Weather Records on 20 May 1953

518 weather records were set or tied worldwide on 20 May 1953. Highest significance: Hopefield (Pol), ZA.

Key Facts for 20 May 1953

On 20 May 1953, 518 weather records were set or tied at long-record stations worldwide.
135 were record highs and 60 were record lows, counting maximum and minimum temperature.
By timescale, 1 were all-time records, 10 monthly and 507 daily.
Hopefield (Pol) set an all-time record daily precipitation of 71.4 mm (2.8 in) on 20 May 1953.
Across 162 earlier years (1802 to 2026) the same calendar date averaged 455 records.

Record Map

518 stations

518 station records on 20 May 1953 are marked on the map, coloured by record type. Dot size shows the significance score. Made with Natural Earth.

Weather records on 20 May 1953: highest significance records shown on the map
Station	Country	Type	Value	Significance
Hopefield (Pol)	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	71.4 mm (2.8 in)	65 of 100 (Major)
Garfield	Australia	Record daily precipitation	42.2 mm (1.7 in)	60 of 100 (Major)
Lilydale	Australia	Record daily precipitation	41.7 mm (1.6 in)	58 of 100 (Notable)
Rokeby (the Mall)	Australia	Record daily precipitation	29.7 mm (1.2 in)	55 of 100 (Notable)
Sorell (Whitlea)	Australia	Record daily precipitation	34.3 mm (1.4 in)	55 of 100 (Notable)
White River	Canada	Record daily precipitation	41.9 mm (1.6 in)	55 of 100 (Notable)
Croydon State School	Australia	Record daily precipitation	34.8 mm (1.4 in)	54 of 100 (Notable)
Koo Wee Rup	Australia	Record daily precipitation	42.7 mm (1.7 in)	54 of 100 (Notable)
Sassafras Post Office	Australia	Record daily precipitation	82.6 mm (3.3 in)	54 of 100 (Notable)
Montrose	Australia	Record daily precipitation	63.5 mm (2.5 in)	52 of 100 (Notable)
Silvan	Australia	Record daily precipitation	58.4 mm (2.3 in)	52 of 100 (Notable)
Croydon (Samuel Street)	Australia	Record daily precipitation	39.4 mm (1.6 in)	51 of 100 (Notable)
Warburton	Australia	Record daily precipitation	56.9 mm (2.2 in)	51 of 100 (Notable)
Tasman Island Lighthouse	Australia	Record daily precipitation	44.5 mm (1.8 in)	51 of 100 (Notable)
Kojnas	Russia	Record daily precipitation	32.2 mm (1.3 in)	51 of 100 (Notable)
Maroondah Weir (Melbourne Wate	Australia	Record daily precipitation	46.5 mm (1.8 in)	49 of 100 (Notable)
Gembrook	Australia	Record daily precipitation	43.4 mm (1.7 in)	48 of 100 (Notable)
Ringwood	Australia	Record daily precipitation	35.6 mm (1.4 in)	48 of 100 (Notable)
Black Spur	Australia	Record daily precipitation	108.2 mm (4.3 in)	47 of 100 (Notable)
Rooiberg	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	60.0 mm (2.4 in)	43 of 100 (Notable)
Hebgen Dam	United States	Record daily snowfall	12.7 cm (5.0 in)	43 of 100 (Notable)
North End	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	26.9 mm (1.1 in)	41 of 100 (Notable)
Lardner (Brandie Braes)	Australia	Record daily precipitation	36.8 mm (1.4 in)	39 of 100 (Notable)
Beaconsfield Upper	Australia	Record daily precipitation	36.3 mm (1.4 in)	39 of 100 (Notable)
Kakabeka Falls	Canada	Record daily precipitation	28.7 mm (1.1 in)	39 of 100 (Notable)
