Weather Records on 18 December 2003

987 weather records were set or tied worldwide on 18 December 2003. Highest significance: East London, ZA.

Key Facts for 18 December 2003

On 18 December 2003, 987 weather records were set or tied at long-record stations worldwide.
244 were record highs and 408 were record lows, counting maximum and minimum temperature.
By timescale, 4 were all-time records, 32 monthly and 951 daily.
East London set a daily record precipitation of 93.2 mm (3.7 in) on 18 December 2003.
Across 156 earlier years (1793 to 2025) the same calendar date averaged 476 records.

Record Map

987 stations

987 station records on 18 December 2003 are marked on the map, coloured by record type. Dot size shows the significance score. Made with Natural Earth.

Weather records on 18 December 2003: highest significance records shown on the map
Station	Country	Type	Value	Significance
East London	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	93.2 mm (3.7 in)	64 of 100 (Major)
N Stratford	United States	Record daily precipitation	63.5 mm (2.5 in)	64 of 100 (Major)
Newport	United States	Record daily precipitation	49.5 mm (1.9 in)	61 of 100 (Major)
Feodosiia	Ukraine	Record daily precipitation	27.5 mm (1.1 in)	54 of 100 (Notable)
Bingham Wyman Dam	United States	Record daily precipitation	82.0 mm (3.2 in)	53 of 100 (Notable)
Keene	United States	Record daily precipitation	62.2 mm (2.4 in)	51 of 100 (Notable)
Vigra	Norway	Record daily precipitation	46.9 mm (1.8 in)	50 of 100 (Notable)
Chittenden	United States	Record daily snowfall	27.9 cm (11.0 in)	50 of 100 (Notable)
Huautla de Jimenez	Mexico	Record low minimum temperature	-3.3 C (26.1 F)	46 of 100 (Notable)
Primorsko-Ahtarsk	Russia	Record daily precipitation	27.9 mm (1.1 in)	45 of 100 (Notable)
Harris STN	United States	Record daily precipitation	53.3 mm (2.1 in)	45 of 100 (Notable)
Petersburg 1	United States	Record daily precipitation	71.9 mm (2.8 in)	45 of 100 (Notable)
Frenchburg 2 W	United States	Record snow depth	15.2 cm (6.0 in)	44 of 100 (Notable)
Rutland	United States	Record daily snowfall	20.3 cm (8.0 in)	43 of 100 (Notable)
Haines AP	United States	Record daily precipitation	36.8 mm (1.4 in)	42 of 100 (Notable)
Orland	Norway	Record daily precipitation	32.8 mm (1.3 in)	41 of 100 (Notable)
Hustadvatn	Norway	Record daily precipitation	77.4 mm (3.0 in)	41 of 100 (Notable)
Tupper Lake Sunmount	United States	Record snow depth	78.7 cm (31.0 in)	41 of 100 (Notable)
Oksoey Fyr	Norway	Record high minimum temperature	7.9 C (46.2 F)	40 of 100 (Notable)
Plymouth	United States	Record daily precipitation	59.2 mm (2.3 in)	40 of 100 (Notable)
Augustus Downs Station	Australia	Record daily precipitation	44.6 mm (1.8 in)	39 of 100 (Notable)
Flahult	Sweden	Record high maximum temperature	7.7 C (45.9 F)	39 of 100 (Notable)
Moroleon	Mexico	Record low maximum temperature	17.8 C (64.0 F)	38 of 100 (Notable)
Rutland	United States	Record snow depth	35.6 cm (14.0 in)	38 of 100 (Notable)
Telchaquillo	Mexico	Record low maximum temperature	17.8 C (64.0 F)	37 of 100 (Notable)
