Weather Records on 31 December 1998

739 weather records were set or tied worldwide on 31 December 1998. Highest significance: Westland, AU.

Key Facts for 31 December 1998

On 31 December 1998, 739 weather records were set or tied at long-record stations worldwide.
267 were record highs and 136 were record lows, counting maximum and minimum temperature.
By timescale, 1 were all-time records, 9 monthly and 729 daily.
Westland set a daily record precipitation of 63.0 mm (2.5 in) on 31 December 1998.
Across 157 earlier years (1797 to 2025) the same calendar date averaged 485 records.

Record Map

739 stations

739 station records on 31 December 1998 are marked on the map, coloured by record type. Dot size shows the significance score. Made with Natural Earth.

Weather records on 31 December 1998: highest significance records shown on the map
Station	Country	Type	Value	Significance
Westland	Australia	Record daily precipitation	63.0 mm (2.5 in)	71 of 100 (Major)
Burketown Post Office	Australia	Record daily precipitation	185.8 mm (7.3 in)	69 of 100 (Major)
Bloomington Indiana UNIV	United States	Record daily snowfall	10.2 cm (4.0 in)	55 of 100 (Notable)
Brighton Downs	Australia	Record daily precipitation	59.6 mm (2.3 in)	54 of 100 (Notable)
Falmouth	United States	Record daily snowfall	6.4 cm (2.5 in)	54 of 100 (Notable)
Carrollton Lock 1	United States	Record daily snowfall	7.6 cm (3.0 in)	53 of 100 (Notable)
Saltville 1N	United States	Record daily snowfall	7.6 cm (3.0 in)	51 of 100 (Notable)
Cork Station	Australia	Record daily precipitation	31.0 mm (1.2 in)	49 of 100 (Notable)
Genoa	Italy	Record daily precipitation	77.8 mm (3.1 in)	48 of 100 (Notable)
Sac City	United States	Record daily snowfall	15.2 cm (6.0 in)	47 of 100 (Notable)
Casey	United States	Record daily snowfall	10.2 cm (4.0 in)	46 of 100 (Notable)
Jundah Post Office	Australia	Record daily precipitation	41.0 mm (1.6 in)	45 of 100 (Notable)
Martinsville 2 SW	United States	Record daily snowfall	8.9 cm (3.5 in)	44 of 100 (Notable)
Perry	United States	Record daily snowfall	16.5 cm (6.5 in)	44 of 100 (Notable)
Sigourney	United States	Record daily snowfall	14.0 cm (5.5 in)	44 of 100 (Notable)
Bimerah	Australia	Record daily precipitation	50.0 mm (2.0 in)	43 of 100 (Notable)
Rangely 1E	United States	Record high maximum temperature	8.3 C (46.9 F)	43 of 100 (Notable)
Jefferson	United States	Record daily snowfall	17.3 cm (6.8 in)	43 of 100 (Notable)
Pocahontas	United States	Record daily snowfall	17.8 cm (7.0 in)	43 of 100 (Notable)
Wellshot	Australia	Record daily precipitation	50.0 mm (2.0 in)	42 of 100 (Notable)
Amcor - Petrie Mill	Australia	Record daily precipitation	91.0 mm (3.6 in)	42 of 100 (Notable)
Cherokee	United States	Record daily snowfall	11.4 cm (4.5 in)	42 of 100 (Notable)
Lake Park 3SSE	United States	Record daily snowfall	10.2 cm (4.0 in)	42 of 100 (Notable)
Riversleigh Station	Australia	Record daily precipitation	32.2 mm (1.3 in)	41 of 100 (Notable)
Gowan Hills	Australia	Record daily precipitation	45.0 mm (1.8 in)	41 of 100 (Notable)
