Weather Records on 17 December 1997

1,279 weather records were set or tied worldwide on 17 December 1997. Highest significance: Elk, US.

Key Facts for 17 December 1997

On 17 December 1997, 1,279 weather records were set or tied at long-record stations worldwide.
464 were record highs and 515 were record lows, counting maximum and minimum temperature.
By timescale, 6 were all-time records, 73 monthly and 1,200 daily.
Elk set a daily record snowfall of 19.8 cm (7.8 in) on 17 December 1997.
Across 160 earlier years (1793 to 2025) the same calendar date averaged 458 records.

Record Map

1,279 stations

1,279 station records on 17 December 1997 are marked on the map, coloured by record type. Dot size shows the significance score. Made with Natural Earth.

Weather records on 17 December 1997: highest significance records shown on the map
Station	Country	Type	Value	Significance
Elk	United States	Record daily snowfall	19.8 cm (7.8 in)	65 of 100 (Major)
Copala	Mexico	Record daily precipitation	79.8 mm (3.1 in)	60 of 100 (Major)
Guarapari (Dnos)	Brazil	Record daily precipitation	149.4 mm (5.9 in)	59 of 100 (Notable)
Marechal Floriano (Dnos)	Brazil	Record daily precipitation	85.0 mm (3.3 in)	57 of 100 (Notable)
Jacigua (Dnos)	Brazil	Record daily precipitation	130.0 mm (5.1 in)	54 of 100 (Notable)
Ayutla	Mexico	Record daily precipitation	101.3 mm (4.0 in)	54 of 100 (Notable)
Suchixtlahuaca -Quiotep-	Mexico	Record daily precipitation	74.9 mm (2.9 in)	54 of 100 (Notable)
San Luis Acatlan	Mexico	Record daily precipitation	40.6 mm (1.6 in)	53 of 100 (Notable)
Navacerrada	Spain	Record daily precipitation	109.0 mm (4.3 in)	53 of 100 (Notable)
Burgos-Villafria	Spain	Record daily precipitation	35.7 mm (1.4 in)	51 of 100 (Notable)
Mahackala	Russia	Record low minimum temperature	-18.7 C (-1.7 F)	48 of 100 (Notable)
Assarai-Montante	Brazil	Record daily precipitation	125.0 mm (4.9 in)	47 of 100 (Notable)
Zitlaltepec	Mexico	Record daily precipitation	74.9 mm (2.9 in)	47 of 100 (Notable)
Santa Maria Yucuhiti (Cfe)	Mexico	Record daily precipitation	35.3 mm (1.4 in)	47 of 100 (Notable)
Kiev	Ukraine	Record low minimum temperature	-25.1 C (-13.2 F)	47 of 100 (Notable)
Meadowbank	Australia	Record daily precipitation	93.0 mm (3.7 in)	46 of 100 (Notable)
Laranja da Terra	Brazil	Record daily precipitation	90.2 mm (3.6 in)	46 of 100 (Notable)
Santa Maria Do Jetiba (Dnos)	Brazil	Record daily precipitation	85.6 mm (3.4 in)	46 of 100 (Notable)
Atyrau	Kazakhstan	Record low minimum temperature	-30.3 C (-22.5 F)	46 of 100 (Notable)
Uman	Ukraine	Record low minimum temperature	-22.9 C (-9.2 F)	46 of 100 (Notable)
Escanaba	United States	Record high maximum temperature	8.3 C (46.9 F)	46 of 100 (Notable)
Santo Domingo	Mexico	Record daily precipitation	32.8 mm (1.3 in)	45 of 100 (Notable)
Bogoroditskoye-Fenino	Russia	Record low minimum temperature	-29.3 C (-20.7 F)	44 of 100 (Notable)
Astrakan	Russia	Record low maximum temperature	-16.0 C (3.2 F)	44 of 100 (Notable)
Izmail	Ukraine	Record low minimum temperature	-16.6 C (2.1 F)	44 of 100 (Notable)
