Weather Records on 20 May 1972

612 weather records were set or tied worldwide on 20 May 1972. Highest significance: Muncheberg, DE.

Key Facts for 20 May 1972

On 20 May 1972, 612 weather records were set or tied at long-record stations worldwide.
243 were record highs and 174 were record lows, counting maximum and minimum temperature.
By timescale, 0 were all-time records, 7 monthly and 605 daily.
Muncheberg set a monthly record daily precipitation of 59.1 mm (2.3 in) on 20 May 1972.
Across 162 earlier years (1802 to 2026) the same calendar date averaged 455 records.

Record Map

612 stations

612 station records on 20 May 1972 are marked on the map, coloured by record type. Dot size shows the significance score. Made with Natural Earth.

Weather records on 20 May 1972: highest significance records shown on the map
Station	Country	Type	Value	Significance
Muncheberg	Germany	Record daily precipitation	59.1 mm (2.3 in)	72 of 100 (Major)
Teterow	Germany	Record daily precipitation	58.0 mm (2.3 in)	67 of 100 (Major)
Tranebjerg	Denmark	Record daily precipitation	29.5 mm (1.2 in)	64 of 100 (Major)
Paterson	United States	Record daily precipitation	61.2 mm (2.4 in)	62 of 100 (Major)
Altentreptow	Germany	Record daily precipitation	56.8 mm (2.2 in)	59 of 100 (Notable)
Anklam	Germany	Record daily precipitation	36.3 mm (1.4 in)	57 of 100 (Notable)
Bad Muskau	Germany	Record daily precipitation	46.2 mm (1.8 in)	55 of 100 (Notable)
Cottbus	Germany	Record daily precipitation	33.4 mm (1.3 in)	53 of 100 (Notable)
Angermunde	Germany	Record daily precipitation	42.4 mm (1.7 in)	52 of 100 (Notable)
Cimarron 4 SW	United States	Record daily precipitation	45.7 mm (1.8 in)	52 of 100 (Notable)
Itanhaem	Brazil	Record daily precipitation	154.3 mm (6.1 in)	48 of 100 (Notable)
Newark Liberty Intl AP	United States	Record daily precipitation	33.8 mm (1.3 in)	48 of 100 (Notable)
Ny City Cntrl Park	United States	Record daily precipitation	51.6 mm (2.0 in)	48 of 100 (Notable)
Waren	Germany	Record daily precipitation	39.6 mm (1.6 in)	47 of 100 (Notable)
Amidon	United States	Record daily precipitation	40.6 mm (1.6 in)	43 of 100 (Notable)
Conconully	United States	Record daily precipitation	30.2 mm (1.2 in)	43 of 100 (Notable)
Berlin-Dahlem	Germany	Record daily precipitation	41.2 mm (1.6 in)	42 of 100 (Notable)
Gorlitz	Germany	Record daily precipitation	34.7 mm (1.4 in)	42 of 100 (Notable)
Cabucu (Sabesp)	Brazil	Record daily precipitation	45.6 mm (1.8 in)	40 of 100 (Notable)
Long Prairie	United States	Record high minimum temperature	18.3 C (64.9 F)	39 of 100 (Notable)
Salekhard	Russia	Record low minimum temperature	-18.4 C (-1.1 F)	38 of 100 (Notable)
New Bedford Coop	United States	Record daily precipitation	30.2 mm (1.2 in)	38 of 100 (Notable)
Danner	United States	Record daily precipitation	26.7 mm (1.1 in)	38 of 100 (Notable)
Ellensburg	United States	Record high minimum temperature	15.6 C (60.1 F)	37 of 100 (Notable)
Huron Rgnl AP	United States	Record high minimum temperature	17.8 C (64.0 F)	37 of 100 (Notable)
Durham	Canada	Record high maximum temperature	30.0 C (86.0 F)	36 of 100 (Notable)
