Weather Records on 17 May 1938

340 weather records were set or tied worldwide on 17 May 1938. Highest significance: Scheveningen, NL.

Key Facts for 17 May 1938

On 17 May 1938, 340 weather records were set or tied at long-record stations worldwide.
44 were record highs and 64 were record lows, counting maximum and minimum temperature.
By timescale, 1 were all-time records, 5 monthly and 334 daily.
Scheveningen set a daily record precipitation of 30.2 mm (1.2 in) on 17 May 1938.
Across 167 earlier years (1802 to 2026) the same calendar date averaged 435 records.

Record Map

340 stations

340 station records on 17 May 1938 are marked on the map, coloured by record type. Dot size shows the significance score. Made with Natural Earth.

Weather records on 17 May 1938: highest significance records shown on the map
Station	Country	Type	Value	Significance
Scheveningen	Netherlands	Record daily precipitation	30.2 mm (1.2 in)	64 of 100 (Major)
Pitea	Sweden	Record daily precipitation	36.5 mm (1.4 in)	57 of 100 (Notable)
Jind	India	Record daily precipitation	33.3 mm (1.3 in)	54 of 100 (Notable)
Sugar Land	United States	Record daily precipitation	125.0 mm (4.9 in)	48 of 100 (Notable)
Pekisko	Canada	Record daily precipitation	53.6 mm (2.1 in)	46 of 100 (Notable)
Hays 1 S	United States	Record daily precipitation	57.9 mm (2.3 in)	46 of 100 (Notable)
Tiskilwa 2 SE	United States	Record daily precipitation	55.4 mm (2.2 in)	45 of 100 (Notable)
Hondo	United States	Record daily precipitation	116.8 mm (4.6 in)	45 of 100 (Notable)
Clay Ctr	United States	Record daily precipitation	68.1 mm (2.7 in)	44 of 100 (Notable)
Arnhem	Netherlands	Record daily precipitation	32.4 mm (1.3 in)	42 of 100 (Notable)
Iowa City	United States	Record daily precipitation	47.2 mm (1.9 in)	42 of 100 (Notable)
Kerkwerve	Netherlands	Record daily precipitation	25.4 mm (1.0 in)	41 of 100 (Notable)
Stockport	United States	Record daily precipitation	42.2 mm (1.7 in)	41 of 100 (Notable)
Grand Cane Fire Twr	United States	Record daily precipitation	66.8 mm (2.6 in)	39 of 100 (Notable)
Davenport L&D 15	United States	Record daily precipitation	48.5 mm (1.9 in)	39 of 100 (Notable)
Marshalltown	United States	Record daily precipitation	56.4 mm (2.2 in)	38 of 100 (Notable)
Mt Pleasant 1 SW	United States	Record daily precipitation	57.9 mm (2.3 in)	38 of 100 (Notable)
Cape Sorell	Australia	Record daily precipitation	66.0 mm (2.6 in)	37 of 100 (Notable)
Horton	United States	Record daily precipitation	38.9 mm (1.5 in)	37 of 100 (Notable)
Ewing	United States	Record daily precipitation	41.7 mm (1.6 in)	37 of 100 (Notable)
Cape Northumberland	Australia	Record daily precipitation	37.1 mm (1.5 in)	36 of 100 (Notable)
Walnut	United States	Record daily precipitation	38.6 mm (1.5 in)	36 of 100 (Notable)
Kurdege	India	Record daily precipitation	37.3 mm (1.5 in)	35 of 100 (Notable)
Gospic	Croatia	Record daily precipitation	48.9 mm (1.9 in)	34 of 100 (Routine)
Dayton Mcd	United States	Record daily precipitation	29.0 mm (1.1 in)	34 of 100 (Routine)
