Weather Records on 2 May 1938

411 weather records were set or tied worldwide on 2 May 1938. Highest significance: Atkinson 3SW, US.

Key Facts for 2 May 1938

On 2 May 1938, 411 weather records were set or tied at long-record stations worldwide.
285 were record highs and 47 were record lows, counting maximum and minimum temperature.
By timescale, 0 were all-time records, 6 monthly and 405 daily.
Atkinson 3SW set a daily record precipitation of 58.4 mm (2.3 in) on 2 May 1938.
Across 162 earlier years (1795 to 2026) the same calendar date averaged 462 records.

Record Map

411 stations

411 station records on 2 May 1938 are marked on the map, coloured by record type. Dot size shows the significance score. Made with Natural Earth.

Weather records on 2 May 1938: highest significance records shown on the map
Station	Country	Type	Value	Significance
Atkinson 3SW	United States	Record daily precipitation	58.4 mm (2.3 in)	49 of 100 (Notable)
Beatrice	United States	Record daily precipitation	50.5 mm (2.0 in)	48 of 100 (Notable)
Lynch	United States	Record daily precipitation	43.4 mm (1.7 in)	42 of 100 (Notable)
Ranfurly	Canada	Record daily precipitation	35.1 mm (1.4 in)	31 of 100 (Routine)
W Pt	United States	Record daily precipitation	33.5 mm (1.3 in)	30 of 100 (Routine)
Bemidji	United States	Record daily precipitation	42.2 mm (1.7 in)	30 of 100 (Routine)
Chugwater	United States	Record high minimum temperature	12.8 C (55.0 F)	28 of 100 (Routine)
Detroit Lakes 1 NNE	United States	Record daily precipitation	38.1 mm (1.5 in)	27 of 100 (Routine)
Bancroft	United States	Record high minimum temperature	21.1 C (70.0 F)	25 of 100 (Routine)
Clarinda	United States	Record high minimum temperature	18.9 C (66.0 F)	24 of 100 (Routine)
Mt Ayr	United States	Record high minimum temperature	19.4 C (66.9 F)	24 of 100 (Routine)
Nemours (Ghazaouet)	Algeria	Record high minimum temperature	16.0 C (60.8 F)	23 of 100 (Routine)
Winterset 4N	United States	Record high minimum temperature	18.9 C (66.0 F)	23 of 100 (Routine)
Corning	United States	Record high minimum temperature	17.2 C (63.0 F)	22 of 100 (Routine)
Chattanooga Wb City	United States	Record high maximum temperature	32.2 C (90.0 F)	22 of 100 (Routine)
Alta	United States	Record high minimum temperature	17.8 C (64.0 F)	21 of 100 (Routine)
McGill	United States	Record low maximum temperature	2.2 C (36.0 F)	21 of 100 (Routine)
Eau Claire	United States	Record high minimum temperature	18.9 C (66.0 F)	21 of 100 (Routine)
Columbia Wb City	United States	Record high minimum temperature	20.6 C (69.1 F)	21 of 100 (Routine)
McGill	United States	Record daily precipitation	18.8 mm (0.7 in)	20 of 100 (Routine)
Surgut	Russia	Record daily precipitation	12.5 mm (0.5 in)	20 of 100 (Routine)
Ft Duchesne	United States	Record daily precipitation	20.8 mm (0.8 in)	20 of 100 (Routine)
Akbarpur	India	Record daily precipitation	12.7 mm (0.5 in)	20 of 100 (Routine)
Beowawe	United States	Record daily precipitation	13.0 mm (0.5 in)	20 of 100 (Routine)
Malta	United States	Record daily precipitation	16.0 mm (0.6 in)	20 of 100 (Routine)
Doberlug-Kirchhain	Germany	Record daily precipitation	11.6 mm (0.5 in)	20 of 100 (Routine)
