Weather Records on 21 May 1959

684 weather records were set or tied worldwide on 21 May 1959. Highest significance: Wapello, US.

Key Facts for 21 May 1959

On 21 May 1959, 684 weather records were set or tied at long-record stations worldwide.
318 were record highs and 92 were record lows, counting maximum and minimum temperature.
By timescale, 0 were all-time records, 13 monthly and 671 daily.
Wapello set a daily record precipitation of 61.2 mm (2.4 in) on 21 May 1959.
Across 156 earlier years (1793 to 2026) the same calendar date averaged 459 records.

Record Map

684 stations

684 station records on 21 May 1959 are marked on the map, coloured by record type. Dot size shows the significance score. Made with Natural Earth.

Weather records on 21 May 1959: highest significance records shown on the map
Station	Country	Type	Value	Significance
Wapello	United States	Record daily precipitation	61.2 mm (2.4 in)	62 of 100 (Major)
Britt 3E	United States	Record daily precipitation	189.5 mm (7.5 in)	61 of 100 (Major)
Forest City 2 NNE	United States	Record daily precipitation	155.4 mm (6.1 in)	59 of 100 (Notable)
Welbedacht	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	39.0 mm (1.5 in)	57 of 100 (Notable)
Fernandina Beach	United States	Record daily precipitation	119.9 mm (4.7 in)	57 of 100 (Notable)
Lake City 2 E	United States	Record daily precipitation	114.8 mm (4.5 in)	55 of 100 (Notable)
Newry	Australia	Record daily precipitation	32.5 mm (1.3 in)	54 of 100 (Notable)
Lake Nash	Australia	Record daily precipitation	50.0 mm (2.0 in)	52 of 100 (Notable)
Wupperthal	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	44.5 mm (1.8 in)	51 of 100 (Notable)
Reenen	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	28.0 mm (1.1 in)	49 of 100 (Notable)
Kankakee 3 SW	United States	Record daily precipitation	111.3 mm (4.4 in)	49 of 100 (Notable)
Whiting	United States	Record daily precipitation	57.2 mm (2.3 in)	48 of 100 (Notable)
Onawa 3NW	United States	Record daily precipitation	61.7 mm (2.4 in)	48 of 100 (Notable)
Mt Mitchell	United States	Record daily precipitation	72.1 mm (2.8 in)	48 of 100 (Notable)
Tennant Creek Post Office	Australia	Record daily precipitation	32.0 mm (1.3 in)	47 of 100 (Notable)
Austral Downs	Australia	Record daily precipitation	60.7 mm (2.4 in)	45 of 100 (Notable)
Boulia Airport	Australia	Record daily precipitation	37.6 mm (1.5 in)	43 of 100 (Notable)
Kamiesberg	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	51.0 mm (2.0 in)	40 of 100 (Notable)
Sloan 3 S	United States	Record daily precipitation	50.8 mm (2.0 in)	40 of 100 (Notable)
Halaula 1110	United States	Record daily precipitation	51.6 mm (2.0 in)	40 of 100 (Notable)
Stuttgart	Germany	Record daily precipitation	54.3 mm (2.1 in)	39 of 100 (Notable)
Iguape	Brazil	Record daily precipitation	62.1 mm (2.4 in)	38 of 100 (Notable)
Malmesbury	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	40.0 mm (1.6 in)	38 of 100 (Notable)
Abbeville 4S	United States	Record daily precipitation	45.2 mm (1.8 in)	38 of 100 (Notable)
Algona	United States	Record daily precipitation	88.6 mm (3.5 in)	37 of 100 (Notable)
