List of weather records

The list of weather records includes the most extreme occurrences of weather phenomena for various categories. Many weather records are measured under specific conditions—such as surface temperature and wind speed—to keep consistency among measurements around the Earth. Each of these records is understood to be the record value officially observed, as these records may have been exceeded before modern weather instrumentation was invented, or in remote areas without an official weather station. This list does not include remotely sensed observations such as satellite measurements, since those values are not considered official records.

Temperature

Measuring conditions

The standard measuring conditions for temperature are in the air, 1.25 metres (4.1 ft) to 2.00 metres (6.6 ft) above the ground, and shielded from direct sunlight intensity (hence the term x degrees "in the shade"). The following lists include all officially confirmed claims measured by those methods.

Temperatures measured directly on the ground may exceed air temperatures by 30 to 50 °C (54 to 90 °F). The highest natural ground surface temperature ever recorded may have been an alleged reading of 93.9 °C (201.0 °F) at Furnace Creek, California, United States, on 15 July 1972. In 2011, a ground temperature of 84 °C (183.2 °F) was recorded in Port Sudan, Sudan. The theoretical maximum possible ground surface temperature has been estimated to be between 90 and 100 °C (194 and 212 °F) for dry, darkish soils of low thermal conductivity.

Satellite measurements of ground temperature taken between 2003 and 2009, taken with the MODIS infrared spectroradiometer on the Aqua satellite, found a maximum temperature of 70.7 °C (159.3 °F), which was recorded in 2005 in the Lut Desert, Iran. The Lut Desert was also found to have the highest maximum temperature in five of the seven years measured (2004, 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2009). These measurements reflect averages over a large region and so are lower than the maximum point surface temperature.

Satellite measurements of the surface temperature of Antarctica, taken between 1982 and 2013, found a coldest temperature of −93.2 °C (−135.8 °F) on 10 August 2010, at 81°48′S 59°18′E/81.8°S 59.3°E/ -81.8; 59.3. Although this is not comparable to an air temperature, it is believed that the air temperature at this location would have been lower than the official record lowest air temperature of −89.2 °C (−128.6 °F).

Hottest

Highest temperatures ever recorded

According to the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), the highest temperature ever recorded was 56.7 °C (134.1 °F) on 10 July 1913 in Furnace Creek (Greenland Ranch), California, United States, but the validity of this record is challenged as possible problems with the reading have since been discovered. Christopher C. Burt, a weather historian writing for Weather Underground, believes that the 1913 Death Valley reading is "a myth", and is at least 2.2 or 2.8 °C (4 or 5 °F) too high. Burt proposes that the highest reliably recorded temperature on Earth could still be at Death Valley, but is instead 54.0 °C (129.2 °F) recorded on 30 June 2013. This is lower than a 1931 measurement of 55 °C (131 °F) recorded in Kebili, Tunisia, the 55 °C temperature is verified by the WMO, although it has been disputed by some meteorologists. The temperature of 54 °C (129 °F) is also matched by a 1942 record from Tirat Zvi, a Jewish settlement under the British Mandate in the Middle East). In 2016 and 2017, readings in Kuwait and Iran also matched the 2013 Death Valley record, while readings in 2020 and 2021 also at Furnace Creek went even higher, up to 54.4 °C (130 °F), however, they have not yet been validated by WMO. The WMO has stated they stand by the 1913 record pending any future investigations.

The former highest official temperature on Earth, 58.0 °C (136.4 °F), measured in ʽAziziya, Libya on 13 September 1922, was reassessed in July 2012 by the WMO which published a report that invalidated the record. There have been other unconfirmed reports of high temperatures, but these temperatures have never been officially validated by national weather services/WMO, and are currently considered to have been recorder's errors, thus not being recognised as world records.

Highest global average temperature

The warmest day on record for the entire planet was 22 July 2024 when the highest global average temperature was recorded at 17.16 °C (62.89 °F). The previous record was 17.09 °C (62.76 °F) set the day before on 21 July 2024. The month of July 2023 was the hottest month on record globally. September 2023 was the most anomalously warm month, averaging 1.75 °C (3.15 °F) above the preindustrial average for September. The Copernicus Programme (begun 1940) had recorded 13 August 2016, as the hottest global temperature, but by July 2024, that date had been downgraded to the fourth hottest.