Hildre	Norway	Record daily precipitation	44.5 mm (1.8 in)	37 of 100 (Notable)
Rostov-Na-Donu	Russia	Record daily precipitation	25.6 mm (1.0 in)	37 of 100 (Notable)
Canaan	United States	Record daily precipitation	41.9 mm (1.6 in)	37 of 100 (Notable)
Muroran	Japan	Record daily precipitation	36.1 mm (1.4 in)	36 of 100 (Notable)
Jalapa del Valle	Mexico	Record low maximum temperature	13.9 C (57.0 F)	36 of 100 (Notable)
Valdosta 2 S	United States	Record low maximum temperature	10.0 C (50.0 F)	36 of 100 (Notable)
Covert	United States	Record snow depth	10.2 cm (4.0 in)	36 of 100 (Notable)
Snoqualmie Falls	United States	Record high maximum temperature	14.4 C (57.9 F)	36 of 100 (Notable)
Myklebust I Breim	Norway	Record daily precipitation	54.5 mm (2.1 in)	35 of 100 (Notable)
Eide Pa Nordmore	Norway	Record daily precipitation	75.8 mm (3.0 in)	35 of 100 (Notable)
Brusdalsvatn II	Norway	Record daily precipitation	86.0 mm (3.4 in)	35 of 100 (Notable)
Barre Falls Dam	United States	Record daily precipitation	54.9 mm (2.2 in)	34 of 100 (Routine)
Mt Sunapee	United States	Record daily precipitation	50.8 mm (2.0 in)	34 of 100 (Routine)
Portageville 1N	United States	Record daily snowfall	19.8 cm (7.8 in)	34 of 100 (Routine)
South Newbury	United States	Record daily precipitation	48.8 mm (1.9 in)	34 of 100 (Routine)
Heraklion	Greece	Record daily precipitation	32.8 mm (1.3 in)	33 of 100 (Routine)
Cornwall	United States	Record snow depth	43.2 cm (17.0 in)	33 of 100 (Routine)
Metztitlan	Mexico	Record low minimum temperature	-0.6 C (30.9 F)	32 of 100 (Routine)
Presa Colorines (Cfe)	Mexico	Record low minimum temperature	4.4 C (39.9 F)	32 of 100 (Routine)
Altotonga	Mexico	Record low minimum temperature	-4.4 C (24.1 F)	32 of 100 (Routine)
Berlin	United States	Record daily precipitation	66.8 mm (2.6 in)	32 of 100 (Routine)
Dorset	United States	Record daily snowfall	22.9 cm (9.0 in)	32 of 100 (Routine)
Raymondville	United States	Record low minimum temperature	-1.7 C (28.9 F)	32 of 100 (Routine)
Peru	United States	Record daily precipitation	39.9 mm (1.6 in)	32 of 100 (Routine)
Rochester	United States	Record daily precipitation	38.9 mm (1.5 in)	32 of 100 (Routine)
Weemelah (Crinolyn)	Australia	Record daily precipitation	25.0 mm (1.0 in)	31 of 100 (Routine)
Finca El Triunfo	Mexico	Record high minimum temperature	22.8 C (73.0 F)	31 of 100 (Routine)
Finca Ocotlan	Mexico	Record low maximum temperature	18.9 C (66.0 F)	31 of 100 (Routine)
Huahuaxtla (Cfe)	Mexico	Record low minimum temperature	-1.1 C (30.0 F)	31 of 100 (Routine)
Misantla	Mexico	Record low minimum temperature	7.8 C (46.0 F)	31 of 100 (Routine)
Fokstua	Norway	Record high minimum temperature	2.3 C (36.1 F)	31 of 100 (Routine)
Karlshamn	Sweden	Record high minimum temperature	5.8 C (42.4 F)	31 of 100 (Routine)
Dixville Notch	United States	Record daily precipitation	63.5 mm (2.5 in)	31 of 100 (Routine)
Melrose 1 NE	United States	Record daily precipitation	34.3 mm (1.4 in)	31 of 100 (Routine)
Warren	United States	Record daily snowfall	14.0 cm (5.5 in)	31 of 100 (Routine)

