Weather Records on 20 October 1953

1,057 weather records were set or tied worldwide on 20 October 1953. Highest significance: Fort Beaufort, ZA.

Key Facts for 20 October 1953

On 20 October 1953, 1,057 weather records were set or tied at long-record stations worldwide.
725 were record highs and 17 were record lows, counting maximum and minimum temperature.
By timescale, 1 were all-time records, 30 monthly and 1,026 daily.
Fort Beaufort set a daily record precipitation of 63.5 mm (2.5 in) on 20 October 1953.
Across 160 earlier years (1806 to 2025) the same calendar date averaged 454 records.

Record Map

1,057 stations

1,057 station records on 20 October 1953 are marked on the map, coloured by record type. Dot size shows the significance score. Made with Natural Earth.

Weather records on 20 October 1953: highest significance records shown on the map
Station	Country	Type	Value	Significance
Fort Beaufort	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	63.5 mm (2.5 in)	69 of 100 (Major)
Beaufort West (Met)	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	125.7 mm (4.9 in)	67 of 100 (Major)
George Airport	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	58.9 mm (2.3 in)	66 of 100 (Major)
Port Alfred	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	81.0 mm (3.2 in)	66 of 100 (Major)
Millwood (Bos)	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	80.2 mm (3.2 in)	65 of 100 (Major)
Peddie (Mag)	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	111.0 mm (4.4 in)	65 of 100 (Major)
Humansdorp (Pol)	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	147.3 mm (5.8 in)	63 of 100 (Major)
Witelsbos (Bos)	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	88.4 mm (3.5 in)	61 of 100 (Major)
Eltham	Australia	Record daily precipitation	73.4 mm (2.9 in)	59 of 100 (Notable)
Oudtshoorn	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	27.5 mm (1.1 in)	59 of 100 (Notable)
Alexandria (Pol)	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	128.7 mm (5.1 in)	58 of 100 (Notable)
Cheviot Fells	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	103.2 mm (4.1 in)	58 of 100 (Notable)
Cullendale	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	114.3 mm (4.5 in)	57 of 100 (Notable)
Seymour (Mag)	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	55.6 mm (2.2 in)	57 of 100 (Notable)
Concordia (Bos)	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	66.0 mm (2.6 in)	56 of 100 (Notable)
Loerie (Bos)	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	125.8 mm (5.0 in)	56 of 100 (Notable)
Pearston (Pol)	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	80.0 mm (3.1 in)	56 of 100 (Notable)
Bloukrans (Bos)	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	79.0 mm (3.1 in)	55 of 100 (Notable)
Fir Glen	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	95.0 mm (3.7 in)	55 of 100 (Notable)
De Hoop	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	72.7 mm (2.9 in)	52 of 100 (Notable)
Jonkersberg (Bos)	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	120.0 mm (4.7 in)	51 of 100 (Notable)
Alicedale	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	87.5 mm (3.4 in)	51 of 100 (Notable)
Grahamstown	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	96.0 mm (3.8 in)	51 of 100 (Notable)
Fort Fordyce (Bos)	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	70.0 mm (2.8 in)	51 of 100 (Notable)
Hankey (Pol)	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	92.3 mm (3.6 in)	49 of 100 (Notable)
Somerset East	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	93.5 mm (3.7 in)	49 of 100 (Notable)
Cookhouse (Sar)	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	96.3 mm (3.8 in)	49 of 100 (Notable)
Tiaro	Australia	Record daily precipitation	62.2 mm (2.4 in)	48 of 100 (Notable)
Buffelsnek (Bos)	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	71.0 mm (2.8 in)	48 of 100 (Notable)
Lottering (Bos)	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	82.0 mm (3.2 in)	48 of 100 (Notable)
Buxton (Bos)	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	60.0 mm (2.4 in)	48 of 100 (Notable)
Aztec Ruins Nm	United States	Record daily precipitation	35.1 mm (1.4 in)	48 of 100 (Notable)
Harkerville (Bos)	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	40.5 mm (1.6 in)	47 of 100 (Notable)
Woodville (Bos)	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	84.0 mm (3.3 in)	46 of 100 (Notable)
Aberdeen (Tnk)	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	61.3 mm (2.4 in)	46 of 100 (Notable)
Fountain Head	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	52.3 mm (2.1 in)	46 of 100 (Notable)
Gladfield Hopefield Estate	Australia	Record daily precipitation	35.1 mm (1.4 in)	45 of 100 (Notable)
Budapest	Hungary	Record daily precipitation	37.5 mm (1.5 in)	45 of 100 (Notable)
Rooirivier (Bos)	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	27.0 mm (1.1 in)	45 of 100 (Notable)
Balfour (Pol)	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	49.5 mm (1.9 in)	45 of 100 (Notable)
Tanunda	Australia	Record daily precipitation	25.9 mm (1.0 in)	44 of 100 (Notable)
Middelwater	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	40.0 mm (1.6 in)	44 of 100 (Notable)
Sassafras Post Office	Australia	Record daily precipitation	83.1 mm (3.3 in)	43 of 100 (Notable)
Uniondale (Tnk)	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	55.8 mm (2.2 in)	43 of 100 (Notable)
Smythe	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	83.8 mm (3.3 in)	43 of 100 (Notable)
Silverton	United States	Record daily snowfall	40.6 cm (16.0 in)	43 of 100 (Notable)
Douglas	Australia	Record daily precipitation	30.5 mm (1.2 in)	42 of 100 (Notable)
Knysna (Tnk)	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	64.0 mm (2.5 in)	42 of 100 (Notable)
Uitenhage	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	83.5 mm (3.3 in)	42 of 100 (Notable)
Tonteldoos	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	62.1 mm (2.4 in)	42 of 100 (Notable)
Alexandria (Bos)	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	138.5 mm (5.5 in)	41 of 100 (Notable)
Fullarton	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	41.0 mm (1.6 in)	41 of 100 (Notable)
Durango	United States	Record daily precipitation	50.8 mm (2.0 in)	41 of 100 (Notable)
Katandra North	Australia	Record daily precipitation	39.6 mm (1.6 in)	40 of 100 (Notable)
Cape Town Fire Station	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	28.7 mm (1.1 in)	40 of 100 (Notable)
Hogsback (Bos)	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	58.0 mm (2.3 in)	40 of 100 (Notable)
Moab	United States	Record daily precipitation	26.7 mm (1.1 in)	40 of 100 (Notable)
Katberg (Bos)	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	56.0 mm (2.2 in)	39 of 100 (Notable)
Trout Lake	United States	Record daily precipitation	42.7 mm (1.7 in)	39 of 100 (Notable)
Glenmaggie (the Laurels)	Australia	Record daily precipitation	85.3 mm (3.4 in)	38 of 100 (Notable)

