Weather Records on 16 December 2002

990 weather records were set or tied worldwide on 16 December 2002. Highest significance: Happy Camp Rs, US.

Key Facts for 16 December 2002

On 16 December 2002, 990 weather records were set or tied at long-record stations worldwide.
520 were record highs and 153 were record lows, counting maximum and minimum temperature.
By timescale, 5 were all-time records, 22 monthly and 963 daily.
Happy Camp Rs set an all-time record daily precipitation of 221.0 mm (8.7 in) on 16 December 2002.
Across 160 earlier years (1793 to 2025) the same calendar date averaged 479 records.

Record Map

990 stations

990 station records on 16 December 2002 are marked on the map, coloured by record type. Dot size shows the significance score. Made with Natural Earth.

Weather records on 16 December 2002: highest significance records shown on the map
Station	Country	Type	Value	Significance
Happy Camp Rs	United States	Record daily precipitation	221.0 mm (8.7 in)	77 of 100 (Major)
Newark	United States	Record daily precipitation	40.1 mm (1.6 in)	64 of 100 (Major)
Sierraville Rs	United States	Record daily precipitation	110.7 mm (4.4 in)	63 of 100 (Major)
Livermore	United States	Record daily precipitation	53.1 mm (2.1 in)	62 of 100 (Major)
Winters	United States	Record daily precipitation	88.4 mm (3.5 in)	62 of 100 (Major)
Izana	Spain	Record daily precipitation	125.3 mm (4.9 in)	60 of 100 (Major)
Batavia	United States	Record daily precipitation	62.2 mm (2.4 in)	60 of 100 (Major)
Chico UNIV Farm	United States	Record daily precipitation	114.8 mm (4.5 in)	59 of 100 (Notable)
Chumphon	Thailand	Record daily precipitation	160.0 mm (6.3 in)	58 of 100 (Notable)
Mt Morris 2W	United States	Record daily precipitation	38.1 mm (1.5 in)	58 of 100 (Notable)
Newport	United States	Record daily precipitation	49.5 mm (1.9 in)	56 of 100 (Notable)
East Park Rsvr	United States	Record daily precipitation	50.8 mm (2.0 in)	55 of 100 (Notable)
Foresthill Rs	United States	Record daily precipitation	151.4 mm (6.0 in)	54 of 100 (Notable)
W Pt	United States	Record daily precipitation	82.6 mm (3.3 in)	54 of 100 (Notable)
Antioch Pumping Plt #3	United States	Record daily precipitation	39.4 mm (1.6 in)	53 of 100 (Notable)
Cecilville	United States	Record daily precipitation	99.1 mm (3.9 in)	53 of 100 (Notable)
Clearlake 4 SE	United States	Record daily precipitation	109.0 mm (4.3 in)	53 of 100 (Notable)
Vacaville	United States	Record daily precipitation	83.8 mm (3.3 in)	53 of 100 (Notable)
Hayfork 2 W	United States	Record daily precipitation	74.9 mm (2.9 in)	52 of 100 (Notable)
Medford Exp STN	United States	Record daily precipitation	71.4 mm (2.8 in)	52 of 100 (Notable)
Republic	United States	Record daily precipitation	27.7 mm (1.1 in)	52 of 100 (Notable)
Woodland 1 WNW	United States	Record daily precipitation	47.2 mm (1.9 in)	50 of 100 (Notable)
Green Springs Pwr Plt	United States	Record daily precipitation	89.2 mm (3.5 in)	50 of 100 (Notable)
Davis 2 WSW Exp Farm	United States	Record daily precipitation	57.7 mm (2.3 in)	49 of 100 (Notable)
Coquille City	United States	Record daily precipitation	95.0 mm (3.7 in)	49 of 100 (Notable)
