Weather Records on 20 September 1938

506 weather records were set or tied worldwide on 20 September 1938. Highest significance: Winchendon, US.

Key Facts for 20 September 1938

On 20 September 1938, 506 weather records were set or tied at long-record stations worldwide.
153 were record highs and 148 were record lows, counting maximum and minimum temperature.
By timescale, 1 were all-time records, 9 monthly and 496 daily.
Winchendon set an all-time record daily precipitation of 199.4 mm (7.9 in) on 20 September 1938.
Across 156 earlier years (1812 to 2026) the same calendar date averaged 442 records.

Record Map

506 stations

506 station records on 20 September 1938 are marked on the map, coloured by record type. Dot size shows the significance score. Made with Natural Earth.

Weather records on 20 September 1938: highest significance records shown on the map
Station	Country	Type	Value	Significance
Winchendon	United States	Record daily precipitation	199.4 mm (7.9 in)	67 of 100 (Major)
Princess Anne	United States	Record daily precipitation	101.6 mm (4.0 in)	55 of 100 (Notable)
Lawrence	United States	Record daily precipitation	130.3 mm (5.1 in)	55 of 100 (Notable)
Moorestown 4 E	United States	Record daily precipitation	87.6 mm (3.4 in)	55 of 100 (Notable)
Philadelphia Shawmont	United States	Record daily precipitation	80.8 mm (3.2 in)	55 of 100 (Notable)
Halflong Obsy	India	Record daily precipitation	122.9 mm (4.8 in)	53 of 100 (Notable)
Jaitanga Valley	India	Record daily precipitation	240.0 mm (9.4 in)	53 of 100 (Notable)
Plainfield	United States	Record daily precipitation	88.1 mm (3.5 in)	51 of 100 (Notable)
Cherrapunji	India	Record daily precipitation	621.8 mm (24.5 in)	50 of 100 (Notable)
Mawphlang Obsy	India	Record daily precipitation	127.0 mm (5.0 in)	50 of 100 (Notable)
Quakertown	United States	Record daily precipitation	91.9 mm (3.6 in)	50 of 100 (Notable)
Williamsburg 2 NW	United States	Record daily precipitation	86.4 mm (3.4 in)	50 of 100 (Notable)
Jowai	India	Record daily precipitation	206.8 mm (8.1 in)	49 of 100 (Notable)
Cherrapunji/P.S.	India	Record daily precipitation	762.0 mm (30.0 in)	49 of 100 (Notable)
Amherst	United States	Record daily precipitation	100.6 mm (4.0 in)	48 of 100 (Notable)
Philadelphia City	United States	Record daily precipitation	77.2 mm (3.0 in)	48 of 100 (Notable)
Salisbury	United States	Record daily precipitation	101.6 mm (4.0 in)	47 of 100 (Notable)
Delaware Cy Reedy Poin	United States	Record daily precipitation	65.0 mm (2.6 in)	46 of 100 (Notable)
Rocky Mt	United States	Record daily precipitation	93.5 mm (3.7 in)	45 of 100 (Notable)
Aijal	India	Record daily precipitation	135.1 mm (5.3 in)	44 of 100 (Notable)
Chatham	United States	Record daily precipitation	113.8 mm (4.5 in)	44 of 100 (Notable)
Paterson	United States	Record daily precipitation	47.0 mm (1.9 in)	44 of 100 (Notable)
Milford 2 SE	United States	Record daily precipitation	75.9 mm (3.0 in)	43 of 100 (Notable)
Hightstown 2 W	United States	Record daily precipitation	74.2 mm (2.9 in)	43 of 100 (Notable)
Patan	India	Record daily precipitation	82.6 mm (3.3 in)	42 of 100 (Notable)