Regina Int'l A	Canada	Record daily precipitation	15.0 mm (0.6 in)	20 of 100 (Routine)
Swift Current	Canada	Record daily precipitation	23.4 mm (0.9 in)	20 of 100 (Routine)
Gorlitz	Germany	Record daily precipitation	13.6 mm (0.5 in)	20 of 100 (Routine)
Davis 2 WSW Exp Farm	United States	Record daily precipitation	8.9 mm (0.35 in)	20 of 100 (Routine)
Afton	United States	Record high minimum temperature	17.8 C (64.0 F)	20 of 100 (Routine)
Chariton 1 E	United States	Record high minimum temperature	17.8 C (64.0 F)	20 of 100 (Routine)
Ft Dodge 5NNW	United States	Record high minimum temperature	17.2 C (63.0 F)	20 of 100 (Routine)
Indianola 1SW	United States	Record high minimum temperature	18.3 C (64.9 F)	20 of 100 (Routine)
Pine Rvr Dam	United States	Record daily precipitation	23.9 mm (0.9 in)	20 of 100 (Routine)
Pontotoc	United States	Record high minimum temperature	23.3 C (73.9 F)	20 of 100 (Routine)
Thiruvalla	India	Record daily precipitation	63.5 mm (2.5 in)	19 of 100 (Routine)
Chernjaevo	Russia	Record daily precipitation	5.0 mm (0.20 in)	19 of 100 (Routine)
Denison	United States	Record high minimum temperature	17.8 C (64.0 F)	19 of 100 (Routine)
Mason City	United States	Record high minimum temperature	16.7 C (62.1 F)	19 of 100 (Routine)
St Peter	United States	Record high minimum temperature	16.7 C (62.1 F)	19 of 100 (Routine)
Conception	United States	Record high minimum temperature	18.9 C (66.0 F)	19 of 100 (Routine)
Fortine 1 N	United States	Record daily precipitation	16.8 mm (0.7 in)	19 of 100 (Routine)
Mina	United States	Record low maximum temperature	7.2 C (45.0 F)	19 of 100 (Routine)
Larimore 4SW	United States	Record high minimum temperature	11.7 C (53.1 F)	19 of 100 (Routine)
Winnemucca AP	United States	Record low maximum temperature	6.1 C (43.0 F)	19 of 100 (Routine)
Walkerston	Australia	Record daily precipitation	38.4 mm (1.5 in)	18 of 100 (Routine)
Greensboro	United States	Record high maximum temperature	32.8 C (91.0 F)	18 of 100 (Routine)
Fayetteville	United States	Record high minimum temperature	18.3 C (64.9 F)	18 of 100 (Routine)
Ames 3 SW	United States	Record high minimum temperature	17.2 C (63.0 F)	18 of 100 (Routine)
Estherville 4E	United States	Record high minimum temperature	17.2 C (63.0 F)	18 of 100 (Routine)
Humboldt 3 W	United States	Record high minimum temperature	15.6 C (60.1 F)	18 of 100 (Routine)
Iowa Falls	United States	Record high minimum temperature	16.7 C (62.1 F)	18 of 100 (Routine)
Knoxville	United States	Record high minimum temperature	18.3 C (64.9 F)	18 of 100 (Routine)
Storm Lake	United States	Record high minimum temperature	17.8 C (64.0 F)	18 of 100 (Routine)
Ada	United States	Record high minimum temperature	13.9 C (57.0 F)	18 of 100 (Routine)
Clarksdale	United States	Record high maximum temperature	32.8 C (91.0 F)	18 of 100 (Routine)
Tecumseh 1S	United States	Record high minimum temperature	16.7 C (62.1 F)	18 of 100 (Routine)
Lisbon	United States	Record high minimum temperature	14.4 C (57.9 F)	18 of 100 (Routine)
Chandler	United States	Record high minimum temperature	20.6 C (69.1 F)	18 of 100 (Routine)