La Salle Peru	United States	Record daily precipitation	39.9 mm (1.6 in)	33 of 100 (Routine)
Roy Hill	Australia	Record daily precipitation	26.2 mm (1.0 in)	32 of 100 (Routine)
Dunderlandsdalen	Norway	Record daily precipitation	27.5 mm (1.1 in)	32 of 100 (Routine)
Boone	United States	Record daily precipitation	47.2 mm (1.9 in)	32 of 100 (Routine)
Cape Bruny Lighthouse	Australia	Record daily precipitation	26.7 mm (1.1 in)	31 of 100 (Routine)
Aledo	United States	Record daily precipitation	88.9 mm (3.5 in)	31 of 100 (Routine)
Banff	Canada	Record daily precipitation	29.7 mm (1.2 in)	30 of 100 (Routine)
Champhai	India	Record daily precipitation	58.9 mm (2.3 in)	30 of 100 (Routine)
Sairang	India	Record daily precipitation	79.8 mm (3.1 in)	30 of 100 (Routine)
Dixon Wwtp	United States	Record daily precipitation	30.7 mm (1.2 in)	30 of 100 (Routine)
Alliance 1WNW	United States	Record daily precipitation	25.7 mm (1.0 in)	30 of 100 (Routine)
Latehar	India	Record daily precipitation	44.5 mm (1.8 in)	29 of 100 (Routine)
Galva	United States	Record daily precipitation	46.0 mm (1.8 in)	29 of 100 (Routine)
Jefferson	United States	Record daily precipitation	53.3 mm (2.1 in)	29 of 100 (Routine)
Cape Bridgewater	Australia	Record daily precipitation	29.0 mm (1.1 in)	28 of 100 (Routine)
Saint John	Canada	Record low maximum temperature	6.1 C (43.0 F)	28 of 100 (Routine)
Margherita	India	Record daily precipitation	81.5 mm (3.2 in)	28 of 100 (Routine)
East Anaconda	United States	Record daily snowfall	6.4 cm (2.5 in)	28 of 100 (Routine)
Sfax El-Maou	Tunisia	Record low maximum temperature	15.0 C (59.0 F)	27 of 100 (Routine)
Streator 2SE	United States	Record daily precipitation	37.1 mm (1.5 in)	27 of 100 (Routine)
Topeka	United States	Record daily precipitation	26.4 mm (1.0 in)	27 of 100 (Routine)
Piketberg (Pol)	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	31.2 mm (1.2 in)	26 of 100 (Routine)
Ottawa 4SW	United States	Record daily precipitation	32.3 mm (1.3 in)	26 of 100 (Routine)
Le Claire	United States	Record daily precipitation	42.7 mm (1.7 in)	26 of 100 (Routine)
Toledo 3N	United States	Record daily precipitation	32.3 mm (1.3 in)	26 of 100 (Routine)
Fairfax	United States	Record daily precipitation	33.3 mm (1.3 in)	26 of 100 (Routine)
Heerde	Netherlands	Record daily precipitation	28.5 mm (1.1 in)	25 of 100 (Routine)
Pontiac	United States	Record daily precipitation	37.3 mm (1.5 in)	25 of 100 (Routine)
Pierce 1 E	United States	Record daily precipitation	59.7 mm (2.4 in)	25 of 100 (Routine)
Pelee Island	Canada	Record daily precipitation	27.4 mm (1.1 in)	24 of 100 (Routine)
Cedar Rapids #1	United States	Record daily precipitation	31.5 mm (1.2 in)	24 of 100 (Routine)
Clinton #1	United States	Record daily precipitation	38.6 mm (1.5 in)	24 of 100 (Routine)
Lapeer 2 SE	United States	Record daily precipitation	47.0 mm (1.9 in)	24 of 100 (Routine)
Pahala 21	United States	Record high maximum temperature	30.6 C (87.1 F)	24 of 100 (Routine)
Mongpoo	India	Record daily precipitation	86.1 mm (3.4 in)	23 of 100 (Routine)

