Weather Records on 31 August 1988

570 weather records were set or tied worldwide on 31 August 1988. Highest significance: Rustplaats, ZA.

Key Facts for 31 August 1988

On 31 August 1988, 570 weather records were set or tied at long-record stations worldwide.
200 were record highs and 242 were record lows, counting maximum and minimum temperature.
By timescale, 2 were all-time records, 44 monthly and 524 daily.
Rustplaats set a monthly record daily precipitation of 44.0 mm (1.7 in) on 31 August 1988.
Across 165 earlier years (1796 to 2026) the same calendar date averaged 435 records.

Record Map

570 stations

570 station records on 31 August 1988 are marked on the map, coloured by record type. Dot size shows the significance score. Made with Natural Earth.

Weather records on 31 August 1988: highest significance records shown on the map
Station	Country	Type	Value	Significance
Rustplaats	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	44.0 mm (1.7 in)	54 of 100 (Notable)
Huili	China	Record daily precipitation	88.9 mm (3.5 in)	51 of 100 (Notable)
Cuernavaca (Dge)	Mexico	Record daily precipitation	95.3 mm (3.8 in)	51 of 100 (Notable)
Saluda	United States	Record daily precipitation	84.3 mm (3.3 in)	49 of 100 (Notable)
Whiteriver 1 SW	United States	Record daily precipitation	76.2 mm (3.0 in)	48 of 100 (Notable)
Ogies (Pol)	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	36.5 mm (1.4 in)	43 of 100 (Notable)
Newington	United States	Record daily precipitation	82.6 mm (3.3 in)	43 of 100 (Notable)
Nevada City	United States	Record high minimum temperature	18.3 C (64.9 F)	42 of 100 (Notable)
Tulun	Russia	Record daily precipitation	39.1 mm (1.5 in)	40 of 100 (Notable)
Canal V.O.C.	Venezuela	Record daily precipitation	60.7 mm (2.4 in)	40 of 100 (Notable)
Presa Mixcoac	Mexico	Record daily precipitation	45.0 mm (1.8 in)	39 of 100 (Notable)
Ohotsk	Russia	Record low minimum temperature	0.4 C (32.7 F)	39 of 100 (Notable)
Virginia City	United States	Record high minimum temperature	18.9 C (66.0 F)	39 of 100 (Notable)
Burkes Garden	United States	Record low maximum temperature	15.6 C (60.1 F)	39 of 100 (Notable)
Corrales	Mexico	Record low minimum temperature	8.9 C (48.0 F)	37 of 100 (Notable)
Smithville	United States	Record low minimum temperature	8.3 C (46.9 F)	37 of 100 (Notable)
Brest-Guipavas	France	Record daily precipitation	36.0 mm (1.4 in)	36 of 100 (Notable)
Santiago	Mexico	Record daily precipitation	81.3 mm (3.2 in)	36 of 100 (Notable)
Mena	United States	Record low minimum temperature	9.4 C (48.9 F)	36 of 100 (Notable)
Sarajevo	Bosnia and Herzegovina	Record high minimum temperature	17.5 C (63.5 F)	35 of 100 (Notable)
Oktjabrskaja	Russia	Record low minimum temperature	0.4 C (32.7 F)	34 of 100 (Routine)
Klipfontein	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	35.0 mm (1.4 in)	34 of 100 (Routine)
Dequeen	United States	Record low minimum temperature	11.7 C (53.1 F)	33 of 100 (Routine)
Hampton 1S	United States	Record daily precipitation	68.8 mm (2.7 in)	33 of 100 (Routine)
Durham	United States	Record low maximum temperature	21.1 C (70.0 F)	32 of 100 (Routine)
