Weather Records on 15 May 1938

393 weather records were set or tied worldwide on 15 May 1938. Highest significance: Lake Cochituate, US.

Key Facts for 15 May 1938

On 15 May 1938, 393 weather records were set or tied at long-record stations worldwide.
121 were record highs and 100 were record lows, counting maximum and minimum temperature.
By timescale, 0 were all-time records, 9 monthly and 384 daily.
Lake Cochituate set a daily record precipitation of 59.7 mm (2.4 in) on 15 May 1938.
Across 162 earlier years (1820 to 2026) the same calendar date averaged 431 records.

Record Map

393 stations

393 station records on 15 May 1938 are marked on the map, coloured by record type. Dot size shows the significance score. Made with Natural Earth.

Weather records on 15 May 1938: highest significance records shown on the map
Station	Country	Type	Value	Significance
Lake Cochituate	United States	Record daily precipitation	59.7 mm (2.4 in)	44 of 100 (Notable)
Jeffersonville	United States	Record daily precipitation	46.0 mm (1.8 in)	43 of 100 (Notable)
Port Jervis	United States	Record daily precipitation	45.7 mm (1.8 in)	43 of 100 (Notable)
Worcester	United States	Record daily precipitation	50.0 mm (2.0 in)	40 of 100 (Notable)
Kingston	United States	Record daily precipitation	92.7 mm (3.6 in)	39 of 100 (Notable)
Putbus	Germany	Record high maximum temperature	27.6 C (81.7 F)	38 of 100 (Notable)
Concord	United States	Record daily precipitation	46.7 mm (1.8 in)	37 of 100 (Notable)
Nicosia	Cyprus	Record daily precipitation	41.4 mm (1.6 in)	36 of 100 (Notable)
Lowell	United States	Record daily precipitation	48.0 mm (1.9 in)	36 of 100 (Notable)
Nashua 2 NNW	United States	Record daily precipitation	39.9 mm (1.6 in)	36 of 100 (Notable)
Cooperstown	United States	Record daily precipitation	48.8 mm (1.9 in)	36 of 100 (Notable)
Carmel	United States	Record daily precipitation	51.3 mm (2.0 in)	35 of 100 (Notable)
Melbourne Regional Office	Australia	Record high maximum temperature	26.0 C (78.8 F)	34 of 100 (Routine)
Blue Hill Coop	United States	Record daily precipitation	40.9 mm (1.6 in)	33 of 100 (Routine)
Brockton	United States	Record daily precipitation	27.7 mm (1.1 in)	33 of 100 (Routine)
Concord	United States	Record daily precipitation	43.2 mm (1.7 in)	33 of 100 (Routine)
Fredericton Unb	Canada	Record daily precipitation	25.7 mm (1.0 in)	32 of 100 (Routine)
Keene	United States	Record daily precipitation	45.0 mm (1.8 in)	32 of 100 (Routine)
Claude	United States	Record daily precipitation	63.0 mm (2.5 in)	32 of 100 (Routine)
Cape Moreton Lighthouse	Australia	Record daily precipitation	79.2 mm (3.1 in)	31 of 100 (Routine)
Framingham	United States	Record daily precipitation	56.6 mm (2.2 in)	30 of 100 (Routine)
Haverhill	United States	Record daily precipitation	39.9 mm (1.6 in)	30 of 100 (Routine)
Ashland	United States	Record daily precipitation	52.3 mm (2.1 in)	29 of 100 (Routine)
Jersey City	United States	Record daily precipitation	41.1 mm (1.6 in)	29 of 100 (Routine)
Paterson	United States	Record daily precipitation	45.2 mm (1.8 in)	29 of 100 (Routine)
Scarsdale	United States	Record daily precipitation	48.3 mm (1.9 in)	29 of 100 (Routine)
