Weather Records on 20 August 1971

585 weather records were set or tied worldwide on 20 August 1971. Highest significance: Steytlerville (Mag), ZA.

Key Facts for 20 August 1971

On 20 August 1971, 585 weather records were set or tied at long-record stations worldwide.
181 were record highs and 73 were record lows, counting maximum and minimum temperature.
By timescale, 3 were all-time records, 34 monthly and 548 daily.
Steytlerville (Mag) set a daily record precipitation of 49.8 mm (2.0 in) on 20 August 1971.
Across 163 earlier years (1797 to 2026) the same calendar date averaged 454 records.

Record Map

585 stations

585 station records on 20 August 1971 are marked on the map, coloured by record type. Dot size shows the significance score. Made with Natural Earth.

Weather records on 20 August 1971: highest significance records shown on the map
Station	Country	Type	Value	Significance
Steytlerville (Mag)	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	49.8 mm (2.0 in)	70 of 100 (Major)
Kloofend	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	141.0 mm (5.6 in)	63 of 100 (Major)
Port Shepstone	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	183.0 mm (7.2 in)	60 of 100 (Major)
Fir Glen	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	143.5 mm (5.6 in)	59 of 100 (Notable)
Klipfontein	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	68.5 mm (2.7 in)	58 of 100 (Notable)
Dontsa	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	76.5 mm (3.0 in)	58 of 100 (Notable)
Fullarton	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	56.7 mm (2.2 in)	57 of 100 (Notable)
Bulwater	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	76.0 mm (3.0 in)	57 of 100 (Notable)
Groothoek	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	60.1 mm (2.4 in)	57 of 100 (Notable)
Qacu (Bos)	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	72.0 mm (2.8 in)	57 of 100 (Notable)
Nqamakwe (Tnk)	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	73.9 mm (2.9 in)	57 of 100 (Notable)
Cengcane (Bos)	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	56.0 mm (2.2 in)	57 of 100 (Notable)
Thomas River (Sar)	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	46.5 mm (1.8 in)	56 of 100 (Notable)
Mqanduli (Tnk)	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	84.0 mm (3.3 in)	56 of 100 (Notable)
Brynawe, Paddock	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	86.0 mm (3.4 in)	56 of 100 (Notable)
Baratria	Australia	Record daily precipitation	36.8 mm (1.4 in)	55 of 100 (Notable)
Mooredale	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	59.5 mm (2.3 in)	55 of 100 (Notable)
Wolfridge (Bos)	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	84.0 mm (3.3 in)	55 of 100 (Notable)
Lusikisiki (Tnk)	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	80.0 mm (3.1 in)	55 of 100 (Notable)
Elliotdale (Tnk)	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	83.0 mm (3.3 in)	54 of 100 (Notable)
Hyannis	United States	Record daily precipitation	114.3 mm (4.5 in)	54 of 100 (Notable)
Sidney 2 N	United States	Record daily precipitation	56.6 mm (2.2 in)	54 of 100 (Notable)
De Hoop	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	84.0 mm (3.3 in)	53 of 100 (Notable)
Sebeni (Bos)	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	91.5 mm (3.6 in)	53 of 100 (Notable)
Notinsila (Bos)	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	148.0 mm (5.8 in)	53 of 100 (Notable)
Tsolo	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	49.0 mm (1.9 in)	53 of 100 (Notable)
The Valleys	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	165.5 mm (6.5 in)	53 of 100 (Notable)
Abbeville	France	Record daily precipitation	42.5 mm (1.7 in)	52 of 100 (Notable)
Wilo (Bos)	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	105.0 mm (4.1 in)	52 of 100 (Notable)
Bushy Vales, Margate	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	126.0 mm (5.0 in)	52 of 100 (Notable)
Sawoti	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	68.0 mm (2.7 in)	52 of 100 (Notable)
Dohne	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	57.5 mm (2.3 in)	51 of 100 (Notable)
Weltevrede	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	30.0 mm (1.2 in)	51 of 100 (Notable)
Samary	Russia	Record daily precipitation	31.0 mm (1.2 in)	50 of 100 (Notable)
Grootfontein	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	43.0 mm (1.7 in)	50 of 100 (Notable)
Ajo Well	United States	Record daily precipitation	68.8 mm (2.7 in)	50 of 100 (Notable)
Poortjie-Wes	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	34.5 mm (1.4 in)	49 of 100 (Notable)
Korana "Xorana"	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	64.0 mm (2.5 in)	49 of 100 (Notable)
Sabino Canyon	United States	Record daily precipitation	81.8 mm (3.2 in)	49 of 100 (Notable)
Paardekraal	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	62.6 mm (2.5 in)	48 of 100 (Notable)
Glen Roy	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	37.5 mm (1.5 in)	48 of 100 (Notable)
Engcobo (Tnk)	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	62.0 mm (2.4 in)	48 of 100 (Notable)
Ntsubane (Bos)	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	134.5 mm (5.3 in)	48 of 100 (Notable)
Berne Wwtp	United States	Record daily precipitation	44.5 mm (1.8 in)	48 of 100 (Notable)
Lochnagar	Australia	Record daily precipitation	47.2 mm (1.9 in)	47 of 100 (Notable)
Warrnambool Downs	Australia	Record daily precipitation	40.1 mm (1.6 in)	47 of 100 (Notable)
Sarelsrivier	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	63.0 mm (2.5 in)	47 of 100 (Notable)
Baziya (Bos)	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	60.0 mm (2.4 in)	47 of 100 (Notable)
Ntywenka (Bos)	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	37.5 mm (1.5 in)	47 of 100 (Notable)
Bencuti (Bos)	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	47.5 mm (1.9 in)	47 of 100 (Notable)
Cata (Bos)	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	62.5 mm (2.5 in)	46 of 100 (Notable)
Aberdeen (Tnk)	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	40.0 mm (1.6 in)	46 of 100 (Notable)
Cypherfontein	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	34.0 mm (1.3 in)	45 of 100 (Notable)
Kei Road (Pol)	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	60.0 mm (2.4 in)	45 of 100 (Notable)
Huxley	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	55.0 mm (2.2 in)	45 of 100 (Notable)
Bethesdaweg (Sar)	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	52.0 mm (2.0 in)	45 of 100 (Notable)
Glenora	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	36.5 mm (1.4 in)	45 of 100 (Notable)
Col du Grand St-Bernard	Switzerland	Record daily precipitation	58.6 mm (2.3 in)	45 of 100 (Notable)
Whiteriver 1 SW	United States	Record daily precipitation	38.6 mm (1.5 in)	45 of 100 (Notable)
Upper Stewiacke	Canada	Record daily precipitation	53.6 mm (2.1 in)	44 of 100 (Notable)