Counts by Type and Timescale

987 records

Records set or tied on 18 December 2003 by type: Highest daily maximum 127, Lowest daily maximum 76, Highest daily minimum 117, Lowest daily minimum 332, Heaviest daily rainfall 253, Heaviest daily snowfall 43, Deepest snow cover 39.

Records on 18 December 2003 by type
Record type	Records
Highest daily maximum	127
Lowest daily maximum	76
Highest daily minimum	117
Lowest daily minimum	332
Heaviest daily rainfall	253
Heaviest daily snowfall	43
Deepest snow cover	39

Records on 18 December 2003 by timescale: all-time 4, monthly 32, daily 951.

How Much Records Were Beaten By

792 broken records

Margins by which the 792 broken records beat the old ones, in degrees Celsius for temperature and millimetres for precipitation and snow; the largest margin was 254.0. Ties are not counted.

Top 20 by Significance

18 December 2003

Top 20 records on 18 December 2003 by significance
Date	Station	Record	Value	Beat old record by	Old record stood	Significance
18 December 2003	East London, ZA	daily rain	93.2 mm (3.7 in)	78.2 mm (3.1 in)	62 years	64 of 100 (Major)
18 December 2003	N Stratford, US	monthly rain	63.5 mm (2.5 in)	18.8 mm (0.7 in)	53 years	64 of 100 (Major)
18 December 2003	Newport, US	daily rain	49.5 mm (1.9 in)	24.6 mm (1.0 in)	52 years	61 of 100 (Major)
18 December 2003	Feodosiia, UA	daily rain	27.5 mm (1.1 in)	11.1 mm (0.4 in)	68 years	54 of 100 (Notable)
18 December 2003	Bingham Wyman Dam, US	daily rain	82.0 mm (3.2 in)	73.4 mm (2.9 in)	32 years	53 of 100 (Notable)
18 December 2003	Keene, US	monthly rain	62.2 mm (2.4 in)	11.7 mm (0.5 in)	62 years	51 of 100 (Notable)
18 December 2003	Vigra, NO	daily rain	46.9 mm (1.8 in)	31.6 mm (1.2 in)	21 years	50 of 100 (Notable)
18 December 2003	Chittenden, US	daily snowfall	27.9 cm (11.0 in)	17.7 cm (7.0 in)	32 years	50 of 100 (Notable)
18 December 2003	Huautla de Jimenez, MX	all-time low min	-3.3 C (26.1 F)	3.3 C (5.9 F)	27 years	46 of 100 (Notable)
18 December 2003	Primorsko-Ahtarsk, RU	daily rain	27.9 mm (1.1 in)	16.6 mm (0.7 in)	36 years	45 of 100 (Notable)
18 December 2003	Harris STN, US	daily rain	53.3 mm (2.1 in)	44.9 mm (1.8 in)	8 years	45 of 100 (Notable)
18 December 2003	Petersburg 1, US	daily rain	71.9 mm (2.8 in)	29.2 mm (1.1 in)	54 years	45 of 100 (Notable)
18 December 2003	Frenchburg 2 W, US	daily snow depth	15.2 cm (6.0 in)	7.6 cm (3.0 in)	49 years	44 of 100 (Notable)
18 December 2003	Rutland, US	daily snowfall	20.3 cm (8.0 in)	10.1 cm (4.0 in)	52 years	43 of 100 (Notable)
18 December 2003	Haines AP, US	daily rain	36.8 mm (1.4 in)	16.7 mm (0.7 in)	64 years	42 of 100 (Notable)
18 December 2003	Orland, NO	daily rain	32.8 mm (1.3 in)	17.0 mm (0.7 in)	24 years	41 of 100 (Notable)
18 December 2003	Hustadvatn, NO	daily rain	77.4 mm (3.0 in)	42.0 mm (1.7 in)	4 years	41 of 100 (Notable)
18 December 2003	Tupper Lake Sunmount, US	daily snow depth	78.7 cm (31.0 in)	20.3 cm (8.0 in)	60 years	41 of 100 (Notable)
18 December 2003	Oksoey Fyr, NO	daily high min	7.9 C (46.2 F)	0.4 C (0.7 F)	102 years	40 of 100 (Notable)
18 December 2003	Plymouth, US	daily rain	59.2 mm (2.3 in)	26.7 mm (1.1 in)	29 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

1793 to 2003

Records set or tied on this calendar date in each year from 1793 to 2003. 2003 had 987 records.

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

Records on 12-18 in each year
Year	Records
1793	1
1796	1
1805	1
1814	1
1825	1
1846	1
1849	1
1852	2
1858	1
1859	4
1862	2
1864	1
1868	1
1873	1
1875	1
1876	2
1878	1
1881	2
1882	1
1884	2
1886	1
1887	1
1888	1
1889	4
1890	5
1892	4
1894	8
1895	1
1897	4
1898	9
1899	3
1900	2
1901	6
1902	33
1903	11
1904	25
1905	3
1906	21
1907	15
1908	16
1909	18
1910	19
1911	9
1912	33
1913	38
1914	20
1915	28
1916	57
1917	62
1918	21
1919	117
1920	77
1921	123
1922	108
1923	378
1924	480
1925	74
1926	173
1927	151
1928	165
1929	366
1930	230
1931	360
1932	353
1933	506
1934	209
1935	138
1936	466
1937	459
1938	185
1939	900
1940	242
1941	213
1942	281
1943	419
1944	191
1945	598
1946	199
1947	266
1948	354
1949	561
1950	289
1951	867
1952	450
1953	373
1954	507
1955	611
1956	333
1957	901
1958	524
1959	477
1960	477
1961	885
1962	759
1963	571
1964	840
1965	402
1966	644
1967	1,105
1968	488
1969	376
1970	502
1971	387
1972	375
1973	1,008
1974	229
1975	625
1976	459
1977	992
1978	946
1979	1,087
1980	772
1981	1,362
1982	537
1983	2,014
1984	1,439
1985	1,384
1986	875
1987	1,505
1988	1,061
1989	1,818
1990	1,367
1991	756
1992	1,045
1993	697
1994	643
1995	1,065
1996	1,833
1997	1,195
1998	863
1999	923
2000	1,572
2001	906
2002	1,437
2003	987
2004	506
2005	987
2006	1,167
2007	746
2008	1,014
2009	1,253
2010	1,322
2011	697
2012	729
2013	513
2014	556
2015	1,254
2016	1,821
2017	516
2018	464
2019	679
2020	326
2021	762
2022	536
2023	1,293
2024	780
2025	994

Download the Data

Data for records on 2003-12-18: 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	769
50 to 100	12
100 to 150	8
150 to 200	1
200 to 250	1
250 to 300	1