Weather Records on 3 May 1972

380 weather records were set or tied worldwide on 3 May 1972. Highest significance: Marion, US.

Key Facts for 3 May 1972

On 3 May 1972, 380 weather records were set or tied at long-record stations worldwide.
104 were record highs and 72 were record lows, counting maximum and minimum temperature.
By timescale, 0 were all-time records, 22 monthly and 358 daily.
Marion set a daily record precipitation of 98.0 mm (3.9 in) on 3 May 1972.
Across 168 earlier years (1795 to 2026) the same calendar date averaged 433 records.

Record Map

380 stations

380 station records on 3 May 1972 are marked on the map, coloured by record type. Dot size shows the significance score. Made with Natural Earth.

Weather records on 3 May 1972: highest significance records shown on the map
Station	Country	Type	Value	Significance
Marion	United States	Record daily precipitation	98.0 mm (3.9 in)	65 of 100 (Major)
Alagoa Nova (Laranjeiras)	Brazil	Record daily precipitation	86.2 mm (3.4 in)	49 of 100 (Notable)
Baddeck	Canada	Record daily precipitation	27.9 mm (1.1 in)	49 of 100 (Notable)
Sabattis 3 NE	United States	Record daily precipitation	52.8 mm (2.1 in)	49 of 100 (Notable)
Jefferson 2 E	United States	Record daily precipitation	56.9 mm (2.2 in)	47 of 100 (Notable)
Asheville	United States	Record daily precipitation	38.1 mm (1.5 in)	45 of 100 (Notable)
Charlottetown Cda	Canada	Record daily precipitation	39.6 mm (1.6 in)	44 of 100 (Notable)
Boone	United States	Record daily precipitation	55.6 mm (2.2 in)	44 of 100 (Notable)
Newark Liberty Intl AP	United States	Record daily precipitation	36.1 mm (1.4 in)	44 of 100 (Notable)
Avon	United States	Record daily precipitation	34.5 mm (1.4 in)	43 of 100 (Notable)
Whiteville	United States	Record daily precipitation	118.4 mm (4.7 in)	43 of 100 (Notable)
Wandering Comparison	Australia	Record high maximum temperature	33.2 C (91.8 F)	41 of 100 (Notable)
Fulton	United States	Record daily precipitation	58.4 mm (2.3 in)	41 of 100 (Notable)
Tantoyuca	Mexico	Record daily precipitation	62.0 mm (2.4 in)	39 of 100 (Notable)
Baldwinsville	United States	Record daily precipitation	40.9 mm (1.6 in)	39 of 100 (Notable)
Wilson 3 SW	United States	Record daily precipitation	55.1 mm (2.2 in)	39 of 100 (Notable)
Gaffney 6 E	United States	Record daily precipitation	36.6 mm (1.4 in)	39 of 100 (Notable)
Pindobacu	Brazil	Record daily precipitation	32.0 mm (1.3 in)	38 of 100 (Notable)
Hopewell	United States	Record daily precipitation	49.0 mm (1.9 in)	38 of 100 (Notable)
Alpena 1 NW	United States	Record daily precipitation	40.6 mm (1.6 in)	38 of 100 (Notable)
Lewisburg 3 N	United States	Record daily precipitation	29.0 mm (1.1 in)	38 of 100 (Notable)
Katanning Comparison	Australia	Record high maximum temperature	32.3 C (90.1 F)	37 of 100 (Notable)
Moncton	Canada	Record daily precipitation	29.5 mm (1.2 in)	37 of 100 (Notable)
Greenville Muni AP	United States	Record snow depth	27.9 cm (11.0 in)	37 of 100 (Notable)
York Pond	United States	Record daily precipitation	31.5 mm (1.2 in)	37 of 100 (Notable)
Mount Barker	Australia	Record high maximum temperature	32.2 C (90.0 F)	36 of 100 (Notable)
