Sri Lanka: Weather Records and Extremes

62 weather records set or tied in Sri Lanka in 2026: 39 highs and 23 lows, with a calendar heatmap, ratio by decade and record map.

Key Facts for Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka has 5 stations in the data, on Asia.
62 weather records were set or tied in Sri Lanka in 2026: 39 record highs and 23 record lows, counting maximum and minimum temperature.
In the 2020s, record highs outnumbered record lows 2.76 to 1 in Sri Lanka.
2025 holds the most standing records in Sri Lanka: 309.
Nuwara Eliya set a daily record high maximum temperature of 23.7 C (74.7 F) on 3 November 2025.

Record Highs and Lows in 2026

31 highs, 20 lows

Each square is a day of 2026. Warm squares had more record highs than record lows in Sri Lanka, cold squares more lows. The busiest day was 13 August 2026 with 1 highs and 1 lows.

Record highs and lows per day in Sri Lanka in 2026
Date	Value
2026-01-02	1 more record lows than highs
2026-01-08	1 more record lows than highs
2026-01-22	1 more record lows than highs
2026-02-06	1 more record lows than highs
2026-02-14	1 more record lows than highs
2026-02-19	1 more record highs than lows
2026-02-21	1 more record lows than highs
2026-02-22	1 more record lows than highs
2026-02-23	1 more record lows than highs
2026-03-14	1 more record lows than highs
2026-03-19	1 more record lows than highs
2026-04-03	1 more record lows than highs
2026-04-06	1 more record lows than highs
2026-04-25	1 more record highs than lows
2026-05-11	1 more record lows than highs
2026-05-12	1 more record lows than highs
2026-05-16	1 more record lows than highs
2026-05-25	1 more record highs than lows
2026-05-26	1 more record highs than lows
2026-06-06	1 more record highs than lows
2026-06-12	1 more record lows than highs
2026-06-13	1 more record lows than highs
2026-06-15	1 more record highs than lows
2026-06-18	1 more record lows than highs
2026-06-23	1 more record highs than lows
2026-07-04	1 more record lows than highs
2026-07-09	1 more record highs than lows
2026-07-10	1 more record highs than lows
2026-07-11	1 more record highs than lows
2026-07-20	1 more record highs than lows
2026-07-28	1 more record highs than lows
2026-07-29	1 more record highs than lows
2026-07-31	1 more record highs than lows
2026-08-09	1 more record highs than lows
2026-08-10	1 more record highs than lows
2026-08-11	1 more record highs than lows
2026-08-15	1 more record highs than lows
2026-08-16	1 more record highs than lows
2026-08-27	1 more record highs than lows
2026-08-28	1 more record highs than lows
2026-09-03	1 more record highs than lows
2026-09-17	1 more record highs than lows
2026-09-19	1 more record highs than lows
2026-09-20	1 more record highs than lows
2026-09-23	1 more record highs than lows
2026-09-24	1 more record highs than lows
2026-09-25	1 more record highs than lows
2026-09-26	1 more record highs than lows
2026-10-01	1 more record highs than lows

Records per Year, by Type

1901 to 2026

Records set or tied in Sri Lanka each year from 1901 to 2026, stacked by record type. 2026 had 62.