Other high-temperature records

Humidity

• Highest dew point temperature: A dew point of 35 °C (95 °F) — while the temperature was 42 °C (108 °F) — was observed at Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, at 3:00 p.m. on 8 July 2003. (The relative humidity was 69%).
• Highest heat index: In the observation above at Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, the heat index ("feels like" temperature) was 81.1 °C (178.0 °F).
• Highest temperature with 100% relative humidity: A temperature of 34 °C (93 °F) with 100% relative humidity in Jask, Iran, on 21 July 2012.

Coldest

Lowest temperatures recorded

The lowest temperature recorded is −89.2 °C (−128.6 °F), in Vostok Station, Antarctica on 21 July 1983.

Other low-temperature records

• Coldest summer (month of July in the Northern Hemisphere): −33 °C (−27.4 °F); Summit Camp, Greenland on 4 July 2017.
• Lowest temperature in the Northern Hemisphere: −69.6 °C (−93.3 °F); Greenland Ice Sheet, Greenland on 22 December 1991.
• Coldest average monthly temperature in the Northern Hemisphere: −56.7 °C (−70.1 °F); Verkhoyansk, Russia for the month of January 1892.
• Coldest temperature in the tropics: −25.2 °C (−13.4 °F); Mazocruz, Peru on 30 June 1966.

Record extreme temperature differences

• Greatest 2-minute temperature increase: 27 °C (49 °F), from −20 °C (−4 °F) to 7 °C (45 °F); Spearfish, South Dakota, on 22 January 1943.
• Greatest 24-hour temperature increase: +57 °C (+102.6 °F), from −48 °C (−54 °F) to 9 °C (48 °F); Loma, Montana, on 15 January 1972.
• Fastest 2 minute temperature drop: 15.0 °C (27.0 °F) at Sydney Airport, Australia, on 23 January 2010, from 41.0 °C (105.8 °F) at 3:11PM to 26.0 °C (78.8 °F) at 3:13PM.
• Largest temperature range in one area: 105.8 °C (190.4 °F), from −67.8 °C (−90.0 °F) on 15 January 1885, 5,7 February 1892 to 38.0 °C (100.4 °F) on 20 June 2020; Verkhoyansk, Sakha Republic, Russia

Precipitation

• Least per year (locale): 0.2 millimetres (0.008 in) per year or less, Quillagua, Antofagasta Region, Chile.

Rain

• Most in 60 seconds (1 minute): 38 mm (1.5 in). Barot, Sainte-Anne, Grande-Terre, Guadeloupe, France 11:03–11:04 am on 26 November 1970.
• Most in 180 seconds (3 minutes): 62 mm (2.4 in). Portobelo, Colón, Panama, 29 November 1911
• Most in 300 seconds (5 minutes): 106 mm (4.2 in). Portobelo, Colón, Panama, 29 November 1911
• Most in 60 minutes (1 hour): 305 mm (12.0 in). Holt, Missouri, United States, 22 June 1947.
• Most in 12 hours (1⁄2-day): 1,144 mm (45.0 in); Cilaos, Réunion, 8 January 1966, during Tropical Cyclone Denise.
• Most in 24 hours (1 day): 1,825 mm (71.9 in); Cilaos, Réunion, 7–8 January 1966, during Tropical Cyclone Denise.
• Most in 48 hours (2 days): 2,493 mm (98.1 in); Cherrapunji, Meghalaya, India, 15–16 June 1995.
• Most in 72 hours (3 days): 3,929 mm (154.7 in); Commerson, Réunion, 24–26 February 2007, during Cyclone Gamede.
• Most in 96 hours (4 days): 4,869 mm (191.7 in); Commerson, Réunion, 24–27 February 2007, during Cyclone Gamede.
• Most in one year: 26,470 mm (1,042 in); Cherrapunji, Meghalaya, India, 1860–1861.
• Most from a single tropical cyclone: 6,433 mm (253.3 in); Commerson, Réunion, during Cyclone Hyacinthe in January 1980.
• Highest average annual total (observed over 10 years): 11,872 mm (467.4 in) (over 38 years) and 12,701 mm (500.0 in) (1998–2010); Mawsynram, Meghalaya, India or 13,466 mm (530.2 in) (1980–2011); López de Micay, Cauca, Colombia.
• Most consecutive days with measurable rain a day with at least 0.01 inches (0.25 mm) of rainfall: 331 days in Oahu, Hawaii, 1939–1940