Patterson	United States	Record daily precipitation	58.9 mm (2.3 in)	35 of 100 (Notable)
Beckley Va Hospital	United States	Record daily precipitation	33.0 mm (1.3 in)	35 of 100 (Notable)
Nabawa	Australia	Record high maximum temperature	35.6 C (96.1 F)	34 of 100 (Routine)
Mays Point Lock 25	United States	Record daily precipitation	31.5 mm (1.2 in)	33 of 100 (Routine)
Athens	United States	Record daily precipitation	35.8 mm (1.4 in)	33 of 100 (Routine)
Fazenda Riacho Fundo	Brazil	Record daily precipitation	33.0 mm (1.3 in)	32 of 100 (Routine)
Walden	United States	Record low minimum temperature	-10.6 C (12.9 F)	32 of 100 (Routine)
Clyde Lock 26	United States	Record daily precipitation	35.8 mm (1.4 in)	32 of 100 (Routine)
Blowing Rock 1NW	United States	Record daily precipitation	51.6 mm (2.0 in)	32 of 100 (Routine)
Brevard	United States	Record daily precipitation	39.1 mm (1.5 in)	32 of 100 (Routine)
Doylestown	United States	Record daily precipitation	47.0 mm (1.9 in)	32 of 100 (Routine)
Doaktown	Canada	Record daily precipitation	35.1 mm (1.4 in)	31 of 100 (Routine)
Kirensk	Russia	Record high minimum temperature	5.7 C (42.3 F)	31 of 100 (Routine)
Bar Harbor 3 NW	United States	Record low maximum temperature	5.0 C (41.0 F)	31 of 100 (Routine)
Tupper Lake Sunmount	United States	Record daily precipitation	33.0 mm (1.3 in)	31 of 100 (Routine)
Southern Cross	Australia	Record high maximum temperature	32.7 C (90.9 F)	30 of 100 (Routine)
McAdam	Canada	Record daily precipitation	30.0 mm (1.2 in)	30 of 100 (Routine)
Cromleigh,Ixopo	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	29.2 mm (1.1 in)	30 of 100 (Routine)
Cayuga Lock #1	United States	Record daily precipitation	25.1 mm (1.0 in)	30 of 100 (Routine)
Elizabeth City	United States	Record daily precipitation	53.1 mm (2.1 in)	30 of 100 (Routine)
Sussex	Canada	Record daily precipitation	30.7 mm (1.2 in)	29 of 100 (Routine)
Alliston	Canada	Record daily precipitation	35.6 mm (1.4 in)	29 of 100 (Routine)
Oksoey Fyr	Norway	Record high minimum temperature	8.3 C (46.9 F)	29 of 100 (Routine)
Newark Ag Farm	United States	Record high minimum temperature	17.2 C (63.0 F)	29 of 100 (Routine)
Lancaster	United States	Record daily precipitation	25.4 mm (1.0 in)	29 of 100 (Routine)
Sparta 3.5 SSW	United States	Record daily precipitation	78.7 mm (3.1 in)	29 of 100 (Routine)
Arbovale 2	United States	Record daily precipitation	34.3 mm (1.4 in)	29 of 100 (Routine)
Schenectady	United States	Record daily precipitation	38.4 mm (1.5 in)	29 of 100 (Routine)
Fredericton Cda	Canada	Record daily precipitation	39.9 mm (1.6 in)	28 of 100 (Routine)
Chestertown	United States	Record high minimum temperature	17.2 C (63.0 F)	28 of 100 (Routine)
Princess Anne	United States	Record daily precipitation	34.0 mm (1.3 in)	28 of 100 (Routine)
Middletown 2 NW	United States	Record high minimum temperature	14.4 C (57.9 F)	28 of 100 (Routine)
Chatham	United States	Record daily precipitation	40.9 mm (1.6 in)	28 of 100 (Routine)
Annex Creek	United States	Record low minimum temperature	-2.8 C (27.0 F)	28 of 100 (Routine)