Weather records per year in Sri Lanka, stacked by type
Year	Highest daily maximum	Lowest daily maximum	Highest daily minimum	Lowest daily minimum	Total
1901	104	14	41	38	197
1902	50	11	10	31	102
1903	42	8	52	25	127
1904	15	25	7	37	84
1905	19	26	20	10	75
1906	27	26	22	5	80
1907	24	16	9	8	57
1908	12	15	9	20	56
1909	8	20	6	13	47
1910	20	18	10	4	52
1911	16	5	8	1	30
1912	9	15	11	5	40
1913	18	12	29	22	81
1914	20	0	61	2	83
1915	39	3	61	10	113
1916	16	7	25	21	69
1917	11	24	12	22	69
1918	11	18	9	26	64
1919	15	10	22	6	53
1920	16	14	16	13	59
1921	7	8	17	10	42
1922	14	5	8	7	34
1923	0	27	4	2	33
1924	0	8	6	0	14
1925	8	12	14	14	48
1926	11	7	56	4	78
1927	2	12	21	8	43
1928	8	5	31	3	47
1929	6	9	7	19	41
1930	9	11	4	12	36
1931	6	9	6	1	22
1932	2	21	11	9	43
1933	1	25	12	5	43
1934	11	12	4	10	37
1935	10	13	9	10	42
1936	2	7	7	2	18
1937	5	4	19	12	40
1938	6	9	20	3	38
1939	1	8	9	1	19
1940	2	3	21	6	32
1941	6	0	13	3	22
1942	0	4	15	2	21
1943	0	13	3	6	22
1944	4	7	1	3	15
1945	7	5	6	7	25
1946	3	3	4	8	18
1947	2	3	7	7	19
1948	0	2	4	2	8
1949	0	4	5	1	10
1950	0	10	0	5	15
1951	3	16	7	5	31
1952	3	4	14	2	23
1953	17	2	35	5	59
1954	6	10	9	2	27
1955	2	11	16	2	31
1956	11	19	14	1	45
1957	8	12	21	1	42
1958	6	3	33	0	42
1959	4	6	29	2	41
1960	6	4	10	2	22
1961	4	20	4	1	29
1962	9	7	16	0	32
1963	7	11	11	2	31
1964	12	13	10	1	36
1965	10	8	7	1	26
1966	13	7	37	0	57
1967	5	5	5	3	18
1968	9	12	15	0	36
1969	26	3	37	1	67
1970	11	9	18	0	38
1971	8	8	4	0	20
1972	9	8	14	1	32
1973	23	7	26	0	56
1974	4	6	4	1	15
1975	2	6	4	1	13
1976	4	5	3	1	13
1977	2	3	7	2	14
1978	6	11	7	0	24
1979	2	2	11	1	16
1980	1	3	13	4	21
1981	2	4	7	1	14
1982	0	4	3	2	9
1983	25	0	28	0	53
1984	0	10	2	0	12
1985	3	7	4	5	19
1986	6	8	4	0	18
1987	6	1	28	0	35
1988	5	2	31	1	39
1989	4	3	5	0	12
1990	5	3	16	0	24
1991	1	4	21	0	26
1992	1	3	3	1	8
1993	1	2	7	1	11
1994	3	4	11	0	18
1995	4	2	15	0	21
1996	5	1	12	0	18
1997	8	0	29	1	38
1998	28	0	62	0	90
1999	4	7	6	1	18
2000	2	8	9	0	19
2001	11	1	15	0	27
2002	10	1	24	0	35
2003	11	1	27	1	40
2004	12	0	21	0	33
2005	5	1	0	0	6
2006	1	2	0	0	3
2007	3	1	0	0	4
2008	1	1	0	0	2
2009	4	0	3	0	7
2010	15	3	14	0	32
2011	11	4	10	1	26
2012	22	1	8	0	31
2013	17	1	6	1	25
2014	26	1	8	0	35
2015	22	11	7	0	40
2016	27	3	3	1	34
2017	17	9	9	1	36
2018	7	11	2	0	20
2019	25	3	7	0	35
2020	39	8	4	0	51
2021	13	5	8	0	26
2022	19	34	4	0	57
2023	35	14	20	0	69
2024	31	1	24	0	56
2025	20	27	50	0	97
2026	2	20	29	0	51

Warm to Cold Ratio by Decade

Record highs per record low by decade in Sri Lanka: 1900s 1.4 to 1, 1910s 1.8 to 1, 1920s 1.4 to 1, 1930s 0.9 to 1, 1940s 1.2 to 1, 1950s 2.0 to 1, 1960s 2.5 to 1, 1970s 2.4 to 1, 1980s 3.2 to 1, 1990s 8.2 to 1, 2000s 9.4 to 1, 2010s 5.0 to 1, 2020s 2.8 to 1. A ratio above 1 means more record highs than record lows.

Record highs per record low in Sri Lanka, by decade
Decade	Highs per low
1900s	1.43 to 1
1910s	1.80 to 1
1920s	1.35 to 1
1930s	0.85 to 1
1940s	1.16 to 1
1950s	2.04 to 1
1960s	2.54 to 1
1970s	2.38 to 1
1980s	3.24 to 1
1990s	8.20 to 1
2000s	9.35 to 1
2010s	5.04 to 1
2020s	2.76 to 1

Which Years Hold the Most Standing Records

2025: 309

Records still standing in Sri Lanka, by the year they were set. 2025 holds the most with 309.

