Weather Records on 21 May 1973

493 weather records were set or tied worldwide on 21 May 1973. Highest significance: Putten (Gld), NL.

Key Facts for 21 May 1973

On 21 May 1973, 493 weather records were set or tied at long-record stations worldwide.
82 were record highs and 166 were record lows, counting maximum and minimum temperature.
By timescale, 0 were all-time records, 8 monthly and 485 daily.
Putten (Gld) set a monthly record daily precipitation of 43.8 mm (1.7 in) on 21 May 1973.
Across 156 earlier years (1793 to 2026) the same calendar date averaged 460 records.

Record Map

493 stations

493 station records on 21 May 1973 are marked on the map, coloured by record type. Dot size shows the significance score. Made with Natural Earth.

Weather records on 21 May 1973: highest significance records shown on the map
Station	Country	Type	Value	Significance
Putten (Gld)	Netherlands	Record daily precipitation	43.8 mm (1.7 in)	70 of 100 (Major)
Eastport	United States	Record daily precipitation	44.7 mm (1.8 in)	61 of 100 (Major)
Fayette	United States	Record daily precipitation	72.1 mm (2.8 in)	60 of 100 (Major)
McAdam	Canada	Record daily precipitation	49.8 mm (2.0 in)	58 of 100 (Notable)
Grafton	United States	Record daily precipitation	46.7 mm (1.8 in)	57 of 100 (Notable)
Fredericton Cda	Canada	Record daily precipitation	56.6 mm (2.2 in)	52 of 100 (Notable)
Middletown 4 W	United States	Record daily precipitation	55.6 mm (2.2 in)	52 of 100 (Notable)
Nizhny-Chir	Russia	Record daily precipitation	33.8 mm (1.3 in)	51 of 100 (Notable)
Morris	Canada	Record daily precipitation	35.6 mm (1.4 in)	50 of 100 (Notable)
Port Daniel	Canada	Record daily precipitation	61.2 mm (2.4 in)	48 of 100 (Notable)
Westbrook	United States	Record daily precipitation	63.2 mm (2.5 in)	48 of 100 (Notable)
Houlton	United States	Record daily precipitation	30.5 mm (1.2 in)	48 of 100 (Notable)
De Bilt	Netherlands	Record daily precipitation	34.5 mm (1.4 in)	46 of 100 (Notable)
Nepisiguit Falls	Canada	Record daily precipitation	53.3 mm (2.1 in)	45 of 100 (Notable)
Doaktown	Canada	Record daily precipitation	48.3 mm (1.9 in)	42 of 100 (Notable)
Zegveld	Netherlands	Record daily precipitation	27.4 mm (1.1 in)	42 of 100 (Notable)
Newport	United States	Record daily precipitation	41.9 mm (1.6 in)	42 of 100 (Notable)
Gaspe	Canada	Record daily precipitation	39.9 mm (1.6 in)	41 of 100 (Notable)
Bassum (A)	Germany	Record daily precipitation	35.8 mm (1.4 in)	41 of 100 (Notable)
Fleming	United States	Record daily precipitation	48.8 mm (1.9 in)	41 of 100 (Notable)
Machias	United States	Record daily precipitation	47.2 mm (1.9 in)	41 of 100 (Notable)
Liverpool Big Falls	Canada	Record daily precipitation	55.9 mm (2.2 in)	40 of 100 (Notable)
Lake Konomoc	United States	Record daily precipitation	65.5 mm (2.6 in)	39 of 100 (Notable)
Northfield	United States	Record daily precipitation	27.9 mm (1.1 in)	39 of 100 (Notable)
Benedito Novo	Brazil	Record daily precipitation	63.0 mm (2.5 in)	38 of 100 (Notable)
Amontada	Brazil	Record daily precipitation	58.8 mm (2.3 in)	37 of 100 (Notable)
Brome	Canada	Record daily precipitation	33.0 mm (1.3 in)	37 of 100 (Notable)
Aroostook	Canada	Record daily precipitation	30.7 mm (1.2 in)	36 of 100 (Notable)
Plauen	Germany	Record daily precipitation	27.3 mm (1.1 in)	36 of 100 (Notable)
Gagetown 2	Canada	Record daily precipitation	34.5 mm (1.4 in)	35 of 100 (Notable)
St George	Canada	Record daily precipitation	46.0 mm (1.8 in)	35 of 100 (Notable)
Lichtentanne	Germany	Record daily precipitation	26.9 mm (1.1 in)	35 of 100 (Notable)
Greenville Muni AP	United States	Record daily precipitation	35.3 mm (1.4 in)	35 of 100 (Notable)
Healdton 3 E	United States	Record high maximum temperature	36.7 C (98.1 F)	35 of 100 (Notable)
Newfane	United States	Record daily precipitation	38.9 mm (1.5 in)	35 of 100 (Notable)
Emerson	Canada	Record daily precipitation	64.5 mm (2.5 in)	34 of 100 (Routine)
Tbilisi	Georgia	Record low minimum temperature	6.0 C (42.8 F)	34 of 100 (Routine)
Miramichi A	Canada	Record daily precipitation	45.7 mm (1.8 in)	33 of 100 (Routine)
St Andrews	Canada	Record daily precipitation	45.5 mm (1.8 in)	33 of 100 (Routine)
Konstantinovsk	Russia	Record daily precipitation	27.1 mm (1.1 in)	33 of 100 (Routine)
Hardwick	United States	Record daily precipitation	41.9 mm (1.6 in)	33 of 100 (Routine)
Rosalia	United States	Record low minimum temperature	-1.1 C (30.0 F)	33 of 100 (Routine)
Petersham 3 N	United States	Record daily precipitation	45.2 mm (1.8 in)	32 of 100 (Routine)
South Danbury	United States	Record daily precipitation	48.5 mm (1.9 in)	32 of 100 (Routine)
Grand Forks Intl AP	United States	Record daily precipitation	30.0 mm (1.2 in)	32 of 100 (Routine)
Musquash	Canada	Record daily precipitation	39.4 mm (1.6 in)	31 of 100 (Routine)
Springfield	Canada	Record daily precipitation	58.4 mm (2.3 in)	31 of 100 (Routine)
Belfast	United States	Record daily precipitation	43.2 mm (1.7 in)	31 of 100 (Routine)
Peru	United States	Record daily precipitation	41.1 mm (1.6 in)	31 of 100 (Routine)
S. Joaquim	Brazil	Record daily precipitation	74.2 mm (2.9 in)	30 of 100 (Routine)
Salmon Hole	Canada	Record daily precipitation	33.8 mm (1.3 in)	30 of 100 (Routine)
Colchester 2 W	United States	Record daily precipitation	43.4 mm (1.7 in)	30 of 100 (Routine)
Lewiston	United States	Record daily precipitation	39.9 mm (1.6 in)	30 of 100 (Routine)
South Londonderry	United States	Record daily precipitation	42.2 mm (1.7 in)	30 of 100 (Routine)
Bjelasnica	Bosnia and Herzegovina	Record high maximum temperature	14.4 C (57.9 F)	29 of 100 (Routine)
Graysville	Canada	Record daily precipitation	28.2 mm (1.1 in)	29 of 100 (Routine)
Morden Cda	Canada	Record daily precipitation	28.4 mm (1.1 in)	29 of 100 (Routine)
Grangeville	United States	Record low minimum temperature	-2.2 C (28.0 F)	29 of 100 (Routine)
Fitchburg 4 SE	United States	Record daily precipitation	36.1 mm (1.4 in)	29 of 100 (Routine)
Old Forge	United States	Record low maximum temperature	10.0 C (50.0 F)	29 of 100 (Routine)

