Weather Records on 20 December 1952

394 weather records were set or tied worldwide on 20 December 1952. Highest significance: Oskaloosa, US.

Key Facts for 20 December 1952

On 20 December 1952, 394 weather records were set or tied at long-record stations worldwide.
50 were record highs and 22 were record lows, counting maximum and minimum temperature.
By timescale, 2 were all-time records, 9 monthly and 383 daily.
Oskaloosa set a daily record precipitation of 34.3 mm (1.4 in) on 20 December 1952.
Across 163 earlier years (1793 to 2025) the same calendar date averaged 468 records.

Record Map

394 stations

394 station records on 20 December 1952 are marked on the map, coloured by record type. Dot size shows the significance score. Made with Natural Earth.

Weather records on 20 December 1952: highest significance records shown on the map
Station	Country	Type	Value	Significance
Oskaloosa	United States	Record daily precipitation	34.3 mm (1.4 in)	63 of 100 (Major)
Bad-Neunkirchen Mergentheim	Germany	Record daily precipitation	35.0 mm (1.4 in)	56 of 100 (Notable)
Trier-Zewen	Germany	Record daily precipitation	29.8 mm (1.2 in)	55 of 100 (Notable)
Brodhead Wwtp	United States	Record daily precipitation	31.0 mm (1.2 in)	55 of 100 (Notable)
Albia 3 NNE	United States	Record daily precipitation	27.9 mm (1.1 in)	53 of 100 (Notable)
Kunzelsau	Germany	Record daily precipitation	28.2 mm (1.1 in)	52 of 100 (Notable)
Ottumwa	United States	Record daily precipitation	35.8 mm (1.4 in)	51 of 100 (Notable)
Ebrach	Germany	Record daily precipitation	25.2 mm (1.0 in)	49 of 100 (Notable)
Muscatine 2	United States	Record daily precipitation	33.0 mm (1.3 in)	48 of 100 (Notable)
Washington	United States	Record daily precipitation	33.0 mm (1.3 in)	47 of 100 (Notable)
Beloit	United States	Record daily precipitation	30.5 mm (1.2 in)	47 of 100 (Notable)
Richland Ctr	United States	Record daily precipitation	26.2 mm (1.0 in)	47 of 100 (Notable)
Rockford	United States	Record daily precipitation	33.0 mm (1.3 in)	46 of 100 (Notable)
Freeport	United States	Record daily precipitation	33.3 mm (1.3 in)	44 of 100 (Notable)
Mt Carroll	United States	Record daily precipitation	26.7 mm (1.1 in)	43 of 100 (Notable)
Clinton 2	United States	Record daily precipitation	35.3 mm (1.4 in)	43 of 100 (Notable)
Steffenville	United States	Record daily precipitation	38.4 mm (1.5 in)	43 of 100 (Notable)
Elgin Water	United States	Record daily precipitation	30.2 mm (1.2 in)	42 of 100 (Notable)
Le Claire	United States	Record daily precipitation	30.2 mm (1.2 in)	42 of 100 (Notable)
Wapello	United States	Record daily precipitation	27.9 mm (1.1 in)	41 of 100 (Notable)
Racine Wwtp	United States	Record daily precipitation	28.7 mm (1.1 in)	40 of 100 (Notable)
Darlington Wwtp	United States	Record daily precipitation	26.9 mm (1.1 in)	39 of 100 (Notable)
Keokuk L&D 19	United States	Record daily precipitation	27.9 mm (1.1 in)	38 of 100 (Notable)
Shelbina	United States	Record daily precipitation	38.6 mm (1.5 in)	38 of 100 (Notable)
Meadow Valley Rs	United States	Record daily snowfall	17.8 cm (7.0 in)	37 of 100 (Notable)