Snow

• Most in a 24-hour period: 230 centimetres (90.6 in) of snow on Mount Ibuki, Japan on 14 February 1927.
• Most in one calendar month: 9.91 meters (390 inches) of snow fell in Tamarack, California, in January 1911, leading to a snow depth in March of 11.46 meters (451 inches) (greatest measured in North America).
• Most in one season (1 July – 30 June): 29.0 meters, (95 ft); Mount Baker, Washington, United States, 1998 through 1999.
• Most in one-year period: 31.5 meters (102 ft); Mount Rainier, Washington, United States, 19 February 1971 to 18 February 1972.
• Deepest snowfall recorded: 11.82 meters (38.8 ft) on Mount Ibuki, Japan on 14 February 1927.
• Lowest latitude that snow has been recorded at sea level in North America: Snow fell as far south as the city of Tampico, Mexico, in February 1895 during the Great Freeze.
• Highest temperature that has been recorded on a day with snow: On March 12, 2026 in Arlington, Virginia, a high temperature of 77 degrees fahrenheit was reached shortly after midnight, later in the day 2mm of snow was recorded.

Wind speeds

• Fastest ever recorded: 484±32 km/h (301±20 mph) (3-second gust); calculated by a DOW (Doppler On Wheels) radar unit in the 1999 Bridge Creek–Moore tornado between Oklahoma City and Moore, Oklahoma, USA, 3 May 1999. Recently, the wind speeds were re-examined and adjusted to a maximum official wind speed of 321 mph (516.6 km/h). A DOW calculation of a subvortex of the 2013 El Reno tornado was estimated in a range of 257–336 mph (414–541 km/h) in 2024.
• Fastest non-tornadic winds: 408 km/h (254 mph) (3-second gust); recorded by anemometer in Severe Tropical Cyclone Olivia passing over Barrow Island, Western Australia, 10 April 1996.
• Fastest non-cyclonic winds: 372 km/h (231 mph) (1-minute average); recorded by anemometer on Mount Washington, New Hampshire, USA, 12 April 1934.
• Fastest daily average: 174 km/h (108 mph); Port Martin (Adélie Land), Antarctica, 24-hour period from 21 March 1951 to 22 March 1951.

Tornadoes

Deadliest in history

• On Earth: Approximately 1,300 deaths (Daulatpur–Saturia tornado); Manikganj District, Bangladesh on 26 April 1989.
• In North America: 695 deaths (Tri-State Tornado); Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, United States, 18 March 1925.
• In Europe: 600 or more deaths (Grand Harbour Tornado); Valletta, Malta, 23 September 1551 or 1556 (sources conflict).
• In South America: 300 deaths (1926 Encarnación tornado), Encarnacióm, Paraguay, 20 September 1926.
• In Australia: Three deaths, Kin Kin, Queensland tornado, 14 August 1971.

Outbreaks

• Largest: The 2011 Super Outbreak: 207 confirmed tornadoes occurred in a span of 24 hours on April 27, 2011, with a total of 367 occurring throughout the duration of the outbreak. They affected six US states, and included 11 rated EF4 and 4 rated EF5.
• Most severe: The 1974 Super Outbreak produced 7 F5, 23 F4, 34 F3, and 34 F2 tornadoes on April 3–4, 1974. It received a score on expert Thomas P. Grazulis's outbreak intensity score of 578, surpassing the 2011 outbreak's score of 378.