Troicko-Pecherskoe	Russia	Record low minimum temperature	-9.6 C (14.7 F)	36 of 100 (Notable)
Chester	United States	Record daily precipitation	25.1 mm (1.0 in)	36 of 100 (Notable)
Gaylord	United States	Record high maximum temperature	30.0 C (86.0 F)	35 of 100 (Notable)
Jersey City	United States	Record daily precipitation	42.9 mm (1.7 in)	35 of 100 (Notable)
Sitka Magnetic Obsy	United States	Record daily precipitation	48.3 mm (1.9 in)	35 of 100 (Notable)
Lindenberg	Germany	Record daily precipitation	47.3 mm (1.9 in)	34 of 100 (Routine)
Gaudan-In-Turkmen	Turkmenistan	Record daily precipitation	46.4 mm (1.8 in)	34 of 100 (Routine)
Glenn Dale Bell STN	United States	Record daily precipitation	42.9 mm (1.7 in)	34 of 100 (Routine)
Austin #2	United States	Record daily snowfall	5.6 cm (2.2 in)	34 of 100 (Routine)
Kapan	Armenia	Record daily precipitation	41.5 mm (1.6 in)	33 of 100 (Routine)
Conselheiro Paulino	Brazil	Record daily precipitation	25.2 mm (1.0 in)	33 of 100 (Routine)
Lannas	Sweden	Record daily precipitation	25.7 mm (1.0 in)	33 of 100 (Routine)
Gaston Shoals	United States	Record daily precipitation	36.8 mm (1.4 in)	33 of 100 (Routine)
Chilton	United States	Record high maximum temperature	31.7 C (89.1 F)	32 of 100 (Routine)
Kiev	Ukraine	Record high minimum temperature	17.9 C (64.2 F)	31 of 100 (Routine)
Ellendale	United States	Record high minimum temperature	15.6 C (60.1 F)	31 of 100 (Routine)
Cape Leeuwin	Australia	Record high maximum temperature	25.0 C (77.0 F)	30 of 100 (Routine)
Bowman Dam	United States	Record low maximum temperature	2.8 C (37.0 F)	30 of 100 (Routine)
Paso Robles	United States	Record low minimum temperature	-0.6 C (30.9 F)	30 of 100 (Routine)
Long Prairie	United States	Record high maximum temperature	31.7 C (89.1 F)	30 of 100 (Routine)
Morris W Cntrl Rsch & Outreach	United States	Record high minimum temperature	17.2 C (63.0 F)	30 of 100 (Routine)
Titusville	United States	Record daily precipitation	54.6 mm (2.1 in)	29 of 100 (Routine)
Grayling	United States	Record high maximum temperature	30.6 C (87.1 F)	29 of 100 (Routine)
Bemidji	United States	Record high minimum temperature	13.9 C (57.0 F)	29 of 100 (Routine)
Collegeville St John's	United States	Record high minimum temperature	17.8 C (64.0 F)	29 of 100 (Routine)
Port Washington	United States	Record high maximum temperature	31.7 C (89.1 F)	29 of 100 (Routine)
Bundaberg Post Office	Australia	Record low maximum temperature	18.7 C (65.7 F)	28 of 100 (Routine)
Clarke City	Canada	Record high maximum temperature	26.7 C (80.1 F)	28 of 100 (Routine)
Potsdam	Germany	Record daily precipitation	36.6 mm (1.4 in)	28 of 100 (Routine)
Red Lake Indian Agcy	United States	Record high minimum temperature	14.4 C (57.9 F)	28 of 100 (Routine)
Hood Rvr Exp STN	United States	Record high minimum temperature	15.0 C (59.0 F)	28 of 100 (Routine)
Ely AP	United States	Record low maximum temperature	5.6 C (42.1 F)	28 of 100 (Routine)
Valdez WSO	United States	Record daily precipitation	27.7 mm (1.1 in)	28 of 100 (Routine)
Perth Regional Office	Australia	Record high maximum temperature	27.2 C (81.0 F)	27 of 100 (Routine)

