Weather Records on 20 December 1970

518 weather records were set or tied worldwide on 20 December 1970. Highest significance: Khibiny, RU.

Key Facts for 20 December 1970

On 20 December 1970, 518 weather records were set or tied at long-record stations worldwide.
87 were record highs and 137 were record lows, counting maximum and minimum temperature.
By timescale, 0 were all-time records, 13 monthly and 505 daily.
Khibiny set a monthly record daily precipitation of 38.9 mm (1.5 in) on 20 December 1970.
Across 163 earlier years (1793 to 2025) the same calendar date averaged 467 records.

Record Map

518 stations

518 station records on 20 December 1970 are marked on the map, coloured by record type. Dot size shows the significance score. Made with Natural Earth.

Weather records on 20 December 1970: highest significance records shown on the map
Station	Country	Type	Value	Significance
Khibiny	Russia	Record daily precipitation	38.9 mm (1.5 in)	69 of 100 (Major)
North End	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	62.5 mm (2.5 in)	61 of 100 (Major)
Eulo Post Office	Australia	Record daily precipitation	36.6 mm (1.4 in)	54 of 100 (Notable)
Smythe	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	88.9 mm (3.5 in)	53 of 100 (Notable)
Farmerville	United States	Record daily precipitation	138.9 mm (5.5 in)	53 of 100 (Notable)
University Exp STN	United States	Record daily precipitation	26.2 mm (1.0 in)	52 of 100 (Notable)
Norwood	United States	Record daily snowfall	22.9 cm (9.0 in)	50 of 100 (Notable)
Arcadia	United States	Record daily precipitation	99.1 mm (3.9 in)	49 of 100 (Notable)
Catanduva	Brazil	Record daily precipitation	82.1 mm (3.2 in)	48 of 100 (Notable)
McKinley Park	United States	Record daily precipitation	28.4 mm (1.1 in)	48 of 100 (Notable)
Germiston-Fj Payne Park	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	42.7 mm (1.7 in)	46 of 100 (Notable)
McKinley Park	United States	Record daily snowfall	26.7 cm (10.5 in)	46 of 100 (Notable)
Uppsala_Aut	Sweden	Record high maximum temperature	7.7 C (45.9 F)	44 of 100 (Notable)
Petrusville (Pol)	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	33.5 mm (1.3 in)	43 of 100 (Notable)
Bloemfontein Airpor	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	34.7 mm (1.4 in)	42 of 100 (Notable)
Doornpoort	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	53.8 mm (2.1 in)	41 of 100 (Notable)
Moreson	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	49.0 mm (1.9 in)	40 of 100 (Notable)
Jhb-Braamfontein (Cem)	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	52.0 mm (2.0 in)	40 of 100 (Notable)
Cushman Dam	United States	Record daily snowfall	17.8 cm (7.0 in)	38 of 100 (Notable)
Ephrata	United States	Record daily snowfall	16.5 cm (6.5 in)	38 of 100 (Notable)
Serowe	Botswana	Record daily precipitation	69.5 mm (2.7 in)	37 of 100 (Notable)
Bergville (Mag)	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	43.1 mm (1.7 in)	36 of 100 (Notable)
Brakpan (Mun)	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	61.0 mm (2.4 in)	36 of 100 (Notable)
Sterkfontein	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	61.0 mm (2.4 in)	36 of 100 (Notable)
Grauna	Brazil	Record daily precipitation	120.6 mm (4.7 in)	35 of 100 (Notable)
Windsorton (Pol)	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	37.5 mm (1.5 in)	35 of 100 (Notable)
Barao de Antonina	Brazil	Record daily precipitation	70.7 mm (2.8 in)	34 of 100 (Routine)
Dewetsdorp (Pol)	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	53.5 mm (2.1 in)	34 of 100 (Routine)