Bridgeville 1 NW	United States	Record daily precipitation	69.3 mm (2.7 in)	42 of 100 (Notable)
Mohonk Lake	United States	Record daily precipitation	95.3 mm (3.8 in)	42 of 100 (Notable)
Storrs	United States	Record daily precipitation	76.2 mm (3.0 in)	41 of 100 (Notable)
Weldon	United States	Record daily precipitation	81.0 mm (3.2 in)	41 of 100 (Notable)
Doylestown	United States	Record daily precipitation	85.6 mm (3.4 in)	41 of 100 (Notable)
Darlington	United States	Record daily precipitation	93.5 mm (3.7 in)	41 of 100 (Notable)
Dover	United States	Record daily precipitation	66.0 mm (2.6 in)	40 of 100 (Notable)
Williamstown	United States	Record daily precipitation	65.5 mm (2.6 in)	40 of 100 (Notable)
Boonton 1 SE	United States	Record daily precipitation	98.6 mm (3.9 in)	39 of 100 (Notable)
Warwick	United States	Record daily precipitation	69.3 mm (2.7 in)	39 of 100 (Notable)
Millington 1 SE	United States	Record daily precipitation	67.1 mm (2.6 in)	38 of 100 (Notable)
Chapel Hill 2 W	United States	Record daily precipitation	46.5 mm (1.8 in)	38 of 100 (Notable)
Scotland Neck	United States	Record daily precipitation	80.5 mm (3.2 in)	38 of 100 (Notable)
Matamoras	United States	Record daily precipitation	62.7 mm (2.5 in)	38 of 100 (Notable)
Concord	United States	Record daily precipitation	69.6 mm (2.7 in)	37 of 100 (Notable)
Indian Mills 2 W	United States	Record daily precipitation	60.2 mm (2.4 in)	37 of 100 (Notable)
Edenton	United States	Record daily precipitation	91.4 mm (3.6 in)	37 of 100 (Notable)
Cream Hill	United States	Record daily precipitation	48.0 mm (1.9 in)	36 of 100 (Notable)
Keene	United States	Record daily precipitation	59.9 mm (2.4 in)	36 of 100 (Notable)
Nashua 2 NNW	United States	Record daily precipitation	62.2 mm (2.4 in)	36 of 100 (Notable)
Bridgeton 1 NE	United States	Record daily precipitation	71.9 mm (2.8 in)	36 of 100 (Notable)
Setauket Strong	United States	Record daily precipitation	101.1 mm (4.0 in)	36 of 100 (Notable)
Durham	United States	Record daily precipitation	56.1 mm (2.2 in)	35 of 100 (Notable)
Wilmington City Hall	United States	Record daily precipitation	63.8 mm (2.5 in)	34 of 100 (Routine)
Phillipsburg	United States	Record daily precipitation	72.4 mm (2.9 in)	34 of 100 (Routine)
Tarboro 1 S	United States	Record daily precipitation	71.6 mm (2.8 in)	34 of 100 (Routine)
Flemington 5 NNW	United States	Record daily precipitation	59.4 mm (2.3 in)	33 of 100 (Routine)
New Brunswick Exp STN	United States	Record daily precipitation	55.4 mm (2.2 in)	33 of 100 (Routine)
W Chester 2 NW	United States	Record daily precipitation	51.1 mm (2.0 in)	33 of 100 (Routine)
Wappingers Falls	United States	Record daily precipitation	54.9 mm (2.2 in)	32 of 100 (Routine)
George School	United States	Record daily precipitation	53.1 mm (2.1 in)	32 of 100 (Routine)
Randwick Bowling Club	Australia	Record daily precipitation	51.8 mm (2.0 in)	31 of 100 (Routine)
Solomons	United States	Record daily precipitation	50.8 mm (2.0 in)	31 of 100 (Routine)
Fitchburg 4 SE	United States	Record daily precipitation	87.1 mm (3.4 in)	31 of 100 (Routine)
Jersey City	United States	Record daily precipitation	54.1 mm (2.1 in)	31 of 100 (Routine)