Harrison Gulch Rs	United States	Record daily precipitation	186.7 mm (7.4 in)	48 of 100 (Notable)
Ft Jones Rs	United States	Record daily precipitation	88.4 mm (3.5 in)	47 of 100 (Notable)
Tracy Pumping Plt	United States	Record daily precipitation	39.6 mm (1.6 in)	47 of 100 (Notable)
Doyle 4 SSE	United States	Record daily precipitation	55.1 mm (2.2 in)	46 of 100 (Notable)
Lajas Substn	Puerto Rico [United States]	Record high maximum temperature	32.8 C (91.0 F)	45 of 100 (Notable)
Reno AP	United States	Record daily precipitation	32.8 mm (1.3 in)	45 of 100 (Notable)
Callahan	United States	Record daily precipitation	76.7 mm (3.0 in)	44 of 100 (Notable)
Markleeville	United States	Record daily precipitation	27.9 mm (1.1 in)	44 of 100 (Notable)
Northport	United States	Record daily precipitation	25.4 mm (1.0 in)	44 of 100 (Notable)
Winthrop 1 WSW	United States	Record daily precipitation	31.2 mm (1.2 in)	44 of 100 (Notable)
San Francisco Dwtn	United States	Record daily precipitation	44.7 mm (1.8 in)	44 of 100 (Notable)
Coahuayutla	Mexico	Record low minimum temperature	8.9 C (48.0 F)	43 of 100 (Notable)
Los Alamos	United States	Record daily precipitation	43.4 mm (1.7 in)	43 of 100 (Notable)
Middletown	United States	Record daily precipitation	116.6 mm (4.6 in)	43 of 100 (Notable)
Macedon Lock E30	United States	Record daily precipitation	28.7 mm (1.1 in)	43 of 100 (Notable)
Riito	Mexico	Record high maximum temperature	35.6 C (96.1 F)	42 of 100 (Notable)
Bridgeport	United States	Record daily snowfall	18.3 cm (7.2 in)	42 of 100 (Notable)
Napa State Hospital	United States	Record daily precipitation	57.7 mm (2.3 in)	42 of 100 (Notable)
Anderson Dam	United States	Record daily precipitation	28.2 mm (1.1 in)	42 of 100 (Notable)
Martinez Wtp	United States	Record daily precipitation	50.0 mm (2.0 in)	41 of 100 (Notable)
San Clemente Dam	United States	Record daily precipitation	60.7 mm (2.4 in)	41 of 100 (Notable)
Virginia City	United States	Record daily snowfall	30.5 cm (12.0 in)	41 of 100 (Notable)
Oregon	United States	Record high minimum temperature	5.0 C (41.0 F)	40 of 100 (Notable)
Virginia City	United States	Record daily precipitation	37.8 mm (1.5 in)	40 of 100 (Notable)
Wellsville	United States	Record daily precipitation	26.2 mm (1.0 in)	40 of 100 (Notable)
Riddle	United States	Record daily precipitation	79.0 mm (3.1 in)	40 of 100 (Notable)
Nhill	Australia	Record high maximum temperature	41.6 C (106.9 F)	39 of 100 (Notable)
Berkeley	United States	Record daily precipitation	39.6 mm (1.6 in)	39 of 100 (Notable)
Mt Diablo Junction	United States	Record daily precipitation	59.2 mm (2.3 in)	39 of 100 (Notable)
Riverside Fire STN 3	United States	Record daily precipitation	31.0 mm (1.2 in)	39 of 100 (Notable)
Sonoma	United States	Record daily precipitation	37.1 mm (1.5 in)	39 of 100 (Notable)
Los Angeles Downtown/Usc	United States	Record daily precipitation	49.8 mm (2.0 in)	39 of 100 (Notable)
Canyon Dam	United States	Record daily precipitation	66.8 mm (2.6 in)	38 of 100 (Notable)
De Sabla	United States	Record daily precipitation	121.4 mm (4.8 in)	38 of 100 (Notable)
Muir Woods	United States	Record daily precipitation	67.6 mm (2.7 in)	38 of 100 (Notable)