Little Falls City Rsch	United States	Record snow depth	55.9 cm (22.0 in)	34 of 100 (Routine)
Wyandra Railway St	Australia	Record daily precipitation	27.9 mm (1.1 in)	33 of 100 (Routine)
Butterworth (Tnk)	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	51.0 mm (2.0 in)	33 of 100 (Routine)
De Brug (Pol)	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	49.0 mm (1.9 in)	33 of 100 (Routine)
Flora	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	69.0 mm (2.7 in)	33 of 100 (Routine)
Viljoenskroon (Mun)	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	35.0 mm (1.4 in)	33 of 100 (Routine)
Naalehu 14	United States	Record daily precipitation	116.8 mm (4.6 in)	33 of 100 (Routine)
Sandberg	United States	Record snow depth	38.1 cm (15.0 in)	33 of 100 (Routine)
Marquard - Pol 29	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	44.5 mm (1.8 in)	32 of 100 (Routine)
Setlagodi (Pol)	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	45.0 mm (1.8 in)	32 of 100 (Routine)
Prescott 2 NNW	United States	Record daily precipitation	29.2 mm (1.1 in)	32 of 100 (Routine)
Rockland	United States	Record snow depth	33.0 cm (13.0 in)	32 of 100 (Routine)
Marshall	United States	Record daily precipitation	38.9 mm (1.5 in)	32 of 100 (Routine)
Shreveport	United States	Record daily precipitation	71.4 mm (2.8 in)	32 of 100 (Routine)
Tanana AP	United States	Record daily snowfall	11.4 cm (4.5 in)	32 of 100 (Routine)
Belmont	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	37.0 mm (1.5 in)	30 of 100 (Routine)
Greenville	United States	Record daily precipitation	45.7 mm (1.8 in)	30 of 100 (Routine)
Paradise Valley 1 NW	United States	Record daily snowfall	14.0 cm (5.5 in)	30 of 100 (Routine)
Goodooga Post Office	Australia	Record daily precipitation	25.4 mm (1.0 in)	29 of 100 (Routine)
Sunny Hills	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	64.2 mm (2.5 in)	29 of 100 (Routine)
Glen Morgan	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	43.5 mm (1.7 in)	29 of 100 (Routine)
Neshaminy Falls	United States	Record high minimum temperature	6.1 C (43.0 F)	29 of 100 (Routine)
Nespelem 2 S	United States	Record daily snowfall	10.7 cm (4.2 in)	29 of 100 (Routine)
Nenana Muni AP	United States	Record daily snowfall	14.2 cm (5.6 in)	29 of 100 (Routine)
Modderrivier (Pol)	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	25.5 mm (1.0 in)	28 of 100 (Routine)
Fairbanks Intl AP	United States	Record snow depth	88.9 cm (35.0 in)	28 of 100 (Routine)
Pirassununga	Brazil	Record daily precipitation	105.1 mm (4.1 in)	27 of 100 (Routine)
Tweespruit	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	48.0 mm (1.9 in)	27 of 100 (Routine)
Barletta	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	28.5 mm (1.1 in)	27 of 100 (Routine)
Swartkoppie	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	40.5 mm (1.6 in)	27 of 100 (Routine)
Potchefstroom	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	25.6 mm (1.0 in)	27 of 100 (Routine)
Crossett 2 SSE	United States	Record daily precipitation	64.3 mm (2.5 in)	27 of 100 (Routine)

Counts by Type and Timescale

518 records

Records set or tied on 20 December 1970 by type: Highest daily maximum 47, Lowest daily maximum 67, Highest daily minimum 40, Lowest daily minimum 70, Heaviest daily rainfall 217, Heaviest daily snowfall 42, Deepest snow cover 35.

Records on 20 December 1970 by type
Record type	Records
Highest daily maximum	47
Lowest daily maximum	67
Highest daily minimum	40
Lowest daily minimum	70
Heaviest daily rainfall	217
Heaviest daily snowfall	42
Deepest snow cover	35

Records on 20 December 1970 by timescale: all-time 0, monthly 13, daily 505.

