 years	43 of 100 (Notable)
21 January 1988	Brooksville Chin Hill, US	daily rain	63.5 mm (2.5 in)	35.1 mm (1.4 in)	29 years	42 of 100 (Notable)
21 January 1988	Temilpa, MX	daily high max	40.0 C (104.0 F)	7.2 C (13.0 F)	5 years	41 of 100 (Notable)
21 January 1988	Alberta Ford For Ctr, US	daily snowfall	26.7 cm (10.5 in)	16.3 cm (6.4 in)	16 years	41 of 100 (Notable)
21 January 1988	Blue, US	daily low max	1.1 C (34.0 F)	2.8 C (5.0 F)	84 years	39 of 100 (Notable)
21 January 1988	Olenja Rechka, RU	daily low min	-41.0 C (-41.8 F)	8.9 C (16.0 F)	46 years	37 of 100 (Notable)
21 January 1988	Federal Pt, US	daily rain	57.2 mm (2.3 in)	18.1 mm (0.7 in)	40 years	37 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 1988

Records set or tied on this calendar date in each year from 1793 to 1988. 1988 had 771 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 1988-01-21: 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	518
50 to 100	32
100 to 150	13
150 to 200	10
200 to 250	3
250 to 300	3
300 to 350	1
350 to 400	2