Urandangi	Australia	Record daily precipitation	25.1 mm (1.0 in)	36 of 100 (Notable)
Elandsfontein	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	40.5 mm (1.6 in)	36 of 100 (Notable)
Lokenburg	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	35.5 mm (1.4 in)	36 of 100 (Notable)
Headingly Station	Australia	Record daily precipitation	54.6 mm (2.1 in)	35 of 100 (Notable)
Cape Otway Lighthouse	Australia	Record low maximum temperature	11.1 C (52.0 F)	35 of 100 (Notable)
Monroe	United States	Record daily precipitation	29.2 mm (1.1 in)	35 of 100 (Notable)
Dansville	United States	Record daily precipitation	42.4 mm (1.7 in)	35 of 100 (Notable)
Gundare	Australia	Record daily precipitation	29.7 mm (1.2 in)	34 of 100 (Routine)
Simcoe	Canada	Record high minimum temperature	17.2 C (63.0 F)	34 of 100 (Routine)
Chariton 1 E	United States	Record daily precipitation	77.7 mm (3.1 in)	33 of 100 (Routine)
Chatsworth	Australia	Record daily precipitation	31.5 mm (1.2 in)	32 of 100 (Routine)
Souris	Canada	Record daily snowfall	7.6 cm (3.0 in)	32 of 100 (Routine)
Lambton	Canada	Record daily precipitation	27.9 mm (1.1 in)	32 of 100 (Routine)
Vrugbaar	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	44.7 mm (1.8 in)	32 of 100 (Routine)
Steinkopf (Pol)	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	29.0 mm (1.1 in)	32 of 100 (Routine)
Delungra Post Office	Australia	Record daily precipitation	29.7 mm (1.2 in)	31 of 100 (Routine)
Durham	Canada	Record high minimum temperature	17.2 C (63.0 F)	31 of 100 (Routine)
Uruapan (Smn)	Mexico	Record daily precipitation	36.3 mm (1.4 in)	31 of 100 (Routine)
Blue Hill Coop	United States	Record high minimum temperature	20.6 C (69.1 F)	31 of 100 (Routine)
Ny City Cntrl Park	United States	Record high minimum temperature	21.7 C (71.1 F)	31 of 100 (Routine)
Qu'appelle	Canada	Record low minimum temperature	-3.3 C (26.1 F)	30 of 100 (Routine)
Grinnell 3 SW	United States	Record daily precipitation	32.5 mm (1.3 in)	30 of 100 (Routine)
Henderson 8 SSW	United States	Record daily precipitation	38.1 mm (1.5 in)	30 of 100 (Routine)
Richmond Wtr Wks	United States	Record high minimum temperature	19.4 C (66.9 F)	29 of 100 (Routine)
Pella 1S	United States	Record daily precipitation	41.9 mm (1.6 in)	29 of 100 (Routine)
E Wareham	United States	Record high maximum temperature	29.4 C (84.9 F)	29 of 100 (Routine)
Ely AP	United States	Record low minimum temperature	-5.6 C (21.9 F)	29 of 100 (Routine)
Middletown 4 W	United States	Record high minimum temperature	18.9 C (66.0 F)	28 of 100 (Routine)
Cedar Key 1 WSW	United States	Record daily precipitation	39.4 mm (1.6 in)	28 of 100 (Routine)
Paw Paw	United States	Record daily precipitation	30.2 mm (1.2 in)	28 of 100 (Routine)
Rimini 2 SSW	United States	Record daily precipitation	63.2 mm (2.5 in)	28 of 100 (Routine)
Benson	United States	Record low minimum temperature	-1.1 C (30.0 F)	27 of 100 (Routine)
Cream Hill	United States	Record high minimum temperature	18.9 C (66.0 F)	27 of 100 (Routine)
Albion	United States	Record daily precipitation	55.4 mm (2.2 in)	27 of 100 (Routine)
King City	United States	Record daily precipitation	40.9 mm (1.6 in)	27 of 100 (Routine)