Counts by Type and Timescale

612 records

Records set or tied on 20 May 1972 by type: Highest daily maximum 121, Lowest daily maximum 113, Highest daily minimum 122, Lowest daily minimum 61, Heaviest daily rainfall 184, Heaviest daily snowfall 7, Deepest snow cover 4.

Records on 20 May 1972 by type
Record type	Records
Highest daily maximum	121
Lowest daily maximum	113
Highest daily minimum	122
Lowest daily minimum	61
Heaviest daily rainfall	184
Heaviest daily snowfall	7
Deepest snow cover	4

Records on 20 May 1972 by timescale: all-time 0, monthly 7, daily 605.

How Much Records Were Beaten By

487 broken records

Margins by which the 487 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 May 1972

Top 20 records on 20 May 1972 by significance
Date	Station	Record	Value	Beat old record by	Old record stood	Significance
20 May 1972	Muncheberg, DE	monthly rain	59.1 mm (2.3 in)	17.1 mm (0.7 in)	82 years	72 of 100 (Major)
20 May 1972	Teterow, DE	daily rain	58.0 mm (2.3 in)	50.4 mm (2.0 in)	65 years	67 of 100 (Major)
20 May 1972	Tranebjerg, DK	daily rain	29.5 mm (1.2 in)	14.9 mm (0.6 in)	75 years	64 of 100 (Major)
20 May 1972	Paterson, US	daily rain	61.2 mm (2.4 in)	27.9 mm (1.1 in)	103 years	62 of 100 (Major)
20 May 1972	Altentreptow, DE	monthly rain	56.8 mm (2.2 in)	16.3 mm (0.6 in)	42 years	59 of 100 (Notable)
20 May 1972	Anklam, DE	daily rain	36.3 mm (1.4 in)	21.0 mm (0.8 in)	44 years	57 of 100 (Notable)
20 May 1972	Bad Muskau, DE	daily rain	46.2 mm (1.8 in)	16.7 mm (0.7 in)	66 years	55 of 100 (Notable)
20 May 1972	Cottbus, DE	daily rain	33.4 mm (1.3 in)	19.8 mm (0.8 in)	31 years	53 of 100 (Notable)
20 May 1972	Angermunde, DE	daily rain	42.4 mm (1.7 in)	18.9 mm (0.7 in)	44 years	52 of 100 (Notable)
20 May 1972	Cimarron 4 SW, US	daily rain	45.7 mm (1.8 in)	23.1 mm (0.9 in)	68 years	52 of 100 (Notable)
20 May 1972	Itanhaem, BR	daily rain	154.3 mm (6.1 in)	72.3 mm (2.8 in)	25 years	48 of 100 (Notable)
20 May 1972	Newark Liberty Intl AP, US	daily rain	33.8 mm (1.3 in)	10.7 mm (0.4 in)	112 years	48 of 100 (Notable)
20 May 1972	Ny City Cntrl Park, US	daily rain	51.6 mm (2.0 in)	20.9 mm (0.8 in)	64 years	48 of 100 (Notable)
20 May 1972	Waren, DE	daily rain	39.6 mm (1.6 in)	12.7 mm (0.5 in)	52 years	47 of 100 (Notable)
20 May 1972	Amidon, US	daily rain	40.6 mm (1.6 in)	22.8 mm (0.9 in)	34 years	43 of 100 (Notable)
20 May 1972	Conconully, US	daily rain	30.2 mm (1.2 in)	11.1 mm (0.4 in)	60 years	43 of 100 (Notable)
20 May 1972	Berlin-Dahlem, DE	daily rain	41.2 mm (1.6 in)	18.5 mm (0.7 in)	1 year	42 of 100 (Notable)
20 May 1972	Gorlitz, DE	daily rain	34.7 mm (1.4 in)	6.0 mm (0.24 in)	83 years	42 of 100 (Notable)
20 May 1972	Cabucu (Sabesp), BR	daily rain	45.6 mm (1.8 in)	33.6 mm (1.3 in)	18 years	40 of 100 (Notable)
20 May 1972	Long Prairie, US	daily high min	18.3 C (64.9 F)	5.5 C (9.9 F)	70 years	39 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

1802 to 1972

Records set or tied on this calendar date in each year from 1802 to 1972. 1972 had 612 records.

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

Records on 05-20 in each year
Year	Records
1802	1
1803	1
1804	1
1815	1
1825	1
1837	1
1844	1
1845	3
1847	1
1854	1
1858	3
1861	1
1862	1
1865	1
1867	1
1868	2
1870	3
1871	2
1876	2
1877	3
1879	1
1880	2
1884	2
1885	1
1887	2
1889	3
1890	3
1891	5
1892	3
1893	1
1894	6
1895	3
1896	3
1897	3
1898	4
1899	4
1900	1
1901	5
1902	11
1903	19
1904	4
1905	4
1906	22
1907	35
1908	23
1909	10
1910	20
1911	82
1912	20
1913	10
1914	16
1915	42
1916	29
1917	46
1918	92
1919	56
1920	44
1921	234
1922	40
1923	125
1924	189
1925	251
1926	128
1927	118
1928	138
1929	323
1930	129
1931	451
1932	689
1933	449
1934	582
1935	259
1936	207
1937	270
1938	331
1939	266
1940	337
1941	378
1942	337
1943	802
1944	315
1945	498
1946	339
1947	358
1948	514
1949	586
1950	327
1951	288
1952	615
1953	518
1954	822
1955	421
1956	565
1957	728
1958	378
1959	785
1960	612
1961	333
1962	773
1963	732
1964	517
1965	200
1966	416
1967	587
1968	743
1969	885
1970	310
1971	653
1972	612
1973	419
1974	893
1975	1,332
1976	837
1977	553
1978	534
1979	683
1980	751
1981	1,540
1982	554
1983	1,307
1984	867
1985	426
1986	790
1987	1,036
1988	805
1989	764
1990	722
1991	925
1992	1,200
1993	1,208
1994	778
1995	734
1996	1,749
1997	1,106
1998	1,124
1999	673
2000	991
2001	847
2002	2,299
2003	1,201
2004	746
2005	929
2006	1,006
2007	565
2008	999
2009	1,529
2010	1,011
2011	1,117
2012	604
2013	919
2014	629
2015	1,001
2016	692
2017	1,214
2018	460
2019	1,483
2020	784
2021	904
2022	1,643
2023	1,106
2024	478
2025	969
2026	696

Download the Data

Data for records on 1972-05-20: 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	486
100 to 200	0
200 to 300	0
300 to 400	0
400 to 500	1