Weather Records on 20 October 1988

737 weather records were set or tied worldwide on 20 October 1988. Highest significance: Klerkskraal (Pol), ZA.

Key Facts for 20 October 1988

On 20 October 1988, 737 weather records were set or tied at long-record stations worldwide.
356 were record highs and 76 were record lows, counting maximum and minimum temperature.
By timescale, 0 were all-time records, 13 monthly and 724 daily.
Klerkskraal (Pol) set a daily record precipitation of 72.0 mm (2.8 in) on 20 October 1988.
Across 160 earlier years (1806 to 2025) the same calendar date averaged 456 records.

Record Map

737 stations

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

Weather records on 20 October 1988: highest significance records shown on the map
Station	Country	Type	Value	Significance
Klerkskraal (Pol)	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	72.0 mm (2.8 in)	55 of 100 (Notable)
Greenville	United States	Record daily precipitation	52.1 mm (2.1 in)	54 of 100 (Notable)
Barrage (Rwb)	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	51.0 mm (2.0 in)	49 of 100 (Notable)
Cumberland	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	49.0 mm (1.9 in)	49 of 100 (Notable)
Ogies (Pol)	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	68.5 mm (2.7 in)	48 of 100 (Notable)
Hua Hin	Thailand	Record daily precipitation	103.9 mm (4.1 in)	48 of 100 (Notable)
Amersfoort (Pol)	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	40.0 mm (1.6 in)	47 of 100 (Notable)
Santa Rita Exp Range	United States	Record daily precipitation	65.5 mm (2.6 in)	47 of 100 (Notable)
Blagodarnyj	Russia	Record daily precipitation	29.7 mm (1.2 in)	46 of 100 (Notable)
Capela Do Porto	Brazil	Record daily precipitation	68.0 mm (2.7 in)	45 of 100 (Notable)
Askaniia Nova	Ukraine	Record daily precipitation	40.4 mm (1.6 in)	45 of 100 (Notable)
Caracas-la Mariposa	Venezuela	Record daily precipitation	50.8 mm (2.0 in)	45 of 100 (Notable)
Arzgir	Russia	Record daily precipitation	40.4 mm (1.6 in)	44 of 100 (Notable)
Villiers (Pol)	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	51.0 mm (2.0 in)	44 of 100 (Notable)
Tucson Camp Ave Exp	United States	Record daily precipitation	35.1 mm (1.4 in)	44 of 100 (Notable)
Goedgevonden	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	46.0 mm (1.8 in)	43 of 100 (Notable)
Portland	United States	Record daily precipitation	54.6 mm (2.1 in)	42 of 100 (Notable)
Gulkana AP	United States	Record snow depth	40.6 cm (16.0 in)	42 of 100 (Notable)
Oranjeville (Skl)	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	46.4 mm (1.8 in)	40 of 100 (Notable)
Apache Powder Company	United States	Record daily precipitation	40.1 mm (1.6 in)	40 of 100 (Notable)
Postmasburg	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	42.5 mm (1.7 in)	39 of 100 (Notable)
Usina Batista	Brazil	Record daily precipitation	57.7 mm (2.3 in)	38 of 100 (Notable)
Oorsprong-Oos	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	42.0 mm (1.7 in)	38 of 100 (Notable)
Walgett Council Depot	Australia	Record high maximum temperature	40.0 C (104.0 F)	37 of 100 (Notable)
Rietfontein	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	61.5 mm (2.4 in)	37 of 100 (Notable)