Warwick	United States	Record daily precipitation	53.8 mm (2.1 in)	29 of 100 (Routine)
Visby_Flygplats	Sweden	Record high minimum temperature	11.4 C (52.5 F)	28 of 100 (Routine)
Surgut	Russia	Record high minimum temperature	10.0 C (50.0 F)	27 of 100 (Routine)
Sfax El-Maou	Tunisia	Record low maximum temperature	16.0 C (60.8 F)	27 of 100 (Routine)
Cumberland	United States	Record daily precipitation	25.9 mm (1.0 in)	27 of 100 (Routine)
Mildura Post Office	Australia	Record high maximum temperature	32.2 C (90.0 F)	26 of 100 (Routine)
Tulbagh (Pol)	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	33.5 mm (1.3 in)	26 of 100 (Routine)
New London	United States	Record daily precipitation	53.3 mm (2.1 in)	26 of 100 (Routine)
Deland 1 SSE	United States	Record high minimum temperature	25.6 C (78.1 F)	26 of 100 (Routine)
Jefferson	United States	Record daily precipitation	53.8 mm (2.1 in)	26 of 100 (Routine)
Cortland	United States	Record daily precipitation	26.9 mm (1.1 in)	26 of 100 (Routine)
W Pt	United States	Record daily precipitation	48.3 mm (1.9 in)	26 of 100 (Routine)
Albany	United States	Record daily precipitation	51.3 mm (2.0 in)	25 of 100 (Routine)
Wappingers Falls	United States	Record daily precipitation	64.5 mm (2.5 in)	25 of 100 (Routine)
Lancaster 2 NE Pump St	United States	Record low maximum temperature	12.8 C (55.0 F)	25 of 100 (Routine)
Koloa 936	United States	Record low minimum temperature	12.2 C (54.0 F)	25 of 100 (Routine)
Forbes (Camp Street)	Australia	Record high maximum temperature	28.9 C (84.0 F)	24 of 100 (Routine)
Stockholm	Sweden	Record high minimum temperature	10.8 C (51.4 F)	24 of 100 (Routine)
Stornoway Airport	United Kingdom	Record high minimum temperature	9.4 C (48.9 F)	24 of 100 (Routine)
Arcadia	United States	Record high maximum temperature	38.3 C (100.9 F)	24 of 100 (Routine)
Arcadia	United States	Record high minimum temperature	26.1 C (79.0 F)	24 of 100 (Routine)
Amherst	United States	Record daily precipitation	47.5 mm (1.9 in)	24 of 100 (Routine)
Plymouth-Kingston	United States	Record daily precipitation	35.6 mm (1.4 in)	24 of 100 (Routine)
Rockport 1 ESE	United States	Record daily precipitation	40.6 mm (1.6 in)	24 of 100 (Routine)
Durham	United States	Record daily precipitation	43.4 mm (1.7 in)	24 of 100 (Routine)
Lambertville River	United States	Record low maximum temperature	11.1 C (52.0 F)	24 of 100 (Routine)
Quakertown	United States	Record daily precipitation	39.6 mm (1.6 in)	24 of 100 (Routine)
Mildura Post Office	Australia	Record high minimum temperature	14.7 C (58.5 F)	23 of 100 (Routine)
Vestervig	Denmark	Record high maximum temperature	27.7 C (81.9 F)	23 of 100 (Routine)
Belvidere	United States	Record daily precipitation	45.0 mm (1.8 in)	23 of 100 (Routine)
Culvers Lake	United States	Record daily precipitation	54.1 mm (2.1 in)	23 of 100 (Routine)
Taos	United States	Record high minimum temperature	10.0 C (50.0 F)	23 of 100 (Routine)
Oneonta 1 S	United States	Record daily precipitation	47.0 mm (1.9 in)	23 of 100 (Routine)
Salisbury	United States	Record daily precipitation	40.4 mm (1.6 in)	23 of 100 (Routine)