Counts by Type and Timescale

506 records

Records set or tied on 20 September 1938 by type: Highest daily maximum 67, Lowest daily maximum 43, Highest daily minimum 86, Lowest daily minimum 105, Heaviest daily rainfall 205.

Records on 20 September 1938 by type
Record type	Records
Highest daily maximum	67
Lowest daily maximum	43
Highest daily minimum	86
Lowest daily minimum	105
Heaviest daily rainfall	205
Heaviest daily snowfall	0
Deepest snow cover	0

Records on 20 September 1938 by timescale: all-time 1, monthly 9, daily 496.

How Much Records Were Beaten By

413 broken records

Margins by which the 413 broken records beat the old ones, in degrees Celsius for temperature and millimetres for precipitation and snow; the largest margin was 511.8. Ties are not counted.

Top 20 by Significance

20 September 1938

Top 20 records on 20 September 1938 by significance
Date	Station	Record	Value	Beat old record by	Old record stood	Significance
20 September 1938	Winchendon, US	all-time rain	199.4 mm (7.9 in)	98.3 mm (3.9 in)	13 years	67 of 100 (Major)
20 September 1938	Princess Anne, US	daily rain	101.6 mm (4.0 in)	85.6 mm (3.4 in)	38 years	55 of 100 (Notable)
20 September 1938	Lawrence, US	daily rain	130.3 mm (5.1 in)	79.5 mm (3.1 in)	38 years	55 of 100 (Notable)
20 September 1938	Moorestown 4 E, US	daily rain	87.6 mm (3.4 in)	48.5 mm (1.9 in)	63 years	55 of 100 (Notable)
20 September 1938	Philadelphia Shawmont, US	daily rain	80.8 mm (3.2 in)	68.9 mm (2.7 in)	38 years	55 of 100 (Notable)
20 September 1938	Halflong Obsy, IN	daily rain	122.9 mm (4.8 in)	88.9 mm (3.5 in)	33 years	53 of 100 (Notable)
20 September 1938	Jaitanga Valley, IN	daily rain	240.0 mm (9.4 in)	145.8 mm (5.7 in)	33 years	53 of 100 (Notable)
20 September 1938	Plainfield, US	daily rain	88.1 mm (3.5 in)	62.2 mm (2.4 in)	43 years	51 of 100 (Notable)
20 September 1938	Cherrapunji, IN	daily rain	621.8 mm (24.5 in)	511.8 mm (20.1 in)	24 years	50 of 100 (Notable)
20 September 1938	Mawphlang Obsy, IN	daily rain	127.0 mm (5.0 in)	99.8 mm (3.9 in)	32 years	50 of 100 (Notable)
20 September 1938	Quakertown, US	daily rain	91.9 mm (3.6 in)	54.1 mm (2.1 in)	38 years	50 of 100 (Notable)
20 September 1938	Williamsburg 2 NW, US	daily rain	86.4 mm (3.4 in)	74.7 mm (2.9 in)	20 years	50 of 100 (Notable)
20 September 1938	Jowai, IN	daily rain	206.8 mm (8.1 in)	169.7 mm (6.7 in)	23 years	49 of 100 (Notable)
20 September 1938	Cherrapunji/P.S., IN	monthly rain	762.0 mm (30.0 in)	243.3 mm (9.6 in)	0 years	49 of 100 (Notable)
20 September 1938	Amherst, US	daily rain	100.6 mm (4.0 in)	51.6 mm (2.0 in)	43 years	48 of 100 (Notable)
20 September 1938	Philadelphia City, US	daily rain	77.2 mm (3.0 in)	54.1 mm (2.1 in)	20 years	48 of 100 (Notable)
20 September 1938	Salisbury, US	daily rain	101.6 mm (4.0 in)	86.1 mm (3.4 in)	15 years	47 of 100 (Notable)
20 September 1938	Delaware Cy Reedy Poin, US	daily rain	65.0 mm (2.6 in)	51.5 mm (2.0 in)	20 years	46 of 100 (Notable)
20 September 1938	Rocky Mt, US	daily rain	93.5 mm (3.7 in)	79.5 mm (3.1 in)	24 years	45 of 100 (Notable)
20 September 1938	Aijal, IN	daily rain	135.1 mm (5.3 in)	75.4 mm (3.0 in)	5 years	44 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

1812 to 1938

Records set or tied on this calendar date in each year from 1812 to 1938. 1938 had 506 records.

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

Records on 09-20 in each year
Year	Records
1812	1
1837	1
1840	1
1844	1
1848	2
1851	1
1852	1
1854	2
1855	1
1856	2
1859	2
1860	1
1862	1
1870	1
1871	2
1882	2
1883	1
1884	1
1886	2
1887	1
1888	2
1889	8
1891	4
1893	5
1894	1
1895	2
1896	1
1897	16
1898	4
1899	1
1900	2
1901	3
1902	3
1903	3
1904	12
1905	8
1906	22
1907	11
1908	24
1909	10
1910	8
1911	21
1912	34
1913	48
1914	28
1915	239
1916	28
1917	100
1918	59
1919	55
1920	64
1921	40
1922	52
1923	249
1924	329
1925	330
1926	129
1927	169
1928	144
1929	373
1930	102
1931	564
1932	270
1933	223
1934	349
1935	201
1936	133
1937	385
1938	506
1939	312
1940	591
1941	582
1942	436
1943	419
1944	466
1945	406
1946	766
1947	460
1948	454
1949	268
1950	435
1951	267
1952	434
1953	479
1954	628
1955	625
1956	985
1957	514
1958	410
1959	489
1960	352
1961	384
1962	707
1963	290
1964	482
1965	1,180
1966	414
1967	449
1968	617
1969	604
1970	591
1971	884
1972	582
1973	569
1974	771
1975	527
1976	375
1977	776
1978	1,216
1979	767
1980	567
1981	979
1982	911
1983	1,958
1984	895
1985	730
1986	743
1987	856
1988	698
1989	968
1990	743
1991	1,835
1992	718
1993	1,031
1994	788
1995	1,374
1996	1,077
1997	1,282
1998	1,157
1999	923
2000	908
2001	821
2002	845
2003	910
2004	1,156
2005	960
2006	732
2007	645
2008	648
2009	715
2010	1,497
2011	650
2012	549
2013	595
2014	577
2015	439
2016	778
2017	920
2018	1,020
2019	835
2020	630
2021	565
2022	786
2023	482
2024	596
2025	877
2026	682

Download the Data

Data for records on 1938-09-20: 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 100	409
100 to 200	2
200 to 300	1
300 to 400	0
400 to 500	0
500 to 600	1