How Much Records Were Beaten By

434 broken records

Margins by which the 434 broken records beat the old ones, in degrees Celsius for temperature and millimetres for precipitation and snow; the largest margin was 483.0. Ties are not counted.

Top 20 by Significance

20 December 1970

Top 20 records on 20 December 1970 by significance
Date	Station	Record	Value	Beat old record by	Old record stood	Significance
20 December 1970	Khibiny, RU	monthly rain	38.9 mm (1.5 in)	19.5 mm (0.8 in)	41 years	69 of 100 (Major)
20 December 1970	North End, ZA	daily rain	62.5 mm (2.5 in)	47.8 mm (1.9 in)	53 years	61 of 100 (Major)
20 December 1970	Eulo Post Office, AU	daily rain	36.6 mm (1.4 in)	25.9 mm (1.0 in)	80 years	54 of 100 (Notable)
20 December 1970	Smythe, ZA	daily rain	88.9 mm (3.5 in)	81.0 mm (3.2 in)	29 years	53 of 100 (Notable)
20 December 1970	Farmerville, US	daily rain	138.9 mm (5.5 in)	101.1 mm (4.0 in)	19 years	53 of 100 (Notable)
20 December 1970	University Exp STN, US	daily rain	26.2 mm (1.0 in)	18.8 mm (0.7 in)	21 years	52 of 100 (Notable)
20 December 1970	Norwood, US	daily snowfall	22.9 cm (9.0 in)	15.3 cm (6.0 in)	37 years	50 of 100 (Notable)
20 December 1970	Arcadia, US	daily rain	99.1 mm (3.9 in)	76.2 mm (3.0 in)	17 years	49 of 100 (Notable)
20 December 1970	Catanduva, BR	daily rain	82.1 mm (3.2 in)	66.4 mm (2.6 in)	19 years	48 of 100 (Notable)
20 December 1970	McKinley Park, US	daily rain	28.4 mm (1.1 in)	24.3 mm (1.0 in)	16 years	48 of 100 (Notable)
20 December 1970	Germiston-Fj Payne Park, ZA	daily rain	42.7 mm (1.7 in)	26.2 mm (1.0 in)	60 years	46 of 100 (Notable)
20 December 1970	McKinley Park, US	daily snowfall	26.7 cm (10.5 in)	21.4 cm (8.4 in)	44 years	46 of 100 (Notable)
20 December 1970	Uppsala_Aut, SE	daily high max	7.7 C (45.9 F)	2.0 C (3.6 F)	112 years	44 of 100 (Notable)
20 December 1970	Petrusville (Pol), ZA	daily rain	33.5 mm (1.3 in)	20.0 mm (0.8 in)	55 years	43 of 100 (Notable)
20 December 1970	Bloemfontein Airpor, ZA	daily rain	34.7 mm (1.4 in)	27.1 mm (1.1 in)	41 years	42 of 100 (Notable)
20 December 1970	Doornpoort, ZA	daily rain	53.8 mm (2.1 in)	34.6 mm (1.4 in)	15 years	41 of 100 (Notable)
20 December 1970	Moreson, ZA	daily rain	49.0 mm (1.9 in)	34.5 mm (1.4 in)	15 years	40 of 100 (Notable)
20 December 1970	Jhb-Braamfontein (Cem), ZA	daily rain	52.0 mm (2.0 in)	16.4 mm (0.6 in)	69 years	40 of 100 (Notable)
20 December 1970	Cushman Dam, US	daily snowfall	17.8 cm (7.0 in)	14.2 cm (5.6 in)	55 years	38 of 100 (Notable)
20 December 1970	Ephrata, US	daily snowfall	16.5 cm (6.5 in)	12.7 cm (5.0 in)	5 years	38 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 1970

Records set or tied on this calendar date in each year from 1793 to 1970. 1970 had 518 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 1970-12-20: 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 2026-10-16. Last revised 16 October 2026 (2026-10-16).

Margin	Records
0 to 100	417
100 to 200	11
200 to 300	5
300 to 400	0
400 to 500	1