Rietbult	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	41.8 mm (1.6 in)	37 of 100 (Notable)
De Emigratie	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	45.2 mm (1.8 in)	37 of 100 (Notable)
Hoopdal (Pol)	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	38.0 mm (1.5 in)	37 of 100 (Notable)
Lemon Cove	United States	Record high minimum temperature	15.6 C (60.1 F)	37 of 100 (Notable)
Casa Grande	United States	Record daily precipitation	31.5 mm (1.2 in)	36 of 100 (Notable)
Independence	United States	Record high minimum temperature	13.3 C (55.9 F)	36 of 100 (Notable)
Mio Hydro Plt	United States	Record daily precipitation	53.3 mm (2.1 in)	36 of 100 (Notable)
Galia	Brazil	Record daily precipitation	58.5 mm (2.3 in)	35 of 100 (Notable)
Elk City 1NE	United States	Record high minimum temperature	5.6 C (42.1 F)	35 of 100 (Notable)
Oosterhout	Netherlands	Record daily precipitation	30.8 mm (1.2 in)	34 of 100 (Routine)
Orleans	United States	Record high maximum temperature	30.6 C (87.1 F)	34 of 100 (Routine)
Tibooburra Post Office	Australia	Record high maximum temperature	42.0 C (107.6 F)	33 of 100 (Routine)
Dunedin	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	40.0 mm (1.6 in)	33 of 100 (Routine)
Donnybrook	Australia	Record low maximum temperature	13.8 C (56.8 F)	32 of 100 (Routine)
Kingscote	Australia	Record high maximum temperature	30.8 C (87.4 F)	32 of 100 (Routine)
Ponta Grossa-Vila Velha	Brazil	Record daily precipitation	55.4 mm (2.2 in)	32 of 100 (Routine)
Itapecerica da Serra	Brazil	Record daily precipitation	52.9 mm (2.1 in)	32 of 100 (Routine)
Vredefort (Skl)	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	48.0 mm (1.9 in)	32 of 100 (Routine)
Lake Spaulding	United States	Record high maximum temperature	27.8 C (82.0 F)	32 of 100 (Routine)
Mtn Park	United States	Record high minimum temperature	12.2 C (54.0 F)	32 of 100 (Routine)
Metolius 1 W	United States	Record high maximum temperature	25.0 C (77.0 F)	32 of 100 (Routine)
Port Lincoln	Australia	Record high maximum temperature	33.4 C (92.1 F)	31 of 100 (Routine)
Snowtown	Australia	Record high minimum temperature	19.0 C (66.2 F)	31 of 100 (Routine)
Usina Avanhandava (Cpfl)	Brazil	Record daily precipitation	58.1 mm (2.3 in)	31 of 100 (Routine)
Aldeinha	Brazil	Record daily precipitation	51.6 mm (2.0 in)	31 of 100 (Routine)
Ribeira	Brazil	Record daily precipitation	47.2 mm (1.9 in)	31 of 100 (Routine)
Valentia Observatory	Ireland	Record daily precipitation	46.0 mm (1.8 in)	31 of 100 (Routine)
Yap Island WSO AP	Federated States of Micronesia	Record daily precipitation	92.7 mm (3.6 in)	31 of 100 (Routine)
Edenville (Mun)	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	55.5 mm (2.2 in)	31 of 100 (Routine)
Verkykerskop (Pol)	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	27.5 mm (1.1 in)	31 of 100 (Routine)
Waterkloof	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	48.8 mm (1.9 in)	31 of 100 (Routine)
Anvil Rch	United States	Record daily precipitation	63.5 mm (2.5 in)	31 of 100 (Routine)
Huntington Lake	United States	Record high maximum temperature	24.4 C (75.9 F)	31 of 100 (Routine)
Manila	United States	Record high minimum temperature	6.7 C (44.1 F)	31 of 100 (Routine)
Sacramento 5 ESE	United States	Record high maximum temperature	33.3 C (91.9 F)	31 of 100 (Routine)