San Luis Obispo Poly	United States	Record daily precipitation	38.6 mm (1.5 in)	36 of 100 (Notable)
Sycamore	United States	Record daily precipitation	31.8 mm (1.3 in)	36 of 100 (Notable)
Gird	India	Record daily precipitation	31.8 mm (1.3 in)	35 of 100 (Notable)
Bomnak	Russia	Record low minimum temperature	-52.1 C (-61.8 F)	35 of 100 (Notable)
Delaware 3 WSW	United States	Record daily precipitation	41.1 mm (1.6 in)	35 of 100 (Notable)
Schwerin	Germany	Record snow depth	19.0 cm (7.5 in)	34 of 100 (Routine)
Hailey 3 NNW	United States	Record daily snowfall	22.9 cm (9.0 in)	34 of 100 (Routine)
Clinton #1	United States	Record daily precipitation	26.4 mm (1.0 in)	34 of 100 (Routine)
Mexico	United States	Record daily precipitation	25.1 mm (1.0 in)	34 of 100 (Routine)
Rhinelander	United States	Record daily snowfall	8.9 cm (3.5 in)	34 of 100 (Routine)
Prairie du Chien	United States	Record daily precipitation	27.2 mm (1.1 in)	33 of 100 (Routine)
Lindsay	United States	Record daily precipitation	32.0 mm (1.3 in)	32 of 100 (Routine)
Crystal Springs Exp STN	United States	Record daily precipitation	44.7 mm (1.8 in)	32 of 100 (Routine)
Beardstown	United States	Record daily precipitation	33.3 mm (1.3 in)	31 of 100 (Routine)
Cedar Rapids #1	United States	Record daily precipitation	36.8 mm (1.4 in)	31 of 100 (Routine)
Grinnell 3 SW	United States	Record daily precipitation	25.9 mm (1.0 in)	31 of 100 (Routine)
Hillsboro	United States	Record daily precipitation	25.4 mm (1.0 in)	31 of 100 (Routine)
Mauston 1 SE	United States	Record daily snowfall	15.2 cm (6.0 in)	31 of 100 (Routine)
Big Sur STN	United States	Record daily precipitation	67.6 mm (2.7 in)	29 of 100 (Routine)
Davis 2 WSW Exp Farm	United States	Record daily precipitation	25.7 mm (1.0 in)	29 of 100 (Routine)
Woodland 1 WNW	United States	Record daily precipitation	25.9 mm (1.0 in)	29 of 100 (Routine)
Antioch	United States	Record daily precipitation	27.2 mm (1.1 in)	29 of 100 (Routine)
Quincy Mem Brg	United States	Record daily precipitation	30.2 mm (1.2 in)	29 of 100 (Routine)
Elkader 6 SSW	United States	Record daily precipitation	26.2 mm (1.0 in)	29 of 100 (Routine)
Williamsburg 1E	United States	Record daily precipitation	37.3 mm (1.5 in)	29 of 100 (Routine)
Pine River 3 NE	United States	Record daily snowfall	17.8 cm (7.0 in)	29 of 100 (Routine)
Herefoss	Norway	Record snow depth	80.0 cm (31.5 in)	28 of 100 (Routine)
La Salle Peru	United States	Record daily precipitation	30.0 mm (1.2 in)	28 of 100 (Routine)
Hamburg Bergedorf	Germany	Record snow depth	11.0 cm (4.3 in)	27 of 100 (Routine)
Poronajsk	Russia	Record low maximum temperature	-23.7 C (-10.7 F)	27 of 100 (Routine)
Kiev	Ukraine	Record high maximum temperature	4.9 C (40.8 F)	27 of 100 (Routine)
Palmyra	United States	Record daily precipitation	31.8 mm (1.3 in)	27 of 100 (Routine)
Spokane Intl AP	United States	Record daily snowfall	8.1 cm (3.2 in)	27 of 100 (Routine)
Skovorodino	Russia	Record low minimum temperature	-50.7 C (-59.3 F)	26 of 100 (Routine)
Aleksandrovsk-Sahalinskij	Russia	Record low maximum temperature	-22.3 C (-8.1 F)	26 of 100 (Routine)