Counts by Type and Timescale

340 records

Records set or tied on 17 May 1938 by type: Highest daily maximum 9, Lowest daily maximum 44, Highest daily minimum 35, Lowest daily minimum 20, Heaviest daily rainfall 230, Heaviest daily snowfall 2.

Records on 17 May 1938 by type
Record type	Records
Highest daily maximum	9
Lowest daily maximum	44
Highest daily minimum	35
Lowest daily minimum	20
Heaviest daily rainfall	230
Heaviest daily snowfall	2
Deepest snow cover	0

Records on 17 May 1938 by timescale: all-time 1, monthly 5, daily 334.

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 118.4. Ties are not counted.

Top 20 by Significance

17 May 1938

Top 20 records on 17 May 1938 by significance
Date	Station	Record	Value	Beat old record by	Old record stood	Significance
17 May 1938	Scheveningen, NL	daily rain	30.2 mm (1.2 in)	23.2 mm (0.9 in)	60 years	64 of 100 (Major)
17 May 1938	Pitea, SE	monthly rain	36.5 mm (1.4 in)	8.5 mm (0.33 in)	67 years	57 of 100 (Notable)
17 May 1938	Jind, IN	daily rain	33.3 mm (1.3 in)	33.3 mm (1.3 in)	36 years	54 of 100 (Notable)
17 May 1938	Sugar Land, US	daily rain	125.0 mm (4.9 in)	118.4 mm (4.7 in)	16 years	48 of 100 (Notable)
17 May 1938	Pekisko, CA	daily rain	53.6 mm (2.1 in)	41.9 mm (1.6 in)	11 years	46 of 100 (Notable)
17 May 1938	Hays 1 S, US	daily rain	57.9 mm (2.3 in)	45.2 mm (1.8 in)	28 years	46 of 100 (Notable)
17 May 1938	Tiskilwa 2 SE, US	daily rain	55.4 mm (2.2 in)	34.8 mm (1.4 in)	28 years	45 of 100 (Notable)
17 May 1938	Hondo, US	daily rain	116.8 mm (4.6 in)	85.0 mm (3.3 in)	16 years	45 of 100 (Notable)
17 May 1938	Clay Ctr, US	daily rain	68.1 mm (2.7 in)	44.0 mm (1.7 in)	29 years	44 of 100 (Notable)
17 May 1938	Arnhem, NL	daily rain	32.4 mm (1.3 in)	16.7 mm (0.7 in)	15 years	42 of 100 (Notable)
17 May 1938	Iowa City, US	daily rain	47.2 mm (1.9 in)	32.0 mm (1.3 in)	38 years	42 of 100 (Notable)
17 May 1938	Kerkwerve, NL	daily rain	25.4 mm (1.0 in)	14.8 mm (0.6 in)	23 years	41 of 100 (Notable)
17 May 1938	Stockport, US	daily rain	42.2 mm (1.7 in)	33.6 mm (1.3 in)	24 years	41 of 100 (Notable)
17 May 1938	Grand Cane Fire Twr, US	daily rain	66.8 mm (2.6 in)	42.2 mm (1.7 in)	28 years	39 of 100 (Notable)
17 May 1938	Davenport L&D 15, US	daily rain	48.5 mm (1.9 in)	27.2 mm (1.1 in)	20 years	39 of 100 (Notable)
17 May 1938	Marshalltown, US	daily rain	56.4 mm (2.2 in)	29.2 mm (1.1 in)	28 years	38 of 100 (Notable)
17 May 1938	Mt Pleasant 1 SW, US	daily rain	57.9 mm (2.3 in)	37.8 mm (1.5 in)	4 years	38 of 100 (Notable)
17 May 1938	Cape Sorell, AU	all-time rain	66.0 mm (2.6 in)	5.8 mm (0.23 in)	21 years	37 of 100 (Notable)
17 May 1938	Horton, US	daily rain	38.9 mm (1.5 in)	30.8 mm (1.2 in)	37 years	37 of 100 (Notable)
17 May 1938	Ewing, US	daily rain	41.7 mm (1.6 in)	31.5 mm (1.2 in)	27 years	37 of 100 (Notable)

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

1802 to 1938

Records set or tied on this calendar date in each year from 1802 to 1938. 1938 had 340 records.

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

Records on 05-17 in each year
Year	Records
1802	2
1803	1
1808	1
1816	1
1834	1
1837	1
1839	1
1847	2
1848	1
1851	1
1853	1
1855	1
1858	1
1859	1
1861	2
1862	2
1863	2
1864	1
1871	2
1872	2
1873	2
1874	4
1877	1
1878	1
1879	2
1880	1
1881	1
1882	2
1883	3
1885	1
1887	1
1888	2
1889	3
1891	8
1892	4
1893	3
1895	8
1896	2
1897	3
1898	6
1899	7
1900	12
1901	2
1902	3
1903	9
1904	12
1905	10
1906	22
1907	10
1908	5
1909	33
1910	16
1911	30
1912	16
1913	24
1914	24
1915	53
1916	49
1917	18
1918	56
1919	35
1920	46
1921	50
1922	30
1923	95
1924	80
1925	326
1926	133
1927	264
1928	127
1929	168
1930	421
1931	201
1932	288
1933	365
1934	373
1935	341
1936	270
1937	183
1938	340
1939	285
1940	338
1941	408
1942	589
1943	855
1944	521
1945	799
1946	586
1947	249
1948	412
1949	544
1950	371
1951	373
1952	777
1953	441
1954	298
1955	570
1956	1,166
1957	469
1958	331
1959	488
1960	402
1961	291
1962	1,325
1963	368
1964	417
1965	462
1966	489
1967	644
1968	564
1969	638
1970	711
1971	723
1972	610
1973	1,016
1974	1,302
1975	365
1976	426
1977	1,078
1978	872
1979	459
1980	768
1981	940
1982	476
1983	1,326
1984	925
1985	561
1986	921
1987	1,054
1988	1,096
1989	1,307
1990	1,135
1991	1,237
1992	1,025
1993	495
1994	858
1995	1,734
1996	1,706
1997	1,619
1998	1,080
1999	795
2000	825
2001	960
2002	964
2003	1,127
2004	769
2005	784
2006	1,522
2007	742
2008	1,309
2009	1,050
2010	880
2011	1,483
2012	711
2013	739
2014	1,062
2015	824
2016	741
2017	1,302
2018	726
2019	686
2020	496
2021	443
2022	479
2023	385
2024	566
2025	928
2026	745

Download the Data

Data for records on 1938-05-17: 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 20	257
20 to 40	31
40 to 60	4
60 to 80	1
80 to 100	1
100 to 120	1