Counts by Type and Timescale

585 records

Records set or tied on 20 August 1971 by type: Highest daily maximum 85, Lowest daily maximum 47, Highest daily minimum 96, Lowest daily minimum 26, Heaviest daily rainfall 330, Deepest snow cover 1.

Records on 20 August 1971 by type
Record type	Records
Highest daily maximum	85
Lowest daily maximum	47
Highest daily minimum	96
Lowest daily minimum	26
Heaviest daily rainfall	330
Heaviest daily snowfall	0
Deepest snow cover	1

Records on 20 August 1971 by timescale: all-time 3, monthly 34, daily 548.

How Much Records Were Beaten By

494 broken records

Margins by which the 494 broken records beat the old ones, in degrees Celsius for temperature and millimetres for precipitation and snow; the largest margin was 117.5. Ties are not counted.

Top 20 by Significance

20 August 1971

Top 20 records on 20 August 1971 by significance
Date	Station	Record	Value	Beat old record by	Old record stood	Significance
20 August 1971	Steytlerville (Mag), ZA	daily rain	49.8 mm (2.0 in)	46.8 mm (1.8 in)	74 years	70 of 100 (Major)
20 August 1971	Kloofend, ZA	monthly rain	141.0 mm (5.6 in)	41.4 mm (1.6 in)	53 years	63 of 100 (Major)
20 August 1971	Port Shepstone, ZA	monthly rain	183.0 mm (7.2 in)	117.5 mm (4.6 in)	17 years	60 of 100 (Major)
20 August 1971	Fir Glen, ZA	monthly rain	143.5 mm (5.6 in)	68.5 mm (2.7 in)	0 years	59 of 100 (Notable)
20 August 1971	Klipfontein, ZA	monthly rain	68.5 mm (2.7 in)	33.0 mm (1.3 in)	0 years	58 of 100 (Notable)
20 August 1971	Dontsa, ZA	daily rain	76.5 mm (3.0 in)	46.0 mm (1.8 in)	40 years	58 of 100 (Notable)
20 August 1971	Fullarton, ZA	monthly rain	56.7 mm (2.2 in)	26.2 mm (1.0 in)	31 years	57 of 100 (Notable)
20 August 1971	Bulwater, ZA	monthly rain	76.0 mm (3.0 in)	33.1 mm (1.3 in)	31 years	57 of 100 (Notable)
20 August 1971	Groothoek, ZA	daily rain	60.1 mm (2.4 in)	47.1 mm (1.9 in)	41 years	57 of 100 (Notable)
20 August 1971	Qacu (Bos), ZA	daily rain	72.0 mm (2.8 in)	39.0 mm (1.5 in)	40 years	57 of 100 (Notable)
20 August 1971	Nqamakwe (Tnk), ZA	daily rain	73.9 mm (2.9 in)	37.1 mm (1.5 in)	40 years	57 of 100 (Notable)
20 August 1971	Cengcane (Bos), ZA	daily rain	56.0 mm (2.2 in)	44.6 mm (1.8 in)	40 years	57 of 100 (Notable)
20 August 1971	Thomas River (Sar), ZA	daily rain	46.5 mm (1.8 in)	36.1 mm (1.4 in)	29 years	56 of 100 (Notable)
20 August 1971	Mqanduli (Tnk), ZA	daily rain	84.0 mm (3.3 in)	68.3 mm (2.7 in)	28 years	56 of 100 (Notable)