White Sulphur Springs	United States	Record low maximum temperature	18.3 C (64.9 F)	32 of 100 (Routine)
Bolonchen	Mexico	Record low maximum temperature	25.0 C (77.0 F)	31 of 100 (Routine)
Greer	United States	Record daily precipitation	26.2 mm (1.0 in)	31 of 100 (Routine)
Ft Ross	United States	Record low maximum temperature	12.8 C (55.0 F)	31 of 100 (Routine)
Presa Hurtado	Mexico	Record low maximum temperature	21.1 C (70.0 F)	30 of 100 (Routine)
Anadyr	Russia	Record low minimum temperature	-4.1 C (24.6 F)	30 of 100 (Routine)
Esso	Russia	Record low maximum temperature	6.8 C (44.2 F)	30 of 100 (Routine)
Kljuchi	Russia	Record low maximum temperature	10.1 C (50.2 F)	30 of 100 (Routine)
McCloud	United States	Record high minimum temperature	11.1 C (52.0 F)	30 of 100 (Routine)
Ridgeland 5 NE	United States	Record daily precipitation	76.2 mm (3.0 in)	30 of 100 (Routine)
Bonham 3NNE	United States	Record low minimum temperature	11.7 C (53.1 F)	30 of 100 (Routine)
Ibapah	United States	Record high maximum temperature	36.1 C (97.0 F)	30 of 100 (Routine)
Waterford (Tycor)	Ireland	Record daily precipitation	40.7 mm (1.6 in)	29 of 100 (Routine)
Kaunas	Lithuania	Record daily precipitation	30.5 mm (1.2 in)	29 of 100 (Routine)
Presa Requena	Mexico	Record daily precipitation	65.8 mm (2.6 in)	29 of 100 (Routine)
Guadalajara (Dge)	Mexico	Record high minimum temperature	18.9 C (66.0 F)	29 of 100 (Routine)
Lifjell	Norway	Record daily precipitation	70.6 mm (2.8 in)	29 of 100 (Routine)
Sredny Vasjugan	Russia	Record high minimum temperature	15.5 C (59.9 F)	29 of 100 (Routine)
Timovskoe	Russia	Record low maximum temperature	14.3 C (57.7 F)	29 of 100 (Routine)
Jokkmokk	Sweden	Record high minimum temperature	10.8 C (51.4 F)	29 of 100 (Routine)
Alpine	United States	Record daily precipitation	34.8 mm (1.4 in)	29 of 100 (Routine)
Pryor	United States	Record low minimum temperature	10.0 C (50.0 F)	29 of 100 (Routine)
Nashville	United States	Record low minimum temperature	14.4 C (57.9 F)	28 of 100 (Routine)
Tahoe City	United States	Record high maximum temperature	29.4 C (84.9 F)	28 of 100 (Routine)
Bitter Lakes Wl Refuge	United States	Record low minimum temperature	5.0 C (41.0 F)	28 of 100 (Routine)
Rocky Mt	United States	Record low maximum temperature	20.6 C (69.1 F)	28 of 100 (Routine)
Zoseni	Latvia	Record daily precipitation	58.5 mm (2.3 in)	27 of 100 (Routine)
Huixtla	Mexico	Record daily precipitation	130.6 mm (5.1 in)	27 of 100 (Routine)
La Junta	Mexico	Record low minimum temperature	5.6 C (42.1 F)	27 of 100 (Routine)
Aranyaprathet	Thailand	Record daily precipitation	77.0 mm (3.0 in)	27 of 100 (Routine)
Lukachukai	United States	Record daily precipitation	28.7 mm (1.1 in)	27 of 100 (Routine)
Great Salt Plains Dam	United States	Record low minimum temperature	9.4 C (48.9 F)	27 of 100 (Routine)
Millaa Millaa Post Office	Australia	Record daily precipitation	30.0 mm (1.2 in)	26 of 100 (Routine)
Tobolsk	Russia	Record high maximum temperature	30.6 C (87.1 F)	26 of 100 (Routine)
Tiger Creek Ph	United States	Record high minimum temperature	18.3 C (64.9 F)	26 of 100 (Routine)