Flora Downs	Australia	Record daily precipitation	31.0 mm (1.2 in)	41 of 100 (Notable)
Springvale	Australia	Record daily precipitation	51.0 mm (2.0 in)	41 of 100 (Notable)
Boone	United States	Record daily snowfall	15.2 cm (6.0 in)	41 of 100 (Notable)
Medford	United States	Record low maximum temperature	-18.3 C (-0.9 F)	41 of 100 (Notable)
Callemondah Station	Australia	Record daily precipitation	58.0 mm (2.3 in)	40 of 100 (Notable)
Lincoln	United States	Record daily snowfall	18.5 cm (7.3 in)	40 of 100 (Notable)
Terrick Terrick Stud	Australia	Record daily precipitation	33.5 mm (1.3 in)	39 of 100 (Notable)
Windorah Post Office	Australia	Record low maximum temperature	21.8 C (71.2 F)	39 of 100 (Notable)
Mt Pulaski	United States	Record daily snowfall	14.7 cm (5.8 in)	39 of 100 (Notable)
Seymour 1 WSW	United States	Record daily snowfall	7.6 cm (3.0 in)	39 of 100 (Notable)
Montezuma 1 W	United States	Record daily snowfall	12.7 cm (5.0 in)	39 of 100 (Notable)
Webster City	United States	Record daily snowfall	11.4 cm (4.5 in)	39 of 100 (Notable)
Pipestone	United States	Record daily snowfall	5.1 cm (2.0 in)	39 of 100 (Notable)
Marseille Obs. Palais-Lonchamp	France	Record daily precipitation	36.0 mm (1.4 in)	38 of 100 (Notable)
Carroll	United States	Record daily snowfall	12.2 cm (4.8 in)	38 of 100 (Notable)
Rockwell City	United States	Record daily snowfall	15.2 cm (6.0 in)	38 of 100 (Notable)
Mtn Park	United States	Record high maximum temperature	16.7 C (62.1 F)	38 of 100 (Notable)
Morstone Station	Australia	Record daily precipitation	45.2 mm (1.8 in)	37 of 100 (Notable)
Katandra	Australia	Record daily precipitation	42.0 mm (1.7 in)	37 of 100 (Notable)
Barfield	Australia	Record daily precipitation	38.0 mm (1.5 in)	37 of 100 (Notable)
Chiricahua Nm	United States	Record high maximum temperature	21.1 C (70.0 F)	37 of 100 (Notable)
Guthrie Ctr	United States	Record daily snowfall	16.5 cm (6.5 in)	37 of 100 (Notable)
Kingsport	United States	Record daily snowfall	5.1 cm (2.0 in)	37 of 100 (Notable)
Ilfracombe Post Office	Australia	Record daily precipitation	47.5 mm (1.9 in)	36 of 100 (Notable)
Noonbah	Australia	Record daily precipitation	39.0 mm (1.5 in)	36 of 100 (Notable)
Piranga	Brazil	Record daily precipitation	91.4 mm (3.6 in)	36 of 100 (Notable)
San Miguel Ejutla	Mexico	Record high maximum temperature	33.9 C (93.0 F)	36 of 100 (Notable)
Coloso	Puerto Rico [United States]	Record low maximum temperature	23.9 C (75.0 F)	36 of 100 (Notable)
Miami	United States	Record high maximum temperature	25.6 C (78.1 F)	36 of 100 (Notable)
Pearce - Sunsites	United States	Record high maximum temperature	22.8 C (73.0 F)	36 of 100 (Notable)
Mundurin Station	Australia	Record daily precipitation	45.0 mm (1.8 in)	35 of 100 (Notable)
Valladolid (Villanubla)	Spain	Record daily precipitation	34.9 mm (1.4 in)	35 of 100 (Notable)
Colo	United States	Record daily snowfall	15.2 cm (6.0 in)	35 of 100 (Notable)
Leon 6 ESE	United States	Record daily snowfall	15.7 cm (6.2 in)	35 of 100 (Notable)
Audubon	United States	Record daily snowfall	11.4 cm (4.5 in)	34 of 100 (Routine)