Counts by Type and Timescale

394 records

Records set or tied on 20 December 1952 by type: Highest daily maximum 12, Lowest daily maximum 11, Highest daily minimum 38, Lowest daily minimum 11, Heaviest daily rainfall 264, Heaviest daily snowfall 49, Deepest snow cover 9.

Records on 20 December 1952 by type
Record type	Records
Highest daily maximum	12
Lowest daily maximum	11
Highest daily minimum	38
Lowest daily minimum	11
Heaviest daily rainfall	264
Heaviest daily snowfall	49
Deepest snow cover	9

Records on 20 December 1952 by timescale: all-time 2, monthly 9, daily 383.

How Much Records Were Beaten By

351 broken records

Margins by which the 351 broken records beat the old ones, in degrees Celsius for temperature and millimetres for precipitation and snow; the largest margin was 230.0. Ties are not counted.

Top 20 by Significance

20 December 1952

Top 20 records on 20 December 1952 by significance
Date	Station	Record	Value	Beat old record by	Old record stood	Significance
20 December 1952	Oskaloosa, US	daily rain	34.3 mm (1.4 in)	27.9 mm (1.1 in)	56 years	63 of 100 (Major)
20 December 1952	Bad-Neunkirchen Mergentheim, DE	daily rain	35.0 mm (1.4 in)	27.1 mm (1.1 in)	41 years	56 of 100 (Notable)
20 December 1952	Trier-Zewen, DE	daily rain	29.8 mm (1.2 in)	22.0 mm (0.9 in)	38 years	55 of 100 (Notable)
20 December 1952	Brodhead Wwtp, US	daily rain	31.0 mm (1.2 in)	23.4 mm (0.9 in)	50 years	55 of 100 (Notable)
20 December 1952	Albia 3 NNE, US	daily rain	27.9 mm (1.1 in)	22.3 mm (0.9 in)	50 years	53 of 100 (Notable)
20 December 1952	Kunzelsau, DE	daily rain	28.2 mm (1.1 in)	20.2 mm (0.8 in)	41 years	52 of 100 (Notable)
20 December 1952	Ottumwa, US	daily rain	35.8 mm (1.4 in)	30.0 mm (1.2 in)	27 years	51 of 100 (Notable)
20 December 1952	Ebrach, DE	daily rain	25.2 mm (1.0 in)	17.2 mm (0.7 in)	33 years	49 of 100 (Notable)
20 December 1952	Muscatine 2, US	daily rain	33.0 mm (1.3 in)	26.6 mm (1.0 in)	36 years	48 of 100 (Notable)
20 December 1952	Washington, US	daily rain	33.0 mm (1.3 in)	19.0 mm (0.7 in)	56 years	47 of 100 (Notable)
20 December 1952	Beloit, US	daily rain	30.5 mm (1.2 in)	20.1 mm (0.8 in)	47 years	47 of 100 (Notable)
20 December 1952	Richland Ctr, US	daily rain	26.2 mm (1.0 in)	19.1 mm (0.8 in)	29 years	47 of 100 (Notable)
20 December 1952	Rockford, US	daily rain	33.0 mm (1.3 in)	17.8 mm (0.7 in)	47 years	46 of 100 (Notable)
20 December 1952	Freeport, US	daily rain	33.3 mm (1.3 in)	29.5 mm (1.2 in)	1 year	44 of 100 (Notable)
20 December 1952	Mt Carroll, US	daily rain	26.7 mm (1.1 in)	16.5 mm (0.6 in)	50 years	43 of 100 (Notable)
20 December 1952	Clinton 2, US	daily rain	35.3 mm (1.4 in)	28.2 mm (1.1 in)	10 years	43 of 100 (Notable)
20 December 1952	Steffenville, US	daily rain	38.4 mm (1.5 in)	20.6 mm (0.8 in)	41 years	43 of 100 (Notable)
20 December 1952	Elgin Water, US	daily rain	30.2 mm (1.2 in)	18.3 mm (0.7 in)	34 years	42 of 100 (Notable)
20 December 1952	Le Claire, US	daily rain	30.2 mm (1.2 in)	13.9 mm (0.5 in)	56 years	42 of 100 (Notable)
20 December 1952	Wapello, US	daily rain	27.9 mm (1.1 in)	17.7 mm (0.7 in)	50 years	41 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

1793 to 1952

Records set or tied on this calendar date in each year from 1793 to 1952. 1952 had 394 records.

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

Records on 12-20 in each year
Year	Records
1793	1
1795	1
1804	1
1805	2
1808	1
1815	1
1828	1
1837	1
1846	1
1855	8
1858	1
1860	1
1866	1
1867	1
1868	1
1869	1
1871	2
1874	3
1875	1
1877	2
1878	1
1879	1
1880	1
1881	1
1882	1
1884	4
1885	1
1886	4
1889	4
1890	2
1891	2
1892	1
1894	2
1895	8
1896	1
1897	4
1898	2
1899	1
1900	7
1901	8
1902	14
1903	17
1904	9
1905	5
1906	5
1907	11
1908	5
1909	22
1910	17
1911	24
1912	27
1913	7
1914	43
1915	18
1916	45
1917	33
1918	18
1919	25
1920	22
1921	101
1922	88
1923	215
1924	332
1925	96
1926	163
1927	200
1928	93
1929	256
1930	67
1931	536
1932	170
1933	492
1934	265
1935	152
1936	416
1937	181
1938	240
1939	308
1940	965
1941	633
1942	817
1943	193
1944	340
1945	430
1946	327
1947	385
1948	345
1949	1,141
1950	758
1951	926
1952	394
1953	385
1954	416
1955	726
1956	471
1957	1,354
1958	382
1959	142
1960	354
1961	369
1962	475
1963	875
1964	499
1965	353
1966	555
1967	1,370
1968	482
1969	514
1970	518
1971	441
1972	448
1973	1,184
1974	328
1975	610
1976	382
1977	484
1978	910
1979	600
1980	667
1981	1,681
1982	712
1983	2,995
1984	1,411
1985	1,035
1986	321
1987	1,179
1988	760
1989	1,812
1990	1,885
1991	1,172
1992	1,134
1993	1,266
1994	813
1995	1,128
1996	1,448
1997	651
1998	1,110
1999	938
2000	1,150
2001	523
2002	943
2003	1,315
2004	836
2005	515
2006	1,387
2007	986
2008	1,356
2009	1,502
2010	2,055
2011	846
2012	1,131
2013	584
2014	524
2015	1,238
2016	603
2017	688
2018	592
2019	731
2020	554
2021	442
2022	567
2023	1,242
2024	897
2025	1,166

Download the Data

Data for records on 1952-12-20: 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 50	335
50 to 100	10
100 to 150	4
150 to 200	1
200 to 250	1