Counts by Type and Timescale

380 records

Records set or tied on 3 May 1972 by type: Highest daily maximum 44, Lowest daily maximum 37, Highest daily minimum 60, Lowest daily minimum 35, Heaviest daily rainfall 200, Heaviest daily snowfall 1, Deepest snow cover 3.

Records on 3 May 1972 by type
Record type	Records
Highest daily maximum	44
Lowest daily maximum	37
Highest daily minimum	60
Lowest daily minimum	35
Heaviest daily rainfall	200
Heaviest daily snowfall	1
Deepest snow cover	3

Records on 3 May 1972 by timescale: all-time 0, monthly 22, daily 358.

How Much Records Were Beaten By

328 broken records

Margins by which the 328 broken records beat the old ones, in degrees Celsius for temperature and millimetres for precipitation and snow; the largest margin was 254.0. Ties are not counted.

Top 20 by Significance

3 May 1972

Top 20 records on 3 May 1972 by significance
Date	Station	Record	Value	Beat old record by	Old record stood	Significance
3 May 1972	Marion, US	daily rain	98.0 mm (3.9 in)	57.9 mm (2.3 in)	68 years	65 of 100 (Major)
3 May 1972	Alagoa Nova (Laranjeiras), BR	daily rain	86.2 mm (3.4 in)	50.0 mm (2.0 in)	36 years	49 of 100 (Notable)
3 May 1972	Baddeck, CA	daily rain	27.9 mm (1.1 in)	14.2 mm (0.6 in)	92 years	49 of 100 (Notable)
3 May 1972	Sabattis 3 NE, US	daily rain	52.8 mm (2.1 in)	33.5 mm (1.3 in)	19 years	49 of 100 (Notable)
3 May 1972	Jefferson 2 E, US	daily rain	56.9 mm (2.2 in)	22.4 mm (0.9 in)	68 years	47 of 100 (Notable)
3 May 1972	Asheville, US	daily rain	38.1 mm (1.5 in)	13.2 mm (0.5 in)	75 years	45 of 100 (Notable)
3 May 1972	Charlottetown Cda, CA	daily rain	39.6 mm (1.6 in)	20.5 mm (0.8 in)	36 years	44 of 100 (Notable)
3 May 1972	Boone, US	daily rain	55.6 mm (2.2 in)	34.8 mm (1.4 in)	36 years	44 of 100 (Notable)
3 May 1972	Newark Liberty Intl AP, US	daily rain	36.1 mm (1.4 in)	4.9 mm (0.19 in)	127 years	44 of 100 (Notable)
3 May 1972	Avon, US	daily rain	34.5 mm (1.4 in)	12.9 mm (0.5 in)	62 years	43 of 100 (Notable)
3 May 1972	Whiteville, US	monthly rain	118.4 mm (4.7 in)	23.4 mm (0.9 in)	23 years	43 of 100 (Notable)
3 May 1972	Wandering Comparison, AU	monthly high max	33.2 C (91.8 F)	2.6 C (4.7 F)	55 years	41 of 100 (Notable)
3 May 1972	Fulton, US	monthly rain	58.4 mm (2.3 in)	15.0 mm (0.6 in)	14 years	41 of 100 (Notable)
3 May 1972	Tantoyuca, MX	daily rain	62.0 mm (2.4 in)	56.2 mm (2.2 in)	33 years	39 of 100 (Notable)
3 May 1972	Baldwinsville, US	daily rain	40.9 mm (1.6 in)	6.1 mm (0.24 in)	78 years	39 of 100 (Notable)
3 May 1972	Wilson 3 SW, US	daily rain	55.1 mm (2.2 in)	27.4 mm (1.1 in)	30 years	39 of 100 (Notable)
3 May 1972	Gaffney 6 E, US	daily rain	36.6 mm (1.4 in)	12.2 mm (0.5 in)	67 years	39 of 100 (Notable)
3 May 1972	Pindobacu, BR	daily rain	32.0 mm (1.3 in)	20.5 mm (0.8 in)	31 years	38 of 100 (Notable)
3 May 1972	Hopewell, US	daily rain	49.0 mm (1.9 in)	26.9 mm (1.1 in)	38 years	38 of 100 (Notable)
3 May 1972	Alpena 1 NW, US	daily rain	40.6 mm (1.6 in)	24.6 mm (1.0 in)	37 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

1795 to 1972

Records set or tied on this calendar date in each year from 1795 to 1972. 1972 had 380 records.

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

Records on 05-03 in each year
Year	Records
1795	1
1796	1
1799	1
1820	1
1832	1
1836	2
1837	1
1845	1
1849	1
1850	5
1851	2
1852	1
1855	1
1861	1
1864	2
1866	1
1868	1
1869	1
1870	1
1871	1
1873	1
1874	1
1875	1
1877	1
1878	4
1879	2
1881	1
1883	1
1884	1
1885	1
1886	3
1887	3
1888	1
1889	3
1891	2
1892	4
1893	1
1894	4
1896	2
1897	3
1898	5
1899	3
1900	2
1901	4
1902	5
1903	7
1904	7
1905	23
1906	10
1907	25
1908	8
1909	22
1910	17
1911	31
1912	17
1913	125
1914	10
1915	28
1916	52
1917	36
1918	28
1919	77
1920	37
1921	42
1922	292
1923	69
1924	55
1925	126
1926	250
1927	78
1928	255
1929	329
1930	279
1931	141
1932	136
1933	376
1934	353
1935	644
1936	356
1937	240
1938	527
1939	331
1940	550
1941	456
1942	1,161
1943	417
1944	728
1945	486
1946	353
1947	879
1948	919
1949	761
1950	854
1951	336
1952	447
1953	373
1954	1,210
1955	811
1956	590
1957	292
1958	485
1959	817
1960	280
1961	389
1962	243
1963	360
1964	908
1965	372
1966	850
1967	1,122
1968	324
1969	404
1970	464
1971	600
1972	380
1973	486
1974	323
1975	475
1976	760
1977	426
1978	1,046
1979	1,217
1980	573
1981	898
1982	564
1983	1,768
1984	807
1985	1,152
1986	965
1987	1,122
1988	782
1989	563
1990	1,715
1991	987
1992	792
1993	824
1994	703
1995	1,050
1996	1,058
1997	933
1998	910
1999	872
2000	1,056
2001	1,541
2002	1,312
2003	934
2004	1,562
2005	1,570
2006	633
2007	693
2008	981
2009	650
2010	1,565
2011	970
2012	1,318
2013	1,562
2014	553
2015	466
2016	505
2017	458
2018	1,004
2019	562
2020	506
2021	491
2022	570
2023	846
2024	627
2025	475
2026	879

Download the Data

Data for records on 1972-05-03: 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 50	323
50 to 100	4
100 to 150	0
150 to 200	0
200 to 250	0
250 to 300	1