Standing records in Sri Lanka by the year they were set
Year set	Standing records
1869	34
1870	34
1871	20
1872	10
1873	23
1874	22
1875	48
1876	31
1877	15
1878	4
1879	10
1880	10
1881	17
1882	18
1883	8
1884	29
1885	20
1886	20
1887	27
1888	16
1889	18
1890	35
1891	8
1892	17
1893	47
1894	42
1895	14
1896	18
1897	31
1898	39
1899	29
1900	14
1901	77
1902	58
1903	46
1904	38
1905	23
1906	23
1907	19
1908	18
1909	20
1910	14
1911	7
1912	14
1913	35
1914	11
1915	27
1916	20
1917	25
1918	28
1919	12
1920	17
1921	12
1922	11
1923	12
1924	5
1925	19
1926	19
1927	23
1928	7
1929	23
1930	19
1931	10
1932	17
1933	16
1934	19
1935	18
1936	8
1937	19
1938	17
1939	11
1940	12
1941	6
1942	8
1943	16
1944	10
1945	14
1946	12
1947	9
1948	5
1949	2
1950	9
1951	20
1952	8
1953	26
1954	12
1955	13
1956	20
1957	149
1958	226
1959	17
1960	12
1961	20
1962	28
1963	18
1964	34
1965	18
1966	42
1967	40
1968	48
1969	81
1970	56
1971	35
1972	21
1973	129
1974	82
1975	86
1976	63
1977	56
1978	83
1979	121
1980	94
1981	96
1982	78
1983	98
1984	102
1985	117
1986	85
1987	79
1988	33
1989	41
1990	45
1991	59
1992	63
1993	77
1994	89
1995	80
1996	63
1997	55
1998	130
1999	26
2000	18
2001	55
2002	58
2003	62
2004	52
2005	43
2006	49
2007	49
2008	76
2009	90
2010	249
2011	210
2012	221
2013	209
2014	243
2015	281
2016	259
2017	231
2018	158
2019	236
2020	278
2021	175
2022	195
2023	296
2024	152
2025	309
2026	175

Record Map for 2026

80 stations

The 80 highest significance station records of 2026 in Sri Lanka, coloured by record type. Dot size shows the significance score. Made with Natural Earth.