Counts by Type and Timescale

684 records

Records set or tied on 21 May 1959 by type: Highest daily maximum 37, Lowest daily maximum 37, Highest daily minimum 281, Lowest daily minimum 55, Heaviest daily rainfall 269, Heaviest daily snowfall 4, Deepest snow cover 1.

Records on 21 May 1959 by type
Record type	Records
Highest daily maximum	37
Lowest daily maximum	37
Highest daily minimum	281
Lowest daily minimum	55
Heaviest daily rainfall	269
Heaviest daily snowfall	4
Deepest snow cover	1

Records on 21 May 1959 by timescale: all-time 0, monthly 13, daily 671.

How Much Records Were Beaten By

544 broken records

Margins by which the 544 broken records beat the old ones, in degrees Celsius for temperature and millimetres for precipitation and snow; the largest margin was 96.0. Ties are not counted.

Top 20 by Significance

21 May 1959

Top 20 records on 21 May 1959 by significance
Date	Station	Record	Value	Beat old record by	Old record stood	Significance
21 May 1959	Wapello, US	daily rain	61.2 mm (2.4 in)	43.9 mm (1.7 in)	56 years	62 of 100 (Major)
21 May 1959	Britt 3E, US	monthly rain	189.5 mm (7.5 in)	96.0 mm (3.8 in)	17 years	61 of 100 (Major)
21 May 1959	Forest City 2 NNE, US	monthly rain	155.4 mm (6.1 in)	50.0 mm (2.0 in)	12 years	59 of 100 (Notable)
21 May 1959	Welbedacht, ZA	daily rain	39.0 mm (1.5 in)	36.5 mm (1.4 in)	44 years	57 of 100 (Notable)
21 May 1959	Fernandina Beach, US	daily rain	119.9 mm (4.7 in)	89.4 mm (3.5 in)	37 years	57 of 100 (Notable)
21 May 1959	Lake City 2 E, US	daily rain	114.8 mm (4.5 in)	76.7 mm (3.0 in)	30 years	55 of 100 (Notable)
21 May 1959	Newry, AU	daily rain	32.5 mm (1.3 in)	32.5 mm (1.3 in)	57 years	54 of 100 (Notable)
21 May 1959	Lake Nash, AU	daily rain	50.0 mm (2.0 in)	47.7 mm (1.9 in)	63 years	52 of 100 (Notable)
21 May 1959	Wupperthal, ZA	daily rain	44.5 mm (1.8 in)	36.1 mm (1.4 in)	40 years	51 of 100 (Notable)
21 May 1959	Reenen, ZA	daily rain	28.0 mm (1.1 in)	28.0 mm (1.1 in)	44 years	49 of 100 (Notable)
21 May 1959	Kankakee 3 SW, US	monthly rain	111.3 mm (4.4 in)	26.0 mm (1.0 in)	36 years	49 of 100 (Notable)
21 May 1959	Whiting, US	daily rain	57.2 mm (2.3 in)	32.8 mm (1.3 in)	48 years	48 of 100 (Notable)
21 May 1959	Onawa 3NW, US	daily rain	61.7 mm (2.4 in)	33.8 mm (1.3 in)	44 years	48 of 100 (Notable)
21 May 1959	Mt Mitchell, US	daily rain	72.1 mm (2.8 in)	48.5 mm (1.9 in)	16 years	48 of 100 (Notable)
21 May 1959	Tennant Creek Post Office, AU	daily rain	32.0 mm (1.3 in)	26.7 mm (1.1 in)	52 years	47 of 100 (Notable)
21 May 1959	Austral Downs, AU	daily rain	60.7 mm (2.4 in)	58.2 mm (2.3 in)	14 years	45 of 100 (Notable)
21 May 1959	Boulia Airport, AU	daily rain	37.6 mm (1.5 in)	35.8 mm (1.4 in)	6 years	43 of 100 (Notable)
21 May 1959	Kamiesberg, ZA	daily rain	51.0 mm (2.0 in)	31.9 mm (1.3 in)	25 years	40 of 100 (Notable)
21 May 1959	Sloan 3 S, US	daily rain	50.8 mm (2.0 in)	30.5 mm (1.2 in)	49 years	40 of 100 (Notable)
21 May 1959	Halaula 1110, US	daily rain	51.6 mm (2.0 in)	32.3 mm (1.3 in)	42 years	40 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 1959

Records set or tied on this calendar date in each year from 1793 to 1959. 1959 had 684 records.

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

Records on 05-21 in each year
Year	Records
1793	1
1795	1
1811	1
1837	2
1842	1
1847	2
1854	1
1857	1
1858	1
1865	1
1866	1
1870	2
1875	1
1876	1
1880	2
1882	1
1885	1
1886	2
1887	3
1889	5
1890	3
1891	6
1892	1
1893	1
1894	4
1895	4
1896	5
1897	2
1898	1
1899	5
1900	1
1901	3
1902	4
1903	26
1904	8
1905	7
1906	12
1907	36
1908	13
1909	13
1910	14
1911	87
1912	24
1913	13
1914	26
1915	24
1916	13
1917	76
1918	51
1919	170
1920	39
1921	158
1922	39
1923	125
1924	148
1925	250
1926	221
1927	207
1928	173
1929	247
1930	133
1931	488
1932	343
1933	290
1934	590
1935	190
1936	328
1937	227
1938	348
1939	355
1940	456
1941	525
1942	482
1943	463
1944	310
1945	515
1946	324
1947	485
1948	312
1949	593
1950	403
1951	271
1952	385
1953	501
1954	961
1955	507
1956	409
1957	709
1958	511
1959	684
1960	615
1961	306
1962	553
1963	598
1964	788
1965	238
1966	296
1967	1,022
1968	549
1969	832
1970	449
1971	536
1972	557
1973	493
1974	847
1975	1,160
1976	393
1977	756
1978	575
1979	787
1980	857
1981	1,550
1982	599
1983	1,106
1984	950
1985	610
1986	908
1987	1,242
1988	819
1989	671
1990	947
1991	1,065
1992	1,143
1993	1,197
1994	656
1995	749
1996	1,461
1997	953
1998	1,200
1999	544
2000	897
2001	1,187
2002	2,048
2003	807
2004	898
2005	1,020
2006	810
2007	894
2008	740
2009	1,315
2010	962
2011	959
2012	848
2013	884
2014	522
2015	956
2016	567
2017	780
2018	525
2019	1,668
2020	707
2021	1,131
2022	1,512
2023	794
2024	751
2025	776
2026	356

Download the Data

Data for records on 1959-05-21: 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 2026-10-14 (14 October 2026). Records are computed by this site and are not official.

Data as of 2026-10-12. Last revised 12 October 2026 (2026-10-12).

Margin	Records
0 to 20	499
20 to 40	36
40 to 60	5
60 to 80	2
80 to 100	2