20 August 1971	Brynawe, Paddock, ZA	daily rain	86.0 mm (3.4 in)	68.0 mm (2.7 in)	40 years	56 of 100 (Notable)
20 August 1971	Baratria, AU	daily rain	36.8 mm (1.4 in)	34.5 mm (1.4 in)	54 years	55 of 100 (Notable)
20 August 1971	Mooredale, ZA	monthly rain	59.5 mm (2.3 in)	22.7 mm (0.9 in)	31 years	55 of 100 (Notable)
20 August 1971	Wolfridge (Bos), ZA	daily rain	84.0 mm (3.3 in)	53.5 mm (2.1 in)	28 years	55 of 100 (Notable)
20 August 1971	Lusikisiki (Tnk), ZA	daily rain	80.0 mm (3.1 in)	67.8 mm (2.7 in)	40 years	55 of 100 (Notable)
20 August 1971	Elliotdale (Tnk), ZA	daily rain	83.0 mm (3.3 in)	44.9 mm (1.8 in)	40 years	54 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

1797 to 1971

Records set or tied on this calendar date in each year from 1797 to 1971. 1971 had 585 records.

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

Records on 08-20 in each year
Year	Records
1797	1
1807	1
1809	2
1816	1
1830	1
1832	1
1838	1
1840	1
1842	1
1846	1
1849	1
1850	1
1852	1
1858	3
1863	5
1867	4
1870	3
1871	1
1873	1
1875	2
1877	1
1883	2
1884	2
1885	6
1886	1
1888	1
1889	2
1890	2
1891	2
1892	6
1893	1
1894	1
1895	1
1896	5
1897	6
1898	1
1899	5
1900	7
1901	12
1902	3
1903	7
1904	30
1905	7
1906	26
1907	15
1908	21
1909	69
1910	7
1911	18
1912	25
1913	23
1914	15
1915	14
1916	74
1917	51
1918	69
1919	25
1920	47
1921	23
1922	52
1923	83
1924	132
1925	193
1926	187
1927	338
1928	101
1929	213
1930	318
1931	214
1932	299
1933	324
1934	376
1935	339
1936	543
1937	537
1938	250
1939	448
1940	695
1941	230
1942	429
1943	436
1944	355
1945	398
1946	349
1947	988
1948	403
1949	431
1950	1,341
1951	824
1952	425
1953	441
1954	476
1955	848
1956	678
1957	342
1958	281
1959	764
1960	465
1961	520
1962	684
1963	577
1964	629
1965	470
1966	1,094
1967	657
1968	862
1969	608
1970	414
1971	585
1972	522
1973	490
1974	565
1975	411
1976	894
1977	860
1978	563
1979	1,009
1980	991
1981	856
1982	620
1983	1,465
1984	696
1985	666
1986	819
1987	564
1988	991
1989	603
1990	1,262
1991	804
1992	1,168
1993	759
1994	719
1995	1,113
1996	900
1997	1,214
1998	802
1999	810
2000	989
2001	909
2002	1,208
2003	1,031
2004	1,333
2005	1,112
2006	851
2007	1,955
2008	1,170
2009	1,414
2010	1,028
2011	987
2012	1,086
2013	545
2014	582
2015	1,075
2016	872
2017	324
2018	657
2019	698
2020	1,051
2021	1,028
2022	1,038
2023	1,479
2024	589
2025	1,134
2026	985

Download the Data

Data for records on 1971-08-20: 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 20	382
20 to 40	77
40 to 60	21
60 to 80	9
80 to 100	4
100 to 120	1