Tropical cyclones

Most intense (by minimum surface air pressure)

• Most intense ever recorded: 870 hPa (25.69 inHg); eye of Super Typhoon Tip over the northwest Pacific Ocean, 12 October 1979.
• Most intense in the Western Hemisphere: 872 hPa (25.75 inHg); eye of Hurricane Patricia over the eastern Pacific Ocean, 23 October 2015.
• Most intense ever recorded on land: 892 hPa (26.35 inHg); Craig Key, Florida, United States, eye of the Labor Day Hurricane, 2 September 1935. While other landfalling tropical cyclones potentially had lower pressures, data is vague from areas other than the Atlantic basin, especially before the invention of weather satellites.
• Most intense landfall (estimated): 884 hPa (26.10 inHg); Rakiraki District, Viti Levu, Fiji, during Cyclone Winston, 20 February 2016. Although no official land pressure readings were recorded at the landfall site, it is estimated that Winston made landfall with the aforementioned pressure. A reading of 880hPa (26inHg) from Bathurst Bay, Queensland, Australia, during Cyclone Mahina, on 4 March 1899 is disputed to have been recorded by Captain William Porter, the same person who recorded the currently established mark of 914hPa (27inHg). Further evidence to back up this claim comes in the form of an eyewitness estimate for the storm surge at Ninian Bay, 30 km from Bathurst Bay, which was said to be approximately 13m. This figure would be consistent with the pressure of 880hPa allegedly recorded by Capt. Porter.

Most precipitation

• Most precipitation from a single tropical storm: 6,433 mm (253.3 in); Commerson, Réunion, during Cyclone Hyacinthe in January 1980.

Other severe weather

Hail

• Heaviest officially recorded: 1.02 kg (2.25 lb); Gopalganj District, Bangladesh, 14 April 1986.
• Largest diameter officially measured: 20 cm (8.0 in) diameter, 47.3 cm (18.625 in) circumference; Vivian, South Dakota, USA, 23 July 2010.
• Largest circumference officially measured: 47.6 cm (18.75 in) circumference, 17.8 cm (7.0 in) diameter; Aurora, Nebraska, USA, 22 June 2003.

Lightning

• Longest lightning bolt: 829 km (515 mi) ± 8 km. On 22 October 2017, extended from eastern Texas to near Kansas City, United States.
• Longest duration for a single lightning flash: 17.1 seconds on 18 June 2020 in Uruguay and northern Argentina.

Ultraviolet index

• Highest ultraviolet index measured: On 29 December 2003, a UV index of 43.3 was detected at Chile/Bolivia's Licancabur volcano, at 19,423 feet (5,920 m) altitude. A light-skinned individual in such conditions may experience moderate sunburn in as little as 4 minutes.

Thunderstorm cloud height

• Tallest non-tropical thunderstorm The official confirmed tallest thunderstorm was a supercell that occurred on May 24, 2016 near Nueva Rosita, in rural areas of the Mexican state of Coahuila, in the Big Bend area of the Rio Grande basin. This storm had a cloud top height of 68,000 ft (21 km; 12.9 mi). Lightning from this storm was detected as far as 50–60 mi (80–97 km) away from the center of the storm. A supercell thunderstorm that struck Chicago, Illinois and surrounding areas on June 13, 2022, may have surpassed its height, being at least over 60,000 ft (18 km; 11 mi) and potentially reaching as high as 65,000–70,000 ft (20–21 km; 12.3–13.3 mi) above the ground.

Other categories

• Highest air pressure ever recorded [above 750 meters (2,461 feet)]: 1084.8 hPa (32.03 inHg); Tosontsengel, Zavkhan, Mongolia, 19 December 2001. This is the equivalent sea-level pressure; Tosontsengel is located at 1,300 metres (4,300 ft) above sea level.

The highest adjusted-to-sea-level barometric pressure ever recorded (below 750 meters) was at Agata, Evenkiyskiy, Russia (66°53′N 93°28′E/66.883°N 93.467°E/ 66.883; 93.467, elevation: 261 m (856.3 ft)) on 31 December 1968 of 1083.3 hectopascals (hPa) (31.99 inHg).

The discrimination is due to the problematic assumptions (assuming a standard lapse rate) associated with reduction of sea level from high elevations.

See also

• Weather of 2013
• Extremes on Earth
• List of extreme temperatures in Canada
• List of snowiest places in the United States by state
• U.S. state and territory temperature extremes
• United Kingdom weather records
• Weather extremes in Canada
• Climate change

Notes

External links

• 29 August 2009 at the Wayback Machine
• (Arizona State University)