Counts by Type and Timescale

570 records

Records set or tied on 31 August 1988 by type: Highest daily maximum 82, Lowest daily maximum 101, Highest daily minimum 118, Lowest daily minimum 141, Heaviest daily rainfall 127, Deepest snow cover 1.

Records on 31 August 1988 by type
Record type	Records
Highest daily maximum	82
Lowest daily maximum	101
Highest daily minimum	118
Lowest daily minimum	141
Heaviest daily rainfall	127
Heaviest daily snowfall	0
Deepest snow cover	1

Records on 31 August 1988 by timescale: all-time 2, monthly 44, daily 524.

How Much Records Were Beaten By

412 broken records

Margins by which the 412 broken records beat the old ones, in degrees Celsius for temperature and millimetres for precipitation and snow; the largest margin was 69.1. Ties are not counted.

Top 20 by Significance

31 August 1988

Top 20 records on 31 August 1988 by significance
Date	Station	Record	Value	Beat old record by	Old record stood	Significance
31 August 1988	Rustplaats, ZA	monthly rain	44.0 mm (1.7 in)	12.2 mm (0.5 in)	71 years	54 of 100 (Notable)
31 August 1988	Huili, CN	daily rain	88.9 mm (3.5 in)	62.9 mm (2.5 in)	28 years	51 of 100 (Notable)
31 August 1988	Cuernavaca (Dge), MX	daily rain	95.3 mm (3.8 in)	62.5 mm (2.5 in)	29 years	51 of 100 (Notable)
31 August 1988	Saluda, US	daily rain	84.3 mm (3.3 in)	33.5 mm (1.3 in)	78 years	49 of 100 (Notable)
31 August 1988	Whiteriver 1 SW, US	monthly rain	76.2 mm (3.0 in)	19.0 mm (0.7 in)	27 years	48 of 100 (Notable)
31 August 1988	Ogies (Pol), ZA	daily rain	36.5 mm (1.4 in)	22.0 mm (0.9 in)	37 years	43 of 100 (Notable)
31 August 1988	Newington, US	daily rain	82.6 mm (3.3 in)	69.1 mm (2.7 in)	3 years	43 of 100 (Notable)
31 August 1988	Nevada City, US	daily high min	18.3 C (64.9 F)	3.9 C (7.0 F)	70 years	42 of 100 (Notable)
31 August 1988	Tulun, RU	daily rain	39.1 mm (1.5 in)	21.1 mm (0.8 in)	42 years	40 of 100 (Notable)
31 August 1988	Canal V.O.C., VE	daily rain	60.7 mm (2.4 in)	38.6 mm (1.5 in)	7 years	40 of 100 (Notable)
31 August 1988	Presa Mixcoac, MX	daily rain	45.0 mm (1.8 in)	28.7 mm (1.1 in)	22 years	39 of 100 (Notable)
31 August 1988	Ohotsk, RU	daily low min	0.4 C (32.7 F)	0.6 C (1.1 F)	95 years	39 of 100 (Notable)
31 August 1988	Virginia City, US	daily high min	18.9 C (66.0 F)	0.6 C (1.1 F)	94 years	39 of 100 (Notable)
31 August 1988	Burkes Garden, US	daily low max	15.6 C (60.1 F)	2.7 C (4.9 F)	73 years	39 of 100 (Notable)
31 August 1988	Corrales, MX	daily low min	8.9 C (48.0 F)	2.8 C (5.0 F)	27 years	37 of 100 (Notable)
31 August 1988	Smithville, US	daily low min	8.3 C (46.9 F)	2.8 C (5.0 F)	59 years	37 of 100 (Notable)
31 August 1988	Brest-Guipavas, FR	daily rain	36.0 mm (1.4 in)	16.7 mm (0.7 in)	32 years	36 of 100 (Notable)
31 August 1988	Santiago, MX	daily rain	81.3 mm (3.2 in)	47.5 mm (1.9 in)	16 years	36 of 100 (Notable)
31 August 1988	Mena, US	daily low min	9.4 C (48.9 F)	1.7 C (3.1 F)	73 years	36 of 100 (Notable)
31 August 1988	Sarajevo, BA	daily high min	17.5 C (63.5 F)	0.6 C (1.1 F)	86 years	35 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

1796 to 1988

Records set or tied on this calendar date in each year from 1796 to 1988. 1988 had 570 records.

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

Records on 08-31 in each year
Year	Records
1796	1
1806	1
1807	2
1813	1
1814	1
1816	1
1827	1
1836	1
1846	1
1849	1
1851	1
1856	2
1858	1
1859	1
1860	1
1861	1
1863	1
1867	1
1869	1
1873	1
1875	1
1876	1
1877	2
1879	2
1881	3
1882	2
1885	1
1886	5
1887	1
1889	1
1890	2
1892	3
1893	1
1894	1
1895	1
1896	1
1897	5
1898	10
1899	4
1900	3
1901	5
1902	5
1903	16
1904	13
1905	8
1906	47
1907	6
1908	12
1909	39
1910	20
1911	31
1912	34
1913	40
1914	23
1915	71
1916	7
1917	60
1918	58
1919	25
1920	46
1921	86
1922	58
1923	63
1924	232
1925	111
1926	148
1927	103
1928	201
1929	300
1930	243
1931	192
1932	807
1933	424
1934	381
1935	540
1936	226
1937	508
1938	324
1939	296
1940	400
1941	528
1942	422
1943	650
1944	638
1945	572
1946	545
1947	473
1948	367
1949	409
1950	662
1951	910
1952	388
1953	1,054
1954	633
1955	539
1956	734
1957	317
1958	417
1959	496
1960	366
1961	625
1962	432
1963	415
1964	591
1965	886
1966	830
1967	952
1968	562
1969	474
1970	558
1971	326
1972	287
1973	793
1974	587
1975	658
1976	732
1977	621
1978	891
1979	400
1980	701
1981	692
1982	586
1983	788
1984	866
1985	854
1986	1,218
1987	836
1988	570
1989	622
1990	966
1991	848
1992	1,274
1993	1,286
1994	1,139
1995	1,077
1996	1,451
1997	943
1998	1,163
1999	988
2000	1,545
2001	944
2002	852
2003	1,232
2004	963
2005	1,782
2006	1,147
2007	1,110
2008	870
2009	1,224
2010	1,490
2011	994
2012	932
2013	771
2014	458
2015	1,074
2016	599
2017	596
2018	366
2019	781
2020	737
2021	553
2022	1,191
2023	600
2024	766
2025	307
2026	595

Download the Data

Data for records on 1988-08-31: 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 10	367
10 to 20	27
20 to 30	7
30 to 40	6
40 to 50	1
50 to 60	1
60 to 70	3