Fazenda Jucuruaba	Brazil	Record daily precipitation	95.2 mm (3.7 in)	43 of 100 (Notable)
Mahackala	Russia	Record low maximum temperature	-14.0 C (6.8 F)	43 of 100 (Notable)
Huesca	Spain	Record daily precipitation	38.3 mm (1.5 in)	43 of 100 (Notable)
Pitea	Sweden	Record high maximum temperature	7.0 C (44.6 F)	43 of 100 (Notable)
Putla de Guerrero (Cfe)	Mexico	Record daily precipitation	51.8 mm (2.0 in)	42 of 100 (Notable)
Quetzala	Mexico	Record daily precipitation	27.4 mm (1.1 in)	41 of 100 (Notable)
Zametchino	Russia	Record low minimum temperature	-33.2 C (-27.8 F)	41 of 100 (Notable)
Moron de la Frontera	Spain	Record daily precipitation	87.7 mm (3.5 in)	41 of 100 (Notable)
Harlem	United States	Record high minimum temperature	6.7 C (44.1 F)	41 of 100 (Notable)
Waverly	United States	Record high maximum temperature	11.7 C (53.1 F)	41 of 100 (Notable)
Duas Barras (Dnos)	Brazil	Record daily precipitation	113.0 mm (4.4 in)	40 of 100 (Notable)
Castelo	Brazil	Record daily precipitation	103.4 mm (4.1 in)	40 of 100 (Notable)
Kursk	Russia	Record low minimum temperature	-26.8 C (-16.2 F)	40 of 100 (Notable)
Buzau	Romania	Record low maximum temperature	-8.3 C (17.1 F)	39 of 100 (Notable)
Lajas Substn	Puerto Rico [United States]	Record low maximum temperature	26.7 C (80.1 F)	39 of 100 (Notable)
Vladikavkaz	Russia	Record low maximum temperature	-16.5 C (2.3 F)	39 of 100 (Notable)
Nikolaev	Ukraine	Record low minimum temperature	-21.5 C (-6.7 F)	39 of 100 (Notable)
Feodosiia	Ukraine	Record low maximum temperature	-7.4 C (18.7 F)	39 of 100 (Notable)
Lugansk	Ukraine	Record low maximum temperature	-21.5 C (-6.7 F)	39 of 100 (Notable)
Santa Maria Jacatepec	Mexico	Record low minimum temperature	8.9 C (48.0 F)	38 of 100 (Notable)
Isabela Substn	Puerto Rico [United States]	Record high maximum temperature	32.8 C (91.0 F)	38 of 100 (Notable)
Oktjabrskij-Gorodok	Russia	Record low minimum temperature	-30.5 C (-22.9 F)	38 of 100 (Notable)
Poltava	Ukraine	Record low minimum temperature	-26.7 C (-16.1 F)	38 of 100 (Notable)
Kharkiv	Ukraine	Record low minimum temperature	-28.9 C (-20.0 F)	38 of 100 (Notable)
Lugansk	Ukraine	Record low minimum temperature	-29.0 C (-20.2 F)	38 of 100 (Notable)
Vasilevici	Belarus	Record low minimum temperature	-34.2 C (-29.6 F)	37 of 100 (Notable)
Vila Matias-Montante (Pcd)	Brazil	Record daily precipitation	97.4 mm (3.8 in)	37 of 100 (Notable)
Tres Zapotes	Mexico	Record low minimum temperature	6.7 C (44.1 F)	37 of 100 (Notable)
Porto Mandacaru	Brazil	Record daily precipitation	66.3 mm (2.6 in)	36 of 100 (Notable)
Matilde (Dnos)	Brazil	Record daily precipitation	69.6 mm (2.7 in)	36 of 100 (Notable)
Coicoyan de Las Flores (Cfe)	Mexico	Record daily precipitation	31.8 mm (1.3 in)	36 of 100 (Notable)
Dixie	United States	Record daily snowfall	30.5 cm (12.0 in)	36 of 100 (Notable)
Headquarters	United States	Record daily precipitation	34.8 mm (1.4 in)	36 of 100 (Notable)
Bremerton	United States	Record daily precipitation	51.3 mm (2.0 in)	36 of 100 (Notable)
Usina Paineiras (Dnos)	Brazil	Record daily precipitation	96.0 mm (3.8 in)	35 of 100 (Notable)