Weather records in Sri Lanka in 2026: highest significance records shown on the map
Station	Country	Type	Value	Significance
Nuwara Eliya	Sri Lanka	Record high maximum temperature	23.7 C (74.7 F)	42 of 100 (Notable)
Nuwara Eliya	Sri Lanka	Record high minimum temperature	15.1 C (59.2 F)	41 of 100 (Notable)
Nuwara Eliya	Sri Lanka	Record high minimum temperature	15.0 C (59.0 F)	41 of 100 (Notable)
Nuwara Eliya	Sri Lanka	Record high minimum temperature	14.7 C (58.5 F)	41 of 100 (Notable)
Nuwara Eliya	Sri Lanka	Record high minimum temperature	14.1 C (57.4 F)	40 of 100 (Notable)
Nuwara Eliya	Sri Lanka	Record low maximum temperature	15.0 C (59.0 F)	39 of 100 (Notable)
Puttalam	Sri Lanka	Record low maximum temperature	26.6 C (79.9 F)	38 of 100 (Notable)
Puttalam	Sri Lanka	Record low maximum temperature	28.4 C (83.1 F)	33 of 100 (Routine)
Puttalam	Sri Lanka	Record low maximum temperature	28.4 C (83.1 F)	32 of 100 (Routine)
Nuwara Eliya	Sri Lanka	Record high minimum temperature	15.9 C (60.6 F)	31 of 100 (Routine)
Puttalam	Sri Lanka	Record low maximum temperature	29.0 C (84.2 F)	28 of 100 (Routine)
Puttalam	Sri Lanka	Record low maximum temperature	29.6 C (85.3 F)	27 of 100 (Routine)
Puttalam	Sri Lanka	Record low maximum temperature	26.5 C (79.7 F)	27 of 100 (Routine)
Nuwara Eliya	Sri Lanka	Record high minimum temperature	15.3 C (59.5 F)	26 of 100 (Routine)
Puttalam	Sri Lanka	Record low maximum temperature	28.0 C (82.4 F)	26 of 100 (Routine)
Puttalam	Sri Lanka	Record low maximum temperature	28.6 C (83.5 F)	26 of 100 (Routine)
Puttalam	Sri Lanka	Record low maximum temperature	23.9 C (75.0 F)	26 of 100 (Routine)
Puttalam	Sri Lanka	Record low maximum temperature	27.1 C (80.8 F)	25 of 100 (Routine)
Nuwara Eliya	Sri Lanka	Record high minimum temperature	15.4 C (59.7 F)	24 of 100 (Routine)
Puttalam	Sri Lanka	Record low maximum temperature	30.5 C (86.9 F)	24 of 100 (Routine)
Nuwara Eliya	Sri Lanka	Record high minimum temperature	15.9 C (60.6 F)	22 of 100 (Routine)
Puttalam	Sri Lanka	Record low maximum temperature	30.1 C (86.2 F)	22 of 100 (Routine)
Nuwara Eliya	Sri Lanka	Record high minimum temperature	15.7 C (60.3 F)	22 of 100 (Routine)
Puttalam	Sri Lanka	Record low maximum temperature	26.0 C (78.8 F)	22 of 100 (Routine)
Puttalam	Sri Lanka	Record low maximum temperature	29.0 C (84.2 F)	21 of 100 (Routine)
Nuwara Eliya	Sri Lanka	Record high minimum temperature	15.2 C (59.4 F)	21 of 100 (Routine)
Nuwara Eliya	Sri Lanka	Record high minimum temperature	15.0 C (59.0 F)	21 of 100 (Routine)
Puttalam	Sri Lanka	Record low maximum temperature	28.4 C (83.1 F)	20 of 100 (Routine)
Nuwara Eliya	Sri Lanka	Record high minimum temperature	15.5 C (59.9 F)	20 of 100 (Routine)
Nuwara Eliya	Sri Lanka	Record high minimum temperature	14.8 C (58.6 F)	19 of 100 (Routine)
Nuwara Eliya	Sri Lanka	Record high minimum temperature	15.1 C (59.2 F)	19 of 100 (Routine)
Nuwara Eliya	Sri Lanka	Record high minimum temperature	15.8 C (60.4 F)	19 of 100 (Routine)
Puttalam	Sri Lanka	Record low maximum temperature	29.3 C (84.7 F)	19 of 100 (Routine)
Puttalam	Sri Lanka	Record low maximum temperature	25.3 C (77.5 F)	19 of 100 (Routine)
Nuwara Eliya	Sri Lanka	Record high minimum temperature	15.5 C (59.9 F)	19 of 100 (Routine)
Nuwara Eliya	Sri Lanka	Record high minimum temperature	14.7 C (58.5 F)	18 of 100 (Routine)
Nuwara Eliya	Sri Lanka	Record high minimum temperature	15.0 C (59.0 F)	18 of 100 (Routine)
Puttalam	Sri Lanka	Record low maximum temperature	30.0 C (86.0 F)	18 of 100 (Routine)
Puttalam	Sri Lanka	Record low maximum temperature	29.8 C (85.6 F)	18 of 100 (Routine)
Puttalam	Sri Lanka	Record low maximum temperature	27.0 C (80.6 F)	18 of 100 (Routine)
Nuwara Eliya	Sri Lanka	Record high minimum temperature	15.0 C (59.0 F)	18 of 100 (Routine)
Puttalam	Sri Lanka	Record high maximum temperature	33.6 C (92.5 F)	17 of 100 (Routine)
Nuwara Eliya	Sri Lanka	Record high minimum temperature	15.0 C (59.0 F)	17 of 100 (Routine)
Nuwara Eliya	Sri Lanka	Record high minimum temperature	15.1 C (59.2 F)	17 of 100 (Routine)
Nuwara Eliya	Sri Lanka	Record high minimum temperature	15.5 C (59.9 F)	16 of 100 (Routine)
Puttalam	Sri Lanka	Record high maximum temperature	34.3 C (93.7 F)	16 of 100 (Routine)
Nuwara Eliya	Sri Lanka	Record high minimum temperature	15.6 C (60.1 F)	15 of 100 (Routine)
Nuwara Eliya	Sri Lanka	Record high minimum temperature	15.3 C (59.5 F)	14 of 100 (Routine)
Puttalam	Sri Lanka	Record low maximum temperature	29.6 C (85.3 F)	14 of 100 (Routine)
Puttalam	Sri Lanka	Record low maximum temperature	29.6 C (85.3 F)	14 of 100 (Routine)
Nuwara Eliya	Sri Lanka	Record high minimum temperature	15.6 C (60.1 F)	13 of 100 (Routine)
Nuwara Eliya	Sri Lanka	Record high minimum temperature	15.5 C (59.9 F)	13 of 100 (Routine)
Nuwara Eliya	Sri Lanka	Record high minimum temperature	14.8 C (58.6 F)	13 of 100 (Routine)
Nuwara Eliya	Sri Lanka	Record high minimum temperature	15.2 C (59.4 F)	13 of 100 (Routine)
Puttalam	Sri Lanka	Record low maximum temperature	27.0 C (80.6 F)	13 of 100 (Routine)
Nuwara Eliya	Sri Lanka	Record high minimum temperature	15.3 C (59.5 F)	12 of 100 (Routine)
Nuwara Eliya	Sri Lanka	Record high minimum temperature	14.8 C (58.6 F)	12 of 100 (Routine)
Puttalam	Sri Lanka	Record low maximum temperature	31.0 C (87.8 F)	12 of 100 (Routine)
Nuwara Eliya	Sri Lanka	Record high minimum temperature	15.1 C (59.2 F)	11 of 100 (Routine)
Nuwara Eliya	Sri Lanka	Record high minimum temperature	15.9 C (60.6 F)	11 of 100 (Routine)