Counts by Type and Timescale

990 records

Records set or tied on 16 December 2002 by type: Highest daily maximum 302, Lowest daily maximum 65, Highest daily minimum 218, Lowest daily minimum 88, Heaviest daily rainfall 291, Heaviest daily snowfall 17, Deepest snow cover 9.

Records on 16 December 2002 by type
Record type	Records
Highest daily maximum	302
Lowest daily maximum	65
Highest daily minimum	218
Lowest daily minimum	88
Heaviest daily rainfall	291
Heaviest daily snowfall	17
Deepest snow cover	9

Records on 16 December 2002 by timescale: all-time 5, monthly 22, daily 963.

How Much Records Were Beaten By

789 broken records

Margins by which the 789 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

16 December 2002

Top 20 records on 16 December 2002 by significance
Date	Station	Record	Value	Beat old record by	Old record stood	Significance
16 December 2002	Happy Camp Rs, US	all-time rain	221.0 mm (8.7 in)	55.9 mm (2.2 in)	72 years	77 of 100 (Major)
16 December 2002	Newark, US	daily rain	40.1 mm (1.6 in)	26.6 mm (1.0 in)	55 years	64 of 100 (Major)
16 December 2002	Sierraville Rs, US	daily rain	110.7 mm (4.4 in)	69.3 mm (2.7 in)	60 years	63 of 100 (Major)
16 December 2002	Livermore, US	daily rain	53.1 mm (2.1 in)	34.8 mm (1.4 in)	40 years	62 of 100 (Major)
16 December 2002	Winters, US	daily rain	88.4 mm (3.5 in)	70.4 mm (2.8 in)	44 years	62 of 100 (Major)
16 December 2002	Izana, ES	daily rain	125.3 mm (4.9 in)	85.1 mm (3.4 in)	41 years	60 of 100 (Major)
16 December 2002	Batavia, US	monthly rain	62.2 mm (2.4 in)	11.4 mm (0.4 in)	76 years	60 of 100 (Major)
16 December 2002	Chico UNIV Farm, US	monthly rain	114.8 mm (4.5 in)	28.4 mm (1.1 in)	68 years	59 of 100 (Notable)
16 December 2002	Chumphon, TH	daily rain	160.0 mm (6.3 in)	135.9 mm (5.4 in)	44 years	58 of 100 (Notable)
16 December 2002	Mt Morris 2W, US	daily rain	38.1 mm (1.5 in)	28.2 mm (1.1 in)	29 years	58 of 100 (Notable)
16 December 2002	Newport, US	daily rain	49.5 mm (1.9 in)	18.8 mm (0.7 in)	72 years	56 of 100 (Notable)
16 December 2002	East Park Rsvr, US	daily rain	50.8 mm (2.0 in)	35.3 mm (1.4 in)	61 years	55 of 100 (Notable)
16 December 2002	Foresthill Rs, US	daily rain	151.4 mm (6.0 in)	93.0 mm (3.7 in)	40 years	54 of 100 (Notable)
16 December 2002	W Pt, US	daily rain	82.6 mm (3.3 in)	57.5 mm (2.3 in)	32 years	54 of 100 (Notable)
16 December 2002	Antioch Pumping Plt #3, US	daily rain	39.4 mm (1.6 in)	27.0 mm (1.1 in)	40 years	53 of 100 (Notable)
16 December 2002	Cecilville, US	daily rain	99.1 mm (3.9 in)	66.6 mm (2.6 in)	32 years	53 of 100 (Notable)
16 December 2002	Clearlake 4 SE, US	daily rain	109.0 mm (4.3 in)	81.3 mm (3.2 in)	32 years	53 of 100 (Notable)
16 December 2002	Vacaville, US	daily rain	83.8 mm (3.3 in)	52.6 mm (2.1 in)	44 years	53 of 100 (Notable)
16 December 2002	Hayfork 2 W, US	daily rain	74.9 mm (2.9 in)	32.0 mm (1.3 in)	81 years	52 of 100 (Notable)
16 December 2002	Medford Exp STN, US	daily rain	71.4 mm (2.8 in)	39.4 mm (1.6 in)	20 years	52 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 2002

Records set or tied on this calendar date in each year from 1793 to 2002. 2002 had 990 records.

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

Records on 12-16 in each year
Year	Records
1793	2
1798	2
1808	1
1810	1
1814	2
1815	2
1835	1
1839	1
1840	1
1846	3
1852	1
1853	1
1859	3
1864	1
1869	1
1870	1
1872	1
1876	1
1877	1
1878	2
1879	1
1885	2
1886	2
1888	2
1889	1
1890	4
1891	2
1892	3
1893	1
1894	1
1895	1
1896	7
1897	4
1898	1
1899	2
1900	2
1901	4
1902	17
1903	6
1904	8
1905	4
1906	5
1907	30
1908	11
1909	5
1910	38
1911	26
1912	31
1913	12
1914	26
1915	55
1916	31
1917	60
1918	33
1919	52
1920	61
1921	35
1922	62
1923	205
1924	347
1925	93
1926	130
1927	218
1928	338
1929	383
1930	398
1931	168
1932	880
1933	716
1934	163
1935	71
1936	429
1937	351
1938	142
1939	1,014
1940	633
1941	348
1942	550
1943	491
1944	189
1945	478
1946	357
1947	506
1948	775
1949	132
1950	272
1951	987
1952	349
1953	265
1954	305
1955	325
1956	650
1957	478
1958	497
1959	605
1960	393
1961	858
1962	859
1963	484
1964	639
1965	576
1966	417
1967	886
1968	557
1969	205
1970	726
1971	1,540
1972	1,020
1973	823
1974	546
1975	493
1976	526
1977	950
1978	532
1979	528
1980	1,322
1981	1,498
1982	1,208
1983	1,156
1984	1,944
1985	983
1986	485
1987	1,377
1988	605
1989	3,181
1990	753
1991	659
1992	1,408
1993	676
1994	698
1995	714
1996	797
1997	1,260
1998	698
1999	821
2000	1,160
2001	1,197
2002	990
2003	679
2004	510
2005	1,073
2006	1,020
2007	1,301
2008	2,049
2009	1,032
2010	1,585
2011	777
2012	912
2013	762
2014	465
2015	925
2016	1,588
2017	349
2018	624
2019	786
2020	415
2021	1,485
2022	836
2023	841
2024	755
2025	1,820

Download the Data

Data for records on 2002-12-16: 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 2026-10-16 (16 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	761
50 to 100	22
100 to 150	3
150 to 200	2
200 to 250	1