Counts by Type and Timescale

1,279 records

Records set or tied on 17 December 1997 by type: Highest daily maximum 272, Lowest daily maximum 189, Highest daily minimum 192, Lowest daily minimum 326, Heaviest daily rainfall 288, Heaviest daily snowfall 4, Deepest snow cover 8.

Records on 17 December 1997 by type
Record type	Records
Highest daily maximum	272
Lowest daily maximum	189
Highest daily minimum	192
Lowest daily minimum	326
Heaviest daily rainfall	288
Heaviest daily snowfall	4
Deepest snow cover	8

Records on 17 December 1997 by timescale: all-time 6, monthly 73, daily 1,200.

How Much Records Were Beaten By

1,090 broken records

Margins by which the 1,090 broken records beat the old ones, in degrees Celsius for temperature and millimetres for precipitation and snow; the largest margin was 204.0. Ties are not counted.

Top 20 by Significance

17 December 1997

Top 20 records on 17 December 1997 by significance
Date	Station	Record	Value	Beat old record by	Old record stood	Significance
17 December 1997	Elk, US	daily snowfall	19.8 cm (7.8 in)	19.8 cm (7.8 in)	100 years	65 of 100 (Major)
17 December 1997	Copala, MX	monthly rain	79.8 mm (3.1 in)	39.9 mm (1.6 in)	28 years	60 of 100 (Major)
17 December 1997	Guarapari (Dnos), BR	daily rain	149.4 mm (5.9 in)	111.0 mm (4.4 in)	47 years	59 of 100 (Notable)
17 December 1997	Marechal Floriano (Dnos), BR	daily rain	85.0 mm (3.3 in)	59.8 mm (2.4 in)	47 years	57 of 100 (Notable)
17 December 1997	Jacigua (Dnos), BR	daily rain	130.0 mm (5.1 in)	105.6 mm (4.2 in)	30 years	54 of 100 (Notable)
17 December 1997	Ayutla, MX	monthly rain	101.3 mm (4.0 in)	63.7 mm (2.5 in)	1 year	54 of 100 (Notable)
17 December 1997	Suchixtlahuaca -Quiotep-, MX	monthly rain	74.9 mm (2.9 in)	55.1 mm (2.2 in)	1 year	54 of 100 (Notable)
17 December 1997	San Luis Acatlan, MX	daily rain	40.6 mm (1.6 in)	40.6 mm (1.6 in)	34 years	53 of 100 (Notable)
17 December 1997	Navacerrada, ES	daily rain	109.0 mm (4.3 in)	75.9 mm (3.0 in)	28 years	53 of 100 (Notable)
17 December 1997	Burgos-Villafria, ES	daily rain	35.7 mm (1.4 in)	19.2 mm (0.8 in)	39 years	51 of 100 (Notable)
17 December 1997	Mahackala, RU	daily low min	-18.7 C (-1.7 F)	4.9 C (8.8 F)	95 years	48 of 100 (Notable)
17 December 1997	Assarai-Montante, BR	daily rain	125.0 mm (4.9 in)	87.3 mm (3.4 in)	8 years	47 of 100 (Notable)
17 December 1997	Zitlaltepec, MX	monthly rain	74.9 mm (2.9 in)	29.9 mm (1.2 in)	28 years	47 of 100 (Notable)
17 December 1997	Santa Maria Yucuhiti (Cfe), MX	daily rain	35.3 mm (1.4 in)	35.3 mm (1.4 in)	36 years	47 of 100 (Notable)
17 December 1997	Kiev, UA	daily low min	-25.1 C (-13.2 F)	4.4 C (7.9 F)	106 years	47 of 100 (Notable)
17 December 1997	Meadowbank, AU	daily rain	93.0 mm (3.7 in)	76.6 mm (3.0 in)	16 years	46 of 100 (Notable)
17 December 1997	Laranja da Terra, BR	daily rain	90.2 mm (3.6 in)	45.2 mm (1.8 in)	47 years	46 of 100 (Notable)
17 December 1997	Santa Maria Do Jetiba (Dnos), BR	daily rain	85.6 mm (3.4 in)	55.6 mm (2.2 in)	40 years	46 of 100 (Notable)
17 December 1997	Atyrau, KZ	daily low min	-30.3 C (-22.5 F)	5.8 C (10.4 F)	95 years	46 of 100 (Notable)
17 December 1997	Uman, UA	daily low min	-22.9 C (-9.2 F)	3.7 C (6.7 F)	106 years	46 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 1997

Records set or tied on this calendar date in each year from 1793 to 1997. 1997 had 1,279 records.

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

Records on 12-17 in each year
Year	Records
1793	2
1796	1
1806	2
1808	2
1814	1
1815	1
1839	1
1845	1
1846	4
1847	1
1848	1
1859	3
1866	1
1867	1
1868	1
1869	2
1873	2
1876	3
1877	2
1878	1
1879	2
1881	2
1885	1
1886	1
1888	2
1889	2
1890	4
1892	4
1893	2
1894	4
1895	3
1896	4
1897	4
1898	2
1899	1
1900	6
1901	5
1902	47
1903	2
1904	14
1905	2
1906	17
1907	9
1908	13
1909	5
1910	37
1911	12
1912	15
1913	21
1914	17
1915	31
1916	21
1917	21
1918	21
1919	109
1920	97
1921	94
1922	120
1923	170
1924	505
1925	79
1926	172
1927	143
1928	359
1929	221
1930	362
1931	217
1932	684
1933	710
1934	200
1935	87
1936	504
1937	379
1938	118
1939	1,126
1940	248
1941	261
1942	507
1943	444
1944	189
1945	621
1946	207
1947	258
1948	316
1949	296
1950	294
1951	773
1952	277
1953	283
1954	409
1955	419
1956	448
1957	686
1958	540
1959	548
1960	492
1961	911
1962	676
1963	531
1964	1,239
1965	482
1966	516
1967	1,121
1968	338
1969	238
1970	820
1971	781
1972	601
1973	1,016
1974	390
1975	474
1976	507
1977	1,024
1978	710
1979	951
1980	1,116
1981	1,354
1982	569
1983	1,264
1984	1,618
1985	1,210
1986	743
1987	1,191
1988	481
1989	2,905
1990	866
1991	577
1992	1,461
1993	761
1994	685
1995	956
1996	1,212
1997	1,279
1998	695
1999	901
2000	1,566
2001	1,262
2002	858
2003	751
2004	554
2005	806
2006	1,307
2007	1,100
2008	1,354
2009	926
2010	1,405
2011	430
2012	942
2013	718
2014	370
2015	1,378
2016	1,521
2017	408
2018	498
2019	917
2020	768
2021	908
2022	595
2023	931
2024	560
2025	1,198

Download the Data

Data for records on 1997-12-17: 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	1,070
50 to 100	14
100 to 150	4
150 to 200	1
200 to 250	1