Counts by Type and Timescale

493 records

Records set or tied on 21 May 1973 by type: Highest daily maximum 52, Lowest daily maximum 48, Highest daily minimum 30, Lowest daily minimum 118, Heaviest daily rainfall 244, Heaviest daily snowfall 1.

Records on 21 May 1973 by type
Record type	Records
Highest daily maximum	52
Lowest daily maximum	48
Highest daily minimum	30
Lowest daily minimum	118
Heaviest daily rainfall	244
Heaviest daily snowfall	1
Deepest snow cover	0

Records on 21 May 1973 by timescale: all-time 0, monthly 8, daily 485.

How Much Records Were Beaten By

410 broken records

Margins by which the 410 broken records beat the old ones, in degrees Celsius for temperature and millimetres for precipitation and snow; the largest margin was 53.3. Ties are not counted.

Top 20 by Significance

21 May 1973

Top 20 records on 21 May 1973 by significance
Date	Station	Record	Value	Beat old record by	Old record stood	Significance
21 May 1973	Putten (Gld), NL	monthly rain	43.8 mm (1.7 in)	10.1 mm (0.4 in)	103 years	70 of 100 (Major)
21 May 1973	Eastport, US	daily rain	44.7 mm (1.8 in)	25.1 mm (1.0 in)	73 years	61 of 100 (Major)
21 May 1973	Fayette, US	daily rain	72.1 mm (2.8 in)	44.2 mm (1.7 in)	56 years	60 of 100 (Major)
21 May 1973	McAdam, CA	daily rain	49.8 mm (2.0 in)	42.4 mm (1.7 in)	27 years	58 of 100 (Notable)
21 May 1973	Grafton, US	daily rain	46.7 mm (1.8 in)	21.3 mm (0.8 in)	80 years	57 of 100 (Notable)
21 May 1973	Fredericton Cda, CA	daily rain	56.6 mm (2.2 in)	42.1 mm (1.7 in)	20 years	52 of 100 (Notable)
21 May 1973	Middletown 4 W, US	daily rain	55.6 mm (2.2 in)	29.7 mm (1.2 in)	54 years	52 of 100 (Notable)
21 May 1973	Nizhny-Chir, RU	daily rain	33.8 mm (1.3 in)	31.8 mm (1.3 in)	28 years	51 of 100 (Notable)
21 May 1973	Morris, CA	daily rain	35.6 mm (1.4 in)	11.2 mm (0.4 in)	85 years	50 of 100 (Notable)
21 May 1973	Port Daniel, CA	daily rain	61.2 mm (2.4 in)	53.3 mm (2.1 in)	14 years	48 of 100 (Notable)
21 May 1973	Westbrook, US	daily rain	63.2 mm (2.5 in)	39.3 mm (1.5 in)	27 years	48 of 100 (Notable)
21 May 1973	Houlton, US	daily rain	30.5 mm (1.2 in)	17.8 mm (0.7 in)	68 years	48 of 100 (Notable)
21 May 1973	De Bilt, NL	daily rain	34.5 mm (1.4 in)	15.6 mm (0.6 in)	28 years	46 of 100 (Notable)
21 May 1973	Nepisiguit Falls, CA	daily rain	53.3 mm (2.1 in)	39.3 mm (1.5 in)	2 years	45 of 100 (Notable)
21 May 1973	Doaktown, CA