Weather Records on 18 May 1959

435 weather records were set or tied worldwide on 18 May 1959. Highest significance: Richmond-Natal (Tnk), ZA.

Key Facts for 18 May 1959

On 18 May 1959, 435 weather records were set or tied at long-record stations worldwide.
62 were record highs and 107 were record lows, counting maximum and minimum temperature.
By timescale, 4 were all-time records, 7 monthly and 424 daily.
Richmond-Natal (Tnk) set an all-time record daily precipitation of 236.5 mm (9.3 in) on 18 May 1959.
Across 164 earlier years (1796 to 2026) the same calendar date averaged 442 records.

Record Map

435 stations

435 station records on 18 May 1959 are marked on the map, coloured by record type. Dot size shows the significance score. Made with Natural Earth.

Weather records on 18 May 1959: highest significance records shown on the map
Station	Country	Type	Value	Significance
Richmond-Natal (Tnk)	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	236.5 mm (9.3 in)	73 of 100 (Major)
Bushy Vales, Margate	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	318.0 mm (12.5 in)	69 of 100 (Major)
N'Dabakazi (Sar)	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	160.3 mm (6.3 in)	64 of 100 (Major)
Lewistown AP	United States	Record daily precipitation	46.2 mm (1.8 in)	57 of 100 (Notable)
Dunham River Station	Australia	Record daily precipitation	42.2 mm (1.7 in)	55 of 100 (Notable)
Fortine 1 N	United States	Record daily precipitation	29.7 mm (1.2 in)	52 of 100 (Notable)
Kakabeka Falls	Canada	Record daily precipitation	25.4 mm (1.0 in)	49 of 100 (Notable)
Carmi 6 NW	United States	Record daily precipitation	67.3 mm (2.6 in)	48 of 100 (Notable)
Mountain View Birdseye	Canada	Record daily precipitation	52.1 mm (2.1 in)	47 of 100 (Notable)
Lusikisiki (Tnk)	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	152.0 mm (6.0 in)	47 of 100 (Notable)
Kloofend	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	120.0 mm (4.7 in)	47 of 100 (Notable)
Ivanhoe (Mt Manara)	Australia	Record daily precipitation	25.7 mm (1.0 in)	46 of 100 (Notable)
Ingwavuma (Tnk)	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	55.5 mm (2.2 in)	46 of 100 (Notable)
1 N McLeansboro	United States	Record daily precipitation	72.4 mm (2.9 in)	46 of 100 (Notable)
Fords Ferry Dam 5O	United States	Record daily precipitation	76.7 mm (3.0 in)	46 of 100 (Notable)
Cramond, Albert Fall	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	81.3 mm (3.2 in)	45 of 100 (Notable)
Van Reenen	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	42.5 mm (1.7 in)	45 of 100 (Notable)
Ft Benton	United States	Record daily precipitation	37.3 mm (1.5 in)	45 of 100 (Notable)
Silverton Post Office	Australia	Record daily precipitation	26.2 mm (1.0 in)	44 of 100 (Notable)
Valley Park	United States	Record daily precipitation	105.2 mm (4.1 in)	44 of 100 (Notable)
Khandala	India	Record daily precipitation	53.3 mm (2.1 in)	43 of 100 (Notable)
Cezu (Bos)	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	164.0 mm (6.5 in)	43 of 100 (Notable)
Amanzamnyama (Bos)	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	47.0 mm (1.9 in)	42 of 100 (Notable)
Mount House Station	Australia	Record daily precipitation	27.4 mm (1.1 in)	40 of 100 (Notable)
Fitzroy Crossing Comp.	Australia	Record daily precipitation	30.7 mm (1.2 in)	39 of 100 (Notable)