Top Records by Significance

See all 20

Top 10 records in Sri Lanka by significance
Date	Station	Record	Value	Beat old record by	Old record stood	Significance
3 November 2025	Nuwara Eliya, LK	daily high max	23.7 C (74.7 F)	0.4 C (0.7 F)	104 years	42 of 100 (Notable)
31 July 2026	Nuwara Eliya, LK	daily high min	15.1 C (59.2 F)	0.2 C (0.4 F)	127 years	41 of 100 (Notable)
28 July 2026	Nuwara Eliya, LK	daily high min	15.0 C (59.0 F)	0.2 C (0.4 F)	125 years	41 of 100 (Notable)
23 November 2025	Nuwara Eliya, LK	daily high min	14.7 C (58.5 F)	0.3 C (0.5 F)	104 years	41 of 100 (Notable)
19 February 2026	Nuwara Eliya, LK	daily high min	14.1 C (57.4 F)	0.2 C (0.4 F)	148 years	40 of 100 (Notable)
23 October 2025	Nuwara Eliya, LK	daily low max	15.0 C (59.0 F)	0.3 C (0.5 F)	95 years	39 of 100 (Notable)
21 February 2026	Puttalam, LK	daily low max	26.6 C (79.9 F)	4.3 C (7.7 F)	12 years	38 of 100 (Notable)
12 May 2026	Puttalam, LK	daily low max	28.4 C (83.1 F)	1.6 C (2.9 F)	48 years	33 of 100 (Routine)
11 May 2026	Puttalam, LK	daily low max	28.4 C (83.1 F)	1.6 C (2.9 F)	44 years	32 of 100 (Routine)
25 May 2026	Nuwara Eliya, LK	daily high min	15.9 C (60.6 F)	0.4 C (0.7 F)	68 years	31 of 100 (Routine)

Sri Lanka by Year

Stations

5 with pages

Stations in Sri Lanka
Station	Region	Record from	Years	Thresholds
Hambantota	n/a	1869	157 years	Threshold days
Nuwara Eliya	n/a	1869	158 years	Threshold days
Colombo	n/a	1956	71 years	Threshold days
China Bay	n/a	1957	69 years	Threshold days
Puttalam	n/a	1962	65 years	Threshold days

Download the Data

Data for Sri Lanka records by year and type: CSV or JSON. Field meanings are on the data page.
Data for Sri Lanka top records: 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 2026-10-12 (12 October 2026). Records are computed by this site and are not official.

Data as of 2026-10-12. Last revised 12 October 2026 (2026-10-12).