Counts by Type and Timescale

1,057 records

Records set or tied on 20 October 1953 by type: Highest daily maximum 514, Lowest daily maximum 3, Highest daily minimum 211, Lowest daily minimum 14, Heaviest daily rainfall 310, Heaviest daily snowfall 4, Deepest snow cover 1.

Records on 20 October 1953 by type
Record type	Records
Highest daily maximum	514
Lowest daily maximum	3
Highest daily minimum	211
Lowest daily minimum	14
Heaviest daily rainfall	310
Heaviest daily snowfall	4
Deepest snow cover	1

Records on 20 October 1953 by timescale: all-time 1, monthly 30, daily 1,026.

How Much Records Were Beaten By

899 broken records

Margins by which the 899 broken records beat the old ones, in degrees Celsius for temperature and millimetres for precipitation and snow; the largest margin was 203.0. Ties are not counted.

Top 20 by Significance

20 October 1953

Top 20 records on 20 October 1953 by significance
Date	Station	Record	Value	Beat old record by	Old record stood	Significance
20 October 1953	Fort Beaufort, ZA	daily rain	63.5 mm (2.5 in)	40.1 mm (1.6 in)	74 years	69 of 100 (Major)
20 October 1953	Beaufort West (Met), ZA	monthly rain	125.7 mm (4.9 in)	65.2 mm (2.6 in)	36 years	67 of 100 (Major)
20 October 1953	George Airport, ZA	daily rain	58.9 mm (2.3 in)	40.4 mm (1.6 in)	63 years	66 of 100 (Major)
20 October 1953	Port Alfred, ZA	daily rain	81.0 mm (3.2 in)	60.9 mm (2.4 in)	65 years	66 of 100 (Major)
20 October 1953	Millwood (Bos), ZA	daily rain	80.2 mm (3.2 in)	54.8 mm (2.2 in)	65 years	65 of 100 (Major)
20 October 1953	Peddie (Mag), ZA	daily rain	111.0 mm (4.4 in)	86.1 mm (3.4 in)	60 years	65 of 100 (Major)
20 October 1953	Humansdorp (Pol), ZA	monthly rain	147.3 mm (5.8 in)	48.0 mm (1.9 in)	22 years	63 of 100 (Major)
20 October 1953	Witelsbos (Bos), ZA	daily rain	88.4 mm (3.5 in)	64.5 mm (2.5 in)	52 years	61 of 100 (Major)
20 October 1953	Eltham, AU	monthly rain	73.4 mm (2.9 in)	27.4 mm (1.1 in)	21 years	59 of 100 (Notable)
20 October 1953	Oudtshoorn, ZA	daily rain	27.5 mm (1.1 in)	22.4 mm (0.9 in)	65 years	59 of 100 (Notable)
20 October 1953	Alexandria (Pol), ZA	monthly rain	128.7 mm (5.1 in)	41.8 mm (1.6 in)	11 years	58 of 100 (Notable)
20 October 1953	Cheviot Fells, ZA	monthly rain	103.2 mm (4.1 in)	52.4 mm (2.1 in)	6 years	58 of 100 (Notable)
20 October 1953	Cullendale, ZA	monthly rain	114.3 mm (4.5 in)	45.7 mm (1.8 in)	2 years	57 of 100 (Notable)
20 October 1953	Seymour (Mag), ZA	daily rain	55.6 mm (2.2 in)	27.7 mm (1.1 in)	74 years	57 of 100 (Notable)