Ntsubane (Bos)	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	70.0 mm (2.8 in)	39 of 100 (Notable)
Paola	United States	Record daily precipitation	105.9 mm (4.2 in)	39 of 100 (Notable)
Gibb River	Australia	Record daily precipitation	54.6 mm (2.1 in)	38 of 100 (Notable)
Kentani (Bos)	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	63.0 mm (2.5 in)	38 of 100 (Notable)
Wauneta	United States	Record daily precipitation	39.4 mm (1.6 in)	37 of 100 (Notable)
Gogo Station	Australia	Record daily precipitation	33.0 mm (1.3 in)	36 of 100 (Notable)
Gum Lake (Albemarle)	Australia	Record daily precipitation	25.4 mm (1.0 in)	36 of 100 (Notable)
Netley	Australia	Record daily precipitation	25.7 mm (1.0 in)	36 of 100 (Notable)
Carway	Canada	Record daily precipitation	30.0 mm (1.2 in)	36 of 100 (Notable)
Caldwell	Canada	Record daily precipitation	36.1 mm (1.4 in)	35 of 100 (Notable)
Etwa (Bos)	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	45.0 mm (1.8 in)	35 of 100 (Notable)
Papane (Bos)	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	47.5 mm (1.9 in)	35 of 100 (Notable)
Mountain View	Canada	Record daily precipitation	41.4 mm (1.6 in)	33 of 100 (Routine)
Tshatsheni (Bos)	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	95.0 mm (3.7 in)	33 of 100 (Routine)
Insizwa (Bos)	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	42.0 mm (1.7 in)	31 of 100 (Routine)
Ndumu	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	28.3 mm (1.1 in)	31 of 100 (Routine)
1 ENE Fairfield	United States	Record daily precipitation	52.3 mm (2.1 in)	31 of 100 (Routine)
Flagstaff (Tnk)	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	45.5 mm (1.8 in)	30 of 100 (Routine)
Clay Ctr 6 ESE	United States	Record daily precipitation	49.8 mm (2.0 in)	30 of 100 (Routine)
Ntywenka (Bos)	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	47.5 mm (1.9 in)	29 of 100 (Routine)
Arcadia	United States	Record daily precipitation	53.8 mm (2.1 in)	29 of 100 (Routine)
Chengannur	India	Record daily precipitation	87.6 mm (3.4 in)	28 of 100 (Routine)
Engcobo (Tnk)	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	30.4 mm (1.2 in)	28 of 100 (Routine)
Lowell	United States	Record low minimum temperature	2.2 C (36.0 F)	28 of 100 (Routine)
Komga (Pol)	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	31.0 mm (1.2 in)	27 of 100 (Routine)
Trinidad	United States	Record high minimum temperature	15.6 C (60.1 F)	27 of 100 (Routine)
Houston	United States	Record daily precipitation	27.9 mm (1.1 in)	27 of 100 (Routine)
West Yellowstone	United States	Record daily snowfall	5.1 cm (2.0 in)	27 of 100 (Routine)
Flora Valley Old	Australia	Record daily precipitation	49.5 mm (1.9 in)	26 of 100 (Routine)
Fossil Downs	Australia	Record daily precipitation	28.2 mm (1.1 in)	26 of 100 (Routine)
Mine Centre	Canada	Record daily precipitation	29.5 mm (1.2 in)	26 of 100 (Routine)
Cengcane (Bos)	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	44.5 mm (1.8 in)	26 of 100 (Routine)
Cromleigh,Ixopo	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	25.4 mm (1.0 in)	26 of 100 (Routine)
Tuba City	United States	Record high minimum temperature	15.0 C (59.0 F)	26 of 100 (Routine)
Grenola 1 N	United States	Record daily precipitation	36.6 mm (1.4 in)	26 of 100 (Routine)