Counts by Type and Timescale

393 records

Records set or tied on 15 May 1938 by type: Highest daily maximum 49, Lowest daily maximum 86, Highest daily minimum 72, Lowest daily minimum 14, Heaviest daily rainfall 171, Heaviest daily snowfall 1.

Records on 15 May 1938 by type
Record type	Records
Highest daily maximum	49
Lowest daily maximum	86
Highest daily minimum	72
Lowest daily minimum	14
Heaviest daily rainfall	171
Heaviest daily snowfall	1
Deepest snow cover	0

Records on 15 May 1938 by timescale: all-time 0, monthly 9, daily 384.

How Much Records Were Beaten By

335 broken records

Margins by which the 335 broken records beat the old ones, in degrees Celsius for temperature and millimetres for precipitation and snow; the largest margin was 46.0. Ties are not counted.

Top 20 by Significance

15 May 1938

Top 20 records on 15 May 1938 by significance
Date	Station	Record	Value	Beat old record by	Old record stood	Significance
15 May 1938	Lake Cochituate, US	daily rain	59.7 mm (2.4 in)	35.1 mm (1.4 in)	45 years	44 of 100 (Notable)
15 May 1938	Jeffersonville, US	daily rain	46.0 mm (1.8 in)	29.5 mm (1.2 in)	11 years	43 of 100 (Notable)
15 May 1938	Port Jervis, US	daily rain	45.7 mm (1.8 in)	26.6 mm (1.0 in)	45 years	43 of 100 (Notable)
15 May 1938	Worcester, US	daily rain	50.0 mm (2.0 in)	21.3 mm (0.8 in)	45 years	40 of 100 (Notable)
15 May 1938	Kingston, US	monthly rain	92.7 mm (3.6 in)	17.3 mm (0.7 in)	38 years	39 of 100 (Notable)
15 May 1938	Putbus, DE	daily high max	27.6 C (81.7 F)	4.6 C (8.3 F)	72 years	38 of 100 (Notable)
15 May 1938	Concord, US	daily rain	46.7 mm (1.8 in)	31.7 mm (1.2 in)	0 years	37 of 100 (Notable)
15 May 1938	Nicosia, CY	daily rain	41.4 mm (1.6 in)	33.5 mm (1.3 in)	1 year	36 of 100 (Notable)
15 May 1938	Lowell, US	daily rain	48.0 mm (1.9 in)	30.2 mm (1.2 in)	33 years	36 of 100 (Notable)
15 May 1938	Nashua 2 NNW, US	daily rain	39.9 mm (1.6 in)	17.8 mm (0.7 in)	45 years	36 of 100 (Notable)
15 May 1938	Cooperstown, US	daily rain	48.8 mm (1.9 in)	18.6 mm (0.7 in)	33 years	36 of 100 (Notable)
15 May 1938	Carmel, US	daily rain	51.3 mm (2.0 in)	27.4 mm (1.1 in)	33 years	35 of 100 (Notable)
15 May 1938	Melbourne Regional Office, AU	daily high max	26.0 C (78.8 F)	1.8 C (3.2 F)	69 years	34 of 100 (Routine)
15 May 1938	Blue Hill Coop, US	daily rain	40.9 mm (1.6 in)	15.8 mm (0.6 in)	45 years	33 of 100 (Routine)
15 May 1938	Brockton, US	daily rain	27.7 mm (1.1 in)	15.0 mm (0.6 in)	42 years	33 of 100 (Routine)
15 May 1938	Concord, US	daily rain	43.2 mm (1.7 in)	14.5 mm (0.6 in)	32 years	33 of 100 (Routine)
15 May 1938	Fredericton Unb, CA	daily rain	25.7 mm (1.0 in)	8.4 mm (0.33 in)	54 years	32 of 100 (Routine)
15 May 1938	Keene, US	daily rain	45.0 mm (1.8 in)	22.4 mm (0.9 in)	0 years	32 of 100 (Routine)
15 May 1938	Claude, US	daily rain	63.0 mm (2.5 in)	34.0 mm (1.3 in)	24 years	32 of 100 (Routine)
15 May 1938	Cape Moreton Lighthouse, AU	daily rain	79.2 mm (3.1 in)	27.9 mm (1.1 in)	37 years	31 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

1820 to 1938

Records set or tied on this calendar date in each year from 1820 to 1938. 1938 had 393 records.

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

Records on 05-15 in each year
Year	Records
1820	1
1825	1
1831	1
1832	1
1837	2
1845	1
1847	2
1848	1
1855	2
1857	2
1859	1
1862	1
1863	1
1865	1
1866	2
1867	1
1868	2
1870	1
1871	3
1874	2
1876	4
1878	1
1879	2
1881	1
1883	1
1885	1
1886	2
1888	3
1891	3
1893	5
1894	2
1895	4
1896	2
1897	4
1898	3
1899	9
1900	9
1901	2
1902	9
1903	4
1904	13
1905	16
1906	10
1907	27
1908	25
1909	89
1910	27
1911	27
1912	26
1913	60
1914	16
1915	236
1916	27
1917	80
1918	133
1919	25
1920	58
1921	92
1922	30
1923	125
1924	174
1925	100
1926	161
1927	191
1928	144
1929	161
1930	136
1931	459
1932	368
1933	439
1934	227
1935	288
1936	372
1937	373
1938	393
1939	351
1940	179
1941	454
1942	701
1943	568
1944	630
1945	588
1946	238
1947	334
1948	264
1949	363
1950	260
1951	736
1952	476
1953	426
1954	355
1955	538
1956	466
1957	521
1958	605
1959	764
1960	291
1961	508
1962	1,128
1963	782
1964	347
1965	320
1966	389
1967	609
1968	1,019
1969	790
1970	512
1971	351
1972	484
1973	818
1974	1,230
1975	372
1976	803
1977	1,186
1978	922
1979	404
1980	625
1981	586
1982	500
1983	1,215
1984	1,059
1985	649
1986	679
1987	1,073
1988	643
1989	552
1990	776
1991	1,179
1992	944
1993	784
1994	910
1995	1,750
1996	1,452
1997	1,175
1998	1,641
1999	810
2000	850
2001	1,280
2002	801
2003	1,023
2004	1,046
2005	767
2006	955
2007	949
2008	995
2009	675
2010	1,088
2011	1,298
2012	751
2013	1,081
2014	1,411
2015	717
2016	890
2017	435
2018	1,074
2019	627
2020	472
2021	412
2022	847
2023	566
2024	596
2025	801
2026	481

Download the Data

Data for records on 1938-05-15: 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).

Histogram of margins by which records were beaten on 15 May 1938
Margin	Records
0 to 10	269
10 to 20	37
20 to 30	20
30 to 40	8
40 to 50	1