Hambantota	Sri Lanka	Record high minimum temperature	28.8 C (83.8 F)	39 of 100 (Notable)
La Plata 1 W	United States	Record daily precipitation	42.4 mm (1.7 in)	39 of 100 (Notable)
Hebgen Dam	United States	Record daily precipitation	33.5 mm (1.3 in)	39 of 100 (Notable)
Warragul (Carbethon)	Australia	Record daily precipitation	39.1 mm (1.5 in)	38 of 100 (Notable)
Blackwood	Australia	Record daily precipitation	25.9 mm (1.0 in)	38 of 100 (Notable)
Fountain Head	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	26.7 mm (1.1 in)	37 of 100 (Notable)
Healesville (Mount St Leonard)	Australia	Record daily precipitation	48.0 mm (1.9 in)	36 of 100 (Notable)
Warburton (O'Shannassy Reservo	Australia	Record daily precipitation	56.4 mm (2.2 in)	36 of 100 (Notable)
Marysville (Post Office)	Australia	Record daily precipitation	49.5 mm (1.9 in)	36 of 100 (Notable)
Walhalla	Australia	Record daily precipitation	43.9 mm (1.7 in)	35 of 100 (Notable)
Dandenong Post Office	Australia	Record daily precipitation	28.7 mm (1.1 in)	35 of 100 (Notable)
Red Hill South	Australia	Record daily precipitation	35.1 mm (1.4 in)	35 of 100 (Notable)
Putbus	Germany	Record high minimum temperature	15.3 C (59.5 F)	35 of 100 (Notable)
Leipzig-Holzhausen	Germany	Record high maximum temperature	28.9 C (84.0 F)	33 of 100 (Routine)
Paarl (Tnk)	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	53.0 mm (2.1 in)	33 of 100 (Routine)
Brejo Do Cruz	Brazil	Record daily precipitation	65.3 mm (2.6 in)	32 of 100 (Routine)
Hornepayne	Canada	Record daily precipitation	48.3 mm (1.9 in)	32 of 100 (Routine)
Lubeck-Werft	Germany	Record high minimum temperature	15.4 C (59.7 F)	32 of 100 (Routine)
Dahlgren Weapons Lab	United States	Record daily precipitation	38.1 mm (1.5 in)	32 of 100 (Routine)
Vanersborg	Sweden	Record high minimum temperature	12.0 C (53.6 F)	31 of 100 (Routine)
Steamboat Springs	United States	Record daily precipitation	26.7 mm (1.1 in)	31 of 100 (Routine)
Superior	United States	Record daily precipitation	38.1 mm (1.5 in)	31 of 100 (Routine)
Longwarry	Australia	Record daily precipitation	42.7 mm (1.7 in)	30 of 100 (Routine)
Yannathan	Australia	Record daily precipitation	30.5 mm (1.2 in)	30 of 100 (Routine)
Schreiber	Canada	Record daily precipitation	27.4 mm (1.1 in)	30 of 100 (Routine)
Putbus	Germany	Record high maximum temperature	26.0 C (78.8 F)	30 of 100 (Routine)
Graham 2 ENE	United States	Record daily precipitation	38.6 mm (1.5 in)	30 of 100 (Routine)
Nordby (Fano)	Denmark	Record high minimum temperature	12.8 C (55.0 F)	29 of 100 (Routine)
Berlin-Dahlem	Germany	Record high maximum temperature	30.8 C (87.4 F)	29 of 100 (Routine)
Harmati	India	Record daily precipitation	116.3 mm (4.6 in)	29 of 100 (Routine)
Skara 1	Sweden	Record high minimum temperature	11.8 C (53.2 F)	29 of 100 (Routine)
Socorro	United States	Record high minimum temperature	18.9 C (66.0 F)	29 of 100 (Routine)
Danbury	United States	Record daily precipitation	78.2 mm (3.1 in)	29 of 100 (Routine)
St Andrews	Canada	Record high minimum temperature	8.9 C (48.0 F)	28 of 100 (Routine)
Tranebjerg	Denmark	Record high minimum temperature	12.2 C (54.0 F)	28 of 100 (Routine)