Counts by Type and Timescale

737 records

Records set or tied on 20 October 1988 by type: Highest daily maximum 167, Lowest daily maximum 48, Highest daily minimum 189, Lowest daily minimum 28, Heaviest daily rainfall 302, Deepest snow cover 3.

Records on 20 October 1988 by type
Record type	Records
Highest daily maximum	167
Lowest daily maximum	48
Highest daily minimum	189
Lowest daily minimum	28
Heaviest daily rainfall	302
Heaviest daily snowfall	0
Deepest snow cover	3

Records on 20 October 1988 by timescale: all-time 0, monthly 13, daily 724.

How Much Records Were Beaten By

616 broken records

Margins by which the 616 broken records beat the old ones, in degrees Celsius for temperature and millimetres for precipitation and snow; the largest margin was 203.0. Ties are not counted.

Top 20 by Significance

20 October 1988

Top 20 records on 20 October 1988 by significance
Date	Station	Record	Value	Beat old record by	Old record stood	Significance
20 October 1988	Klerkskraal (Pol), ZA	daily rain	72.0 mm (2.8 in)	56.0 mm (2.2 in)	24 years	55 of 100 (Notable)
20 October 1988	Greenville, US	daily rain	52.1 mm (2.1 in)	36.4 mm (1.4 in)	79 years	54 of 100 (Notable)
20 October 1988	Barrage (Rwb), ZA	daily rain	51.0 mm (2.0 in)	28.1 mm (1.1 in)	63 years	49 of 100 (Notable)
20 October 1988	Cumberland, ZA	daily rain	49.0 mm (1.9 in)	39.5 mm (1.6 in)	24 years	49 of 100 (Notable)
20 October 1988	Ogies (Pol), ZA	daily rain	68.5 mm (2.7 in)	44.5 mm (1.8 in)	2 years	48 of 100 (Notable)
20 October 1988	Hua Hin, TH	daily rain	103.9 mm (4.1 in)	84.4 mm (3.3 in)	17 years	48 of 100 (Notable)
20 October 1988	Amersfoort (Pol), ZA	daily rain	40.0 mm (1.6 in)	18.7 mm (0.7 in)	80 years	47 of 100 (Notable)
20 October 1988	Santa Rita Exp Range, US	daily rain	65.5 mm (2.6 in)	56.4 mm (2.2 in)	16 years	47 of 100 (Notable)
20 October 1988	Blagodarnyj, RU	daily rain	29.7 mm (1.2 in)	17.4 mm (0.7 in)	26 years	46 of 100 (Notable)
20 October 1988	Capela Do Porto, BR	daily rain	68.0 mm (2.7 in)	49.2 mm (1.9 in)	7 years	45 of 100 (Notable)
20 October 1988	Askaniia Nova, UA	daily rain	40.4 mm (1.6 in)	18.6 mm (0.7 in)	28 years	45 of 100 (Notable)
20 October 1988	Caracas-la Mariposa, VE	daily rain	50.8 mm (2.0 in)	33.3 mm (1.3 in)	31 years	45 of 100 (Notable)
20 October 1988	Arzgir, RU	monthly rain	40.4 mm (1.6 in)	12.9 mm (0.5 in)	12 years	44 of 100 (Notable)
20 October 1988	Villiers (Pol), ZA	daily rain	51.0 mm (2.0 in)	32.7 mm (1.3 in)	47 years	44 of 100 (Notable)
20 October 1988	Tucson Camp Ave Exp, US	daily rain	35.1 mm (1.4 in)	31.0 mm (1.2 in)	39 years	44 of 100 (Notable)
20 October 1988	Goedgevonden, ZA	daily rain	46.0 mm (1.8 in)	33.0 mm (1.3 in)	31 years	43 of 100 (Notable)
20 October 1988	Portland, US	daily rain	54.6 mm (2.1 in)	38.6 mm (1.5 in)	50 years	42 of 100 (Notable)
20 October 1988	Gulkana AP, US	daily snow depth	40.6 cm (16.0 in)	20.3 cm (8.0 in)	23 years	42 of 100 (Notable)
20 October 1988	Oranjeville (Skl), ZA	daily rain	46.4 mm (1.8 in)	20.5 mm (0.8 in)	50 years	40 of 100 (Notable)
20 October 1988	Apache Powder Company, US	daily rain	40.1 mm (1.6 in)	26.1 mm (1.0 in)	5 years	40 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

1806 to 1988

Records set or tied on this calendar date in each year from 1806 to 1988. 1988 had 737 records.

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

Records on 10-20 in each year
Year	Records
1806	1
1835	1
1844	1
1846	1
1847	2
1851	1
1852	1
1858	1
1863	2
1864	2
1866	3
1867	1
1868	2
1872	2
1874	2
1875	3
1876	2
1877	1
1878	1
1880	3
1881	2
1884	1
1885	1
1886	1
1887	1
1888	6
1891	4
1892	4
1893	1
1894	3
1895	4
1896	9
1897	2
1898	7
1899	1
1900	8
1901	7
1902	5
1903	9
1904	13
1905	22
1906	28
1907	32
1908	26
1909	17
1910	31
1911	16
1912	6
1913	38
1914	16
1915	20
1916	72
1917	201
1918	34
1919	19
1920	81
1921	68
1922	83
1923	96
1924	182
1925	247
1926	147
1927	283
1928	92
1929	129
1930	672
1931	125
1932	331
1933	675
1934	422
1935	390
1936	370
1937	189
1938	231
1939	367
1940	757
1941	459
1942	152
1943	501
1944	288
1945	363
1946	310
1947	1,494
1948	320
1949	1,084
1950	619
1951	279
1952	520
1953	1,057
1954	262
1955	529
1956	283
1957	440
1958	461
1959	451
1960	671
1961	479
1962	733
1963	765
1964	598
1965	340
1966	857
1967	511
1968	244
1969	607
1970	710
1971	606
1972	1,724
1973	878
1974	1,122
1975	587
1976	1,304
1977	467
1978	508
1979	1,647
1980	350
1981	1,083
1982	1,191
1983	944
1984	1,562
1985	835
1986	823
1987	590
1988	737
1989	2,092
1990	609
1991	971
1992	1,174
1993	1,238
1994	650
1995	703
1996	1,417
1997	949
1998	683
1999	603
2000	737
2001	589
2002	985
2003	1,761
2004	1,861
2005	1,092
2006	1,170
2007	923
2008	477
2009	786
2010	539
2011	785
2012	945
2013	592
2014	851
2015	523
2016	947
2017	602
2018	394
2019	744
2020	1,010
2021	900
2022	834
2023	1,468
2024	707
2025	326

Download the Data

Data for records on 1988-10-20: 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	612
50 to 100	3
100 to 150	0
150 to 200	0
200 to 250	1