20 October 1953	Concordia (Bos), ZA	daily rain	66.0 mm (2.6 in)	55.3 mm (2.2 in)	36 years	56 of 100 (Notable)
20 October 1953	Loerie (Bos), ZA	monthly rain	125.8 mm (5.0 in)	65.6 mm (2.6 in)	10 years	56 of 100 (Notable)
20 October 1953	Pearston (Pol), ZA	daily rain	80.0 mm (3.1 in)	58.2 mm (2.3 in)	32 years	56 of 100 (Notable)
20 October 1953	Bloukrans (Bos), ZA	daily rain	79.0 mm (3.1 in)	51.6 mm (2.0 in)	52 years	55 of 100 (Notable)
20 October 1953	Fir Glen, ZA	daily rain	95.0 mm (3.7 in)	67.1 mm (2.6 in)	28 years	55 of 100 (Notable)
20 October 1953	De Hoop, ZA	monthly rain	72.7 mm (2.9 in)	25.5 mm (1.0 in)	40 years	52 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

1806 to 1953

Records set or tied on this calendar date in each year from 1806 to 1953. 1953 had 1,057 records.

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

Records on 10-20 in each year
Year	Records
1806	1
1835	1
1844	1
1846	1
1847	2
1851	1
1852	1
1858	1
1863	2
1864	2
1866	3
1867	1
1868	2
1872	2
1874	2
1875	3
1876	2
1877	1
1878	1
1880	3
1881	2
1884	1
1885	1
1886	1
1887	1
1888	6
1891	4
1892	4
1893	1
1894	3
1895	4
1896	9
1897	2
1898	7
1899	1
1900	8
1901	7
1902	5
1903	9
1904	13
1905	22
1906	28
1907	32
1908	26
1909	17
1910	31
1911	16
1912	6
1913	38
1914	16
1915	20
1916	72
1917	201
1918	34
1919	19
1920	81
1921	68
1922	83
1923	96
1924	182
1925	247
1926	147
1927	283
1928	92
1929	129
1930	672
1931	125
1932	331
1933	675
1934	422
1935	390
1936	370
1937	189
1938	231
1939	367
1940	757
1941	459
1942	152
1943	501
1944	288
1945	363
1946	310
1947	1,494
1948	320
1949	1,084
1950	619
1951	279
1952	520
1953	1,057
1954	262
1955	529
1956	283
1957	440
1958	461
1959	451
1960	671
1961	479
1962	733
1963	765
1964	598
1965	340
1966	857
1967	511
1968	244
1969	607
1970	710
1971	606
1972	1,724
1973	878
1974	1,122
1975	587
1976	1,304
1977	467
1978	508
1979	1,647
1980	350
1981	1,083
1982	1,191
1983	944
1984	1,562
1985	835
1986	823
1987	590
1988	737
1989	2,092
1990	609
1991	971
1992	1,174
1993	1,238
1994	650
1995	703
1996	1,417
1997	949
1998	683
1999	603
2000	737
2001	589
2002	985
2003	1,761
2004	1,861
2005	1,092
2006	1,170
2007	923
2008	477
2009	786
2010	539
2011	785
2012	945
2013	592
2014	851
2015	523
2016	947
2017	602
2018	394
2019	744
2020	1,010
2021	900
2022	834
2023	1,468
2024	707
2025	326

Download the Data

Data for records on 1953-10-20: 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	876
50 to 100	22
100 to 150	0
150 to 200	0
200 to 250	1