This is a list of weather records, a list of 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.
The standard measuring conditions for temperature are in the air, 1.5 metres (4.9 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). A ground temperature of 84 °C (183.2 °F) has been recorded in Port Sudan, Sudan. A ground temperature of 93.9 °C (201.0 °F) was recorded in Furnace Creek, Death Valley, California, United States on 15 July 1972; this may be the highest natural ground surface temperature ever recorded. 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 5 of the 7 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 81.8°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).
There are reports of temperatures higher than the listed world record of 56.7 °C (134.1 °F) during phenomena known as heat bursts, including a report of 87 °C (189 °F) in Abadan, Iran in June 1967. There are also reports made by satellite analysis, including one of 66.8 °C (152.2 °F) measured in the Flaming Mountains of China in 2008. These temperatures have never been confirmed, and are not recognized as world records. The former highest official temperature on Earth, held for 90 years by ‘Aziziya, Libya, was de-certified by the WMO (World Meteorological Organization) in January 2012 as the record for the world's highest surface temperature. (This temperature of 58 °C (136 °F), registered on 13 September 1922, is currently considered to have been a recorder's error.)
Christopher C. Burt, the weather historian writing for Weather Underground who shepherded the Libya reading's 2012 disqualification, 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 is still at Death Valley, but is instead 54.0 °C (129.2 °F) recorded on 30 June 2013. 53.9 °C (129.0 °F) was recorded another four times: 20 July 1960, 18 July 1998, 20 July 2005, and 7 July 2007. On 21 July 2016, Mitribah in Kuwait also recorded a maximum temperature of 54.0 °C (129.2 °F), tying Death Valley's highest reliably recorded temperature on Earth, while Basra in Iraq reached 53.9 °C (129.0 °F) that day. In a second part to his analysis, he gave a list of 11 other occasions in which temperatures of 52.8 °C (127.0 °F) or more were reliably measured as well the highest reliably measured temperatures on each continent.
* Temperature record may be unreliable according to Christopher Burt.
Fastest temperature rise: 27 °C (49 °F) from −20 °C (−4 °F) to 7 °C (45 °F) in two minutes; Spearfish, South Dakota, on 22 January 1943. .
Most consecutive days above 37.8 °C (100.0 °F): 160 days; Marble Bar, Western Australia from 31 October 1923 to 7 April 1924.
Surface temperature: Heat records are measured by air temperature above the ground. Remote sensing can estimate ground or "skin" surface temperatures: the MODIS satellite found in a brief survey a ground temperature of 70.7 °C (159.3 °F), in the Lut Desert of Iran, the hottest detected.
Highest temperature during rain: 46.1 °C (115.0 °F), in Needles, California, 13 August 2012.
* This temperature is considered the lowest ever officially recorded in Antarctica and in the World, as it was perceived by ground-positioned thermometers in 1983. Satellite analyses made on 10 August 2010 pointed to a temperature of −93.2 °C (−135.8 °F) near Dome F in Queen Maud Land, but this record is not officially listed because it was measured by remote sensing methods that are not totally consistent, unlike the 1983 temperature. See Lowest temperature recorded on Earth for details.
† It is reported by local news outlet that temperatures in Mt. Pulag in the Philippines which is 2,922 meters above sea level plunges as low as 2 °C (35.6 °F). PAGASA cannot verify
Fastest temperature drop: 27.2 °C (49 °F) in 5 minutes; Rapid City, South Dakota, 10 January 1911.
Least per year (locale): 0.2 millimetres (0.0079 in) per year or less, Quillagua, Antofagasta Region, Chile.
Most in one minute: 38 mm (1.5 in); Barot, Guadeloupe, 26 November 1970.
Most in one hour: 305 mm (12.0 in) in 42 minutes. 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.
Most in 96 hours (4 days): 4,869 mm (191.7 in); Commerson, Réunion, 24–27 February 2007.
Most in one year: 26,470 mm (1,042 in); Cherrapunji, Meghalaya, India, 1860–1861.
Highest average annual total (observed over 10 years): 11,872 mm (467.4 in); Mawsynram, Meghalaya, India.
Most in a 24-hour period: 2.56 meters (100.8 inches) in Capracotta, Italy on 5 March 2015.
Most in one-year period: 31.5 meters (102 ft); Mount Rainier, Washington, United States, 19 February 1971 to 18 February 1972.
Most in one season (1 July – 30 June): 29.0 meters, (95 ft); Mount Baker, Washington, United States, 1998 through 1999.
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).
Deepest snowfall recorded: 11.82 meters (38.8 ft) on Mt. Ibuki, Japan on 14 February 1927.
Fastest ever recorded: 484±32 km/h (302±20 mph) 3-second gust; Observed by a DOW (Doppler On Wheels) radar unit in a tornado between Oklahoma City and Moore, Oklahoma on 3 May 1999.
Fastest recorded with an anemometer: 113.2 m/s or 407 km/h (253 mph) 3-second gust; one of five extreme gusts during a series of 5-min time periods; Barrow Island (Western Australia), 10 April 1996, during Cyclone Olivia.
Fastest recorded with an anemometer outside a tropical cyclone: 372 km/h (231 mph) sustained 1-minute average; Mount Washington, New Hampshire, 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.
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 (Grand Harbour Tornado); Valletta, Malta, 23 September 1551 or 1556 (sources conflict).
In South America: 63 deaths, San Justo, Santa Fe, Argentina, 10 January 1973.
In Australia: Three deaths, Kin Kin, Queensland tornado, 14 August 1971.
Largest and most severe: The 2011 Super Outbreak: 207 confirmed tornadoes occurred in a span of 24 hours, with a total of 337 occurring throughout the duration of the outbreak. They affected six US states, and included 11 EF4s and 4 EF5s.
Most intense ever recorded: 870 hPa (25.69 inHg); eye of Super Typhoon Tip over the Pacific Ocean, 12 October 1979.
Most intense in the Western Hemisphere: 872 hPa (25.75 inHg); eye of Hurricane Patricia, 23 October 2015.
Most intense ever recorded on land: 892 hPa (26.35 inHg); Craig's Key, Florida, 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.
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, 23 July 2010.
Largest circumference officially measured: 47.6 cm (18.75 in) circumference, 17.8 cm (7.0 in) diameter; Aurora, Nebraska, 22 June 2003.
Longest lightning bolt: 321 km (199 mi) on 20 June 2007 in Oklahoma.
Longest duration for a single lightning flash: 7.74 seconds on 30 August 2012 in Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, France.
Most strikes per year: Catatumbo lightning in Lake Maracaibo, Venezuela earned the top spot receiving an average rate of about 233 flashes per square kilometer per year.
Highest ultraviolet index measured: On 29 December 2003, UV index of 43.3 was detected at Chile/Bolivia's Licancabur volcano.
Highest air pressure ever recorded (above 750 meters): 1,084.8 hPa (32.03 inHg); Tosontsengel, Khövsgöl Province, 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, Evenhiyskiy, Russia (66°53’N, 93°28’E, elevation: 261 m (856.3 ft)) on 31 December 1968 of 1,083.3 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.