Counts by Type and Timescale

518 records

Records set or tied on 20 May 1953 by type: Highest daily maximum 53, Lowest daily maximum 42, Highest daily minimum 82, Lowest daily minimum 18, Heaviest daily rainfall 319, Heaviest daily snowfall 4.

Records on 20 May 1953 by type
Record type	Records
Highest daily maximum	53
Lowest daily maximum	42
Highest daily minimum	82
Lowest daily minimum	18
Heaviest daily rainfall	319
Heaviest daily snowfall	4
Deepest snow cover	0

Records on 20 May 1953 by timescale: all-time 1, monthly 10, daily 507.

How Much Records Were Beaten By

464 broken records

Margins by which the 464 broken records beat the old ones, in degrees Celsius for temperature and millimetres for precipitation and snow; the largest margin was 127.0. Ties are not counted.

Top 20 by Significance

20 May 1953

Top 20 records on 20 May 1953 by significance
Date	Station	Record	Value	Beat old record by	Old record stood	Significance
20 May 1953	Hopefield (Pol), ZA	all-time rain	71.4 mm (2.8 in)	22.1 mm (0.9 in)	32 years	65 of 100 (Major)
20 May 1953	Garfield, AU	daily rain	42.2 mm (1.7 in)	27.5 mm (1.1 in)	52 years	60 of 100 (Major)
20 May 1953	Lilydale, AU	daily rain	41.7 mm (1.6 in)	27.7 mm (1.1 in)	40 years	58 of 100 (Notable)
20 May 1953	Rokeby (the Mall), AU	daily rain	29.7 mm (1.2 in)	25.6 mm (1.0 in)	30 years	55 of 100 (Notable)
20 May 1953	Sorell (Whitlea), AU	daily rain	34.3 mm (1.4 in)	30.0 mm (1.2 in)	30 years	55 of 100 (Notable)
20 May 1953	White River, CA	daily rain	41.9 mm (1.6 in)	30.0 mm (1.2 in)	30 years	55 of 100 (Notable)
20 May 1953	Croydon State School, AU	daily rain	34.8 mm (1.4 in)	27.2 mm (1.1 in)	35 years	54 of 100 (Notable)
20 May 1953	Koo Wee Rup, AU	daily rain	42.7 mm (1.7 in)	30.0 mm (1.2 in)	32 years	54 of 100 (Notable)
20 May 1953	Sassafras Post Office, AU	daily rain	82.6 mm (3.3 in)	65.1 mm (2.6 in)	35 years	54 of 100 (Notable)
20 May 1953	Montrose, AU	daily rain	63.5 mm (2.5 in)	51.6 mm (2.0 in)	30 years	52 of 100 (Notable)
20 May 1953	Silvan, AU	daily rain	58.4 mm (2.3 in)	48.0 mm (1.9 in)	30 years	52 of 100 (Notable)
20 May 1953	Croydon (Samuel Street), AU	daily rain	39.4 mm (1.6 in)	26.4 mm (1.0 in)	32 years	51 of 100 (Notable)
20 May 1953	Warburton, AU	daily rain	56.9 mm (2.2 in)	33.8 mm (1.3 in)	35 years	51 of 100 (Notable)
20 May 1953	Tasman Island Lighthouse, AU	daily rain	44.5 mm (1.8 in)	41.2 mm (1.6 in)	28 years	51 of 100 (Notable)
20 May 1953	Kojnas, RU	monthly rain	32.2 mm (1.3 in)	10.2 mm (0.4 in)	29 years	51 of 100 (Notable)
20 May 1953	Maroondah Weir (Melbourne Wate, AU	daily rain	46.5 mm (1.8 in)	29.2 mm (1.1 in)	40 years	49 of 100 (Notable)
20 May 1953	Gembrook, AU	daily rain	43.4 mm (1.7 in)	24.3 mm (1.0 in)	38 years	48 of 100 (Notable)
20 May 1953	Ringwood, AU	daily rain	35.6 mm (1.4 in)	24.9 mm (1.0 in)	30 years	48 of 100 (Notable)
20 May 1953	Black Spur, AU	daily rain	108.2 mm (4.3 in)	75.9 mm (3.0 in)	12 years	47 of 100 (Notable)
20 May 1953	Rooiberg, ZA	monthly rain	60.0 mm (2.4 in)	18.1 mm (0.7 in)	27 years	43 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 1953

Records set or tied on this calendar date in each year from 1802 to 1953. 1953 had 518 records.

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

Records on 05-20 in each year
Year	Records
1802	1
1803	1
1804	1
1815	1
1825	1
1837	1
1844	1
1845	3
1847	1
1854	1
1858	3
1861	1
1862	1
1865	1
1867	1
1868	2
1870	3
1871	2
1876	2
1877	3
1879	1
1880	2
1884	2
1885	1
1887	2
1889	3
1890	3
1891	5
1892	3
1893	1
1894	6
1895	3
1896	3
1897	3
1898	4
1899	4
1900	1
1901	5
1902	11
1903	19
1904	4
1905	4
1906	22
1907	35
1908	23
1909	10
1910	20
1911	82
1912	20
1913	10
1914	16
1915	42
1916	29
1917	46
1918	92
1919	56
1920	44
1921	234
1922	40
1923	125
1924	189
1925	251
1926	128
1927	118
1928	138
1929	323
1930	129
1931	451
1932	689
1933	449
1934	582
1935	259
1936	207
1937	270
1938	331
1939	266
1940	337
1941	378
1942	337
1943	802
1944	315
1945	498
1946	339
1947	358
1948	514
1949	586
1950	327
1951	288
1952	615
1953	518
1954	822
1955	421
1956	565
1957	728
1958	378
1959	785
1960	612
1961	333
1962	773
1963	732
1964	517
1965	200
1966	416
1967	587
1968	743
1969	885
1970	310
1971	653
1972	612
1973	419
1974	893
1975	1,332
1976	837
1977	553
1978	534
1979	683
1980	751
1981	1,540
1982	554
1983	1,307
1984	867
1985	426
1986	790
1987	1,036
1988	805
1989	764
1990	722
1991	925
1992	1,200
1993	1,208
1994	778
1995	734
1996	1,749
1997	1,106
1998	1,124
1999	673
2000	991
2001	847
2002	2,299
2003	1,201
2004	746
2005	929
2006	1,006
2007	565
2008	999
2009	1,529
2010	1,011
2011	1,117
2012	604
2013	919
2014	629
2015	1,001
2016	692
2017	1,214
2018	460
2019	1,483
2020	784
2021	904
2022	1,643
2023	1,106
2024	478
2025	969
2026	696

Download the Data

Data for records on 1953-05-20: 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 20	431
20 to 40	25
40 to 60	5
60 to 80	2
80 to 100	0
100 to 120	0
120 to 140	1