Counts by Type and Timescale

435 records

Records set or tied on 18 May 1959 by type: Highest daily maximum 13, Lowest daily maximum 50, Highest daily minimum 49, Lowest daily minimum 57, Heaviest daily rainfall 261, Heaviest daily snowfall 5.

Records on 18 May 1959 by type
Record type	Records
Highest daily maximum	13
Lowest daily maximum	50
Highest daily minimum	49
Lowest daily minimum	57
Heaviest daily rainfall	261
Heaviest daily snowfall	5
Deepest snow cover	0

Records on 18 May 1959 by timescale: all-time 4, monthly 7, daily 424.

How Much Records Were Beaten By

359 broken records

Margins by which the 359 broken records beat the old ones, in degrees Celsius for temperature and millimetres for precipitation and snow; the largest margin was 136.8. Ties are not counted.

Top 20 by Significance

18 May 1959

Top 20 records on 18 May 1959 by significance
Date	Station	Record	Value	Beat old record by	Old record stood	Significance
18 May 1959	Richmond-Natal (Tnk), ZA	all-time rain	236.5 mm (9.3 in)	54.9 mm (2.2 in)	41 years	73 of 100 (Major)
18 May 1959	Bushy Vales, Margate, ZA	all-time rain	318.0 mm (12.5 in)	107.2 mm (4.2 in)	16 years	69 of 100 (Major)
18 May 1959	N'Dabakazi (Sar), ZA	all-time rain	160.3 mm (6.3 in)	43.8 mm (1.7 in)	5 years	64 of 100 (Major)
18 May 1959	Lewistown AP, US	daily rain	46.2 mm (1.8 in)	28.4 mm (1.1 in)	53 years	57 of 100 (Notable)
18 May 1959	Dunham River Station, AU	daily rain	42.2 mm (1.7 in)	42.2 mm (1.7 in)	37 years	55 of 100 (Notable)
18 May 1959	Fortine 1 N, US	daily rain	29.7 mm (1.2 in)	23.9 mm (0.9 in)	25 years	52 of 100 (Notable)
18 May 1959	Kakabeka Falls, CA	daily rain	25.4 mm (1.0 in)	21.6 mm (0.9 in)	46 years	49 of 100 (Notable)
18 May 1959	Carmi 6 NW, US	daily rain	67.3 mm (2.6 in)	47.7 mm (1.9 in)	16 years	48 of 100 (Notable)
18 May 1959	Mountain View Birdseye, CA	daily rain	52.1 mm (2.1 in)	41.9 mm (1.6 in)	28 years	47 of 100 (Notable)
18 May 1959	Lusikisiki (Tnk), ZA	daily rain	152.0 mm (6.0 in)	136.8 mm (5.4 in)	8 years	47 of 100 (Notable)
18 May 1959	Kloofend, ZA	daily rain	120.0 mm (4.7 in)	82.4 mm (3.2 in)	6 years	47 of 100 (Notable)
18 May 1959	Ivanhoe (Mt Manara), AU	daily rain	25.7 mm (1.0 in)	21.1 mm (0.8 in)	65 years	46 of 100 (Notable)
18 May 1959	Ingwavuma (Tnk), ZA	daily rain	55.5 mm (2.2 in)	42.8 mm (1.7 in)	24 years	46 of 100 (Notable)
18 May 1959	1 N McLeansboro, US	daily rain	72.4 mm (2.9 in)	46.0 mm (1.8 in)	16 years	46 of 100 (Notable)
18 May 1959	Fords Ferry Dam 5O, US	daily rain	76.7 mm (3.0 in)	66.0 mm (2.6 in)	12 years	46 of 100 (Notable)
18 May 1959	Cramond, Albert Fall, ZA	daily rain	81.3 mm (3.2 in)	78.0 mm (3.1 in)	4 years	45 of 100 (Notable)
18 May 1959	Van Reenen, ZA	daily rain	42.5 mm (1.7 in)	40.0 mm (1.6 in)	24 years	45 of 100 (Notable)
18 May 1959	Ft Benton, US	daily rain	37.3 mm (1.5 in)	25.9 mm (1.0 in)	20 years	45 of 100 (Notable)
18 May 1959	Silverton Post Office, AU	daily rain	26.2 mm (1.0 in)	18.6 mm (0.7 in)	58 years	44 of 100 (Notable)
18 May 1959	Valley Park, US	monthly rain	105.2 mm (4.1 in)	26.5 mm (1.0 in)	31 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

1796 to 1959

Records set or tied on this calendar date in each year from 1796 to 1959. 1959 had 435 records.

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

Records on 05-18 in each year
Year	Records
1796	1
1798	1
1802	2
1832	1
1833	1
1845	1
1847	1
1848	1
1855	1
1859	1
1861	2
1863	3
1864	1
1866	2
1868	2
1869	1
1870	1
1871	2
1872	1
1874	2
1877	4
1878	1
1879	1
1881	1
1883	2
1884	2
1885	1
1887	1
1888	4
1889	2
1891	1
1893	2
1894	4
1895	5
1896	2
1897	2
1898	1
1899	1
1900	13
1901	6
1902	9
1903	7
1904	11
1905	2
1906	24
1907	18
1908	5
1909	12
1910	50
1911	64
1912	5
1913	11
1914	45
1915	55
1916	74
1917	30
1918	42
1919	30
1920	26
1921	41
1922	33
1923	61
1924	92
1925	220
1926	133
1927	180
1928	160
1929	193
1930	475
1931	191
1932	460
1933	380
1934	390
1935	400
1936	282
1937	348
1938	382
1939	169
1940	315
1941	334
1942	421
1943	744
1944	496
1945	706
1946	651
1947	231
1948	426
1949	597
1950	473
1951	279
1952	493
1953	393
1954	498
1955	848
1956	795
1957	595
1958	334
1959	435
1960	404
1961	187
1962	1,199
1963	477
1964	329
1965	345
1966	438
1967	410
1968	817
1969	865
1970	703
1971	666
1972	499
1973	1,233
1974	1,097
1975	383
1976	733
1977	1,126
1978	1,090
1979	399
1980	614
1981	1,218
1982	452
1983	1,093
1984	717
1985	498
1986	1,131
1987	823
1988	1,154
1989	721
1990	753
1991	1,218
1992	921
1993	707
1994	1,015
1995	1,849
1996	1,767
1997	1,115
1998	1,060
1999	584
2000	922
2001	898
2002	1,833
2003	1,270
2004	847
2005	630
2006	1,493
2007	1,133
2008	999
2009	1,368
2010	894
2011	1,406
2012	523
2013	816
2014	609
2015	785
2016	597
2017	1,855
2018	557
2019	810
2020	706
2021	418
2022	711
2023	554
2024	551
2025	619
2026	1,131

Download the Data

Data for records on 1959-05-18: 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 2026-10-16. Last revised 16 October 2026 (2026-10-16).

Margin	Records
0 to 20	302
20 to 40	38
40 to 60	14
60 to 80	2
80 to 100	1
100 to 120	1
120 to 140	1