Counts by Type and Timescale

411 records

Records set or tied on 2 May 1938 by type: Highest daily maximum 67, Lowest daily maximum 37, Highest daily minimum 218, Lowest daily minimum 10, Heaviest daily rainfall 77, Heaviest daily snowfall 2.

Records on 2 May 1938 by type
Record type	Records
Highest daily maximum	67
Lowest daily maximum	37
Highest daily minimum	218
Lowest daily minimum	10
Heaviest daily rainfall	77
Heaviest daily snowfall	2
Deepest snow cover	0

Records on 2 May 1938 by timescale: all-time 0, monthly 6, daily 405.

How Much Records Were Beaten By

295 broken records

Margins by which the 295 broken records beat the old ones, in degrees Celsius for temperature and millimetres for precipitation and snow; the largest margin was 47.0. Ties are not counted.

Top 20 by Significance

2 May 1938

Top 20 records on 2 May 1938 by significance
Date	Station	Record	Value	Beat old record by	Old record stood	Significance
2 May 1938	Atkinson 3SW, US	daily rain	58.4 mm (2.3 in)	47.0 mm (1.9 in)	23 years	49 of 100 (Notable)
2 May 1938	Beatrice, US	daily rain	50.5 mm (2.0 in)	39.1 mm (1.5 in)	38 years	48 of 100 (Notable)
2 May 1938	Lynch, US	daily rain	43.4 mm (1.7 in)	30.2 mm (1.2 in)	38 years	42 of 100 (Notable)
2 May 1938	Ranfurly, CA	daily rain	35.1 mm (1.4 in)	17.1 mm (0.7 in)	16 years	31 of 100 (Routine)
2 May 1938	W Pt, US	daily rain	33.5 mm (1.3 in)	20.8 mm (0.8 in)	44 years	30 of 100 (Routine)
2 May 1938	Bemidji, US	daily rain	42.2 mm (1.7 in)	22.4 mm (0.9 in)	11 years	30 of 100 (Routine)
2 May 1938	Chugwater, US	daily high min	12.8 C (55.0 F)	6.7 C (12.1 F)	32 years	28 of 100 (Routine)
2 May 1938	Detroit Lakes 1 NNE, US	daily rain	38.1 mm (1.5 in)	15.7 mm (0.6 in)	32 years	27 of 100 (Routine)
2 May 1938	Bancroft, US	daily high min	21.1 C (70.0 F)	5.5 C (9.9 F)	33 years	25 of 100 (Routine)
2 May 1938	Clarinda, US	daily high min	18.9 C (66.0 F)	4.5 C (8.1 F)	38 years	24 of 100 (Routine)
2 May 1938	Mt Ayr, US	daily high min	19.4 C (66.9 F)	5.0 C (9.0 F)	36 years	24 of 100 (Routine)
2 May 1938	Nemours (Ghazaouet), DZ	daily high min	16.0 C (60.8 F)	1.0 C (1.8 F)	44 years	23 of 100 (Routine)
2 May 1938	Winterset 4N, US	daily high min	18.9 C (66.0 F)	4.5 C (8.1 F)	36 years	23 of 100 (Routine)
2 May 1938	Corning, US	daily high min	17.2 C (63.0 F)	3.3 C (5.9 F)	42 years	22 of 100 (Routine)
2 May 1938	Chattanooga Wb City, US	daily high max	32.2 C (90.0 F)	0.5 C (0.9 F)	50 years	22 of 100 (Routine)
2 May 1938	Alta, US	daily high min	17.8 C (64.0 F)	3.4 C (6.1 F)	36 years	21 of 100 (Routine)
2 May 1938	McGill, US	monthly low max	2.2 C (36.0 F)	1.1 C (2.0 F)	23 years	21 of 100 (Routine)
2 May 1938	Eau Claire, US	daily high min	18.9 C (66.0 F)	3.3 C (5.9 F)	36 years	21 of 100 (Routine)
2 May 1938	Columbia Wb City, US	daily high min	20.6 C (69.1 F)	2.3 C (4.1 F)	45 years	21 of 100 (Routine)
2 May 1938	McGill, US	daily rain	18.8 mm (0.7 in)	11.2 mm (0.4 in)	45 years	20 of 100 (Routine)

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

1795 to 1938

Records set or tied on this calendar date in each year from 1795 to 1938. 1938 had 411 records.

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

Records on 05-02 in each year
Year	Records
1795	1
1804	1
1814	1
1835	1
1836	2
1845	1
1846	1
1849	1
1850	2
1852	1
1866	2
1868	2
1874	1
1875	1
1876	1
1877	2
1878	2
1879	1
1881	2
1883	1
1884	2
1885	1
1886	3
1887	1
1888	1
1889	2
1890	1
1891	4
1892	5
1893	1
1894	4
1895	1
1896	4
1897	2
1898	6
1899	9
1900	1
1901	6
1902	5
1903	14
1904	25
1905	19
1906	15
1907	22
1908	11
1909	48
1910	21
1911	34
1912	26
1913	132
1914	33
1915	25
1916	21
1917	52
1918	21
1919	52
1920	73
1921	31
1922	219
1923	58
1924	57
1925	123
1926	323
1927	125
1928	164
1929	336
1930	366
1931	237
1932	113
1933	584
1934	337
1935	509
1936	305
1937	278
1938	411
1939	273
1940	587
1941	510
1942	600
1943	542
1944	727
1945	522
1946	321
1947	794
1948	874
1949	561
1950	651
1951	509
1952	445
1953	1,009
1954	1,317
1955	977
1956	1,261
1957	371
1958	380
1959	1,030
1960	571
1961	670
1962	396
1963	685
1964	656
1965	314
1966	779
1967	1,123
1968	440
1969	338
1970	670
1971	421
1972	336
1973	711
1974	456
1975	337
1976	660
1977	579
1978	976
1979	743
1980	449
1981	1,009
1982	537
1983	1,808
1984	712
1985	1,062
1986	631
1987	763
1988	1,142
1989	1,009
1990	1,567
1991	587
1992	1,014
1993	1,017
1994	937
1995	1,166
1996	1,076
1997	750
1998	1,043
1999	838
2000	931
2001	1,256
2002	1,263
2003	787
2004	1,344
2005	1,785
2006	577
2007	867
2008	963
2009	898
2010	1,629
2011	936
2012	1,103
2013	1,486
2014	696
2015	582
2016	583
2017	601
2018	768
2019	622
2020	798
2021	572
2022	440
2023	951
2024	880
2025	569
2026	765

Download the Data

Data for records on 1938-05-02: 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 2026-10-15. Last revised 15 October 2026 (2026-10-15).

Margin	Records
0 to 10	279
10 to 20	10
20 to 30	3
30 to 40	2
40 to 50	1