Counts by Type and Timescale

739 records

Records set or tied on 31 December 1998 by type: Highest daily maximum 168, Lowest daily maximum 91, Highest daily minimum 99, Lowest daily minimum 45, Heaviest daily rainfall 157, Heaviest daily snowfall 160, Deepest snow cover 19.

Records on 31 December 1998 by type
Record type	Records
Highest daily maximum	168
Lowest daily maximum	91
Highest daily minimum	99
Lowest daily minimum	45
Heaviest daily rainfall	157
Heaviest daily snowfall	160
Deepest snow cover	19

Records on 31 December 1998 by timescale: all-time 1, monthly 9, daily 729.

How Much Records Were Beaten By

563 broken records

Margins by which the 563 broken records beat the old ones, in degrees Celsius for temperature and millimetres for precipitation and snow; the largest margin was 131.4. Ties are not counted.

Top 20 by Significance

31 December 1998

Top 20 records on 31 December 1998 by significance
Date	Station	Record	Value	Beat old record by	Old record stood	Significance
31 December 1998	Westland, AU	daily rain	63.0 mm (2.5 in)	49.3 mm (1.9 in)	73 years	71 of 100 (Major)
31 December 1998	Burketown Post Office, AU	daily rain	185.8 mm (7.3 in)	131.4 mm (5.2 in)	64 years	69 of 100 (Major)
31 December 1998	Bloomington Indiana UNIV, US	daily snowfall	10.2 cm (4.0 in)	7.7 cm (3.0 in)	92 years	55 of 100 (Notable)
31 December 1998	Brighton Downs, AU	daily rain	59.6 mm (2.3 in)	28.1 mm (1.1 in)	81 years	54 of 100 (Notable)
31 December 1998	Falmouth, US	daily snowfall	6.4 cm (2.5 in)	6.1 cm (2.4 in)	99 years	54 of 100 (Notable)
31 December 1998	Carrollton Lock 1, US	daily snowfall	7.6 cm (3.0 in)	5.1 cm (2.0 in)	100 years	53 of 100 (Notable)
31 December 1998	Saltville 1N, US	daily snowfall	7.6 cm (3.0 in)	5.1 cm (2.0 in)	102 years	51 of 100 (Notable)
31 December 1998	Cork Station, AU	daily rain	31.0 mm (1.2 in)	16.8 mm (0.7 in)	101 years	49 of 100 (Notable)
31 December 1998	Genoa, IT	daily rain	77.8 mm (3.1 in)	16.1 mm (0.6 in)	100 years	48 of 100 (Notable)
31 December 1998	Sac City, US	daily snowfall	15.2 cm (6.0 in)	5.0 cm (2.0 in)	87 years	47 of 100 (Notable)
31 December 1998	Casey, US	daily snowfall	10.2 cm (4.0 in)	2.6 cm (1.0 in)	100 years	46 of 100 (Notable)
31 December 1998	Jundah Post Office, AU	daily rain	41.0 mm (1.6 in)	12.3 mm (0.5 in)	95 years	45 of 100 (Notable)
31 December 1998	Martinsville 2 SW, US	daily snowfall	8.9 cm (3.5 in)	6.4 cm (2.5 in)	71 years	44 of 100 (Notable)
31 December 1998	Perry, US	daily snowfall	16.5 cm (6.5 in)	8.9 cm (3.5 in)	40 years	44 of 100 (Notable)
31 December 1998	Sigourney, US	daily snowfall	14.0 cm (5.5 in)	5.9 cm (2.3 in)	75 years	44 of 100 (Notable)
31 December 1998	Bimerah, AU	daily rain	50.0 mm (2.0 in)	14.7 mm (0.6 in)	81 years	43 of 100 (Notable)
31 December 1998	Rangely 1E, US	daily high max	8.3 C (46.9 F)	2.2 C (4.0 F)	101 years	43 of 100 (Notable)
31 December 1998	Jefferson, US	daily snowfall	17.3 cm (6.8 in)	4.6 cm (1.8 in)	75 years	43 of 100 (Notable)
31 December 1998	Pocahontas, US	daily snowfall	17.8 cm (7.0 in)	6.4 cm (2.5 in)	67 years	43 of 100 (Notable)
31 December 1998	Wellshot, AU	daily rain	50.0 mm (2.0 in)	11.9 mm (0.5 in)	81 years	42 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

1797 to 1998

Records set or tied on this calendar date in each year from 1797 to 1998. 1998 had 739 records.

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

Records on 12-31 in each year
Year	Records
1797	1
1799	2
1826	1
1836	1
1842	2
1850	3
1853	1
1854	1
1859	1
1860	1
1867	1
1870	2
1872	2
1874	4
1875	2
1876	2
1878	2
1879	2
1880	2
1882	1
1884	2
1885	1
1886	3
1887	1
1888	2
1890	2
1891	8
1892	4
1895	4
1897	6
1898	5
1899	4
1900	3
1901	16
1902	3
1903	3
1904	11
1905	9
1906	31
1907	11
1908	7
1909	5
1910	25
1911	14
1912	17
1913	46
1914	34
1915	32
1916	25
1917	239
1918	24
1919	38
1920	64
1921	130
1922	83
1923	280
1924	113
1925	183
1926	77
1927	491
1928	53
1929	224
1930	58
1931	543
1932	394
1933	409
1934	181
1935	309
1936	567
1937	500
1938	247
1939	298
1940	467
1941	159
1942	352
1943	159
1944	259
1945	210
1946	707
1947	461
1948	591
1949	384
1950	310
1951	1,421
1952	377
1953	410
1954	286
1955	429
1956	216
1957	724
1958	584
1959	414
1960	389
1961	309
1962	810
1963	1,015
1964	388
1965	1,371
1966	326
1967	1,023
1968	1,371
1969	825
1970	579
1971	568
1972	836
1973	1,370
1974	590
1975	791
1976	1,306
1977	641
1978	2,791
1979	448
1980	1,448
1981	786
1982	639
1983	2,220
1984	942
1985	593
1986	616
1987	845
1988	600
1989	506
1990	1,379
1991	703
1992	1,062
1993	718
1994	878
1995	1,151
1996	2,202
1997	988
1998	739
1999	524
2000	1,575
2001	748
2002	1,232
2003	523
2004	1,278
2005	959
2006	2,089
2007	652
2008	656
2009	867
2010	1,544
2011	739
2012	803
2013	606
2014	903
2015	748
2016	678
2017	1,589
2018	620
2019	593
2020	489
2021	1,739
2022	1,497
2023	474
2024	460
2025	760

Download the Data

Data for records on 1998-12-31: 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 20	446
20 to 40	66
40 to 60	29
60 to 80	13
80 to 100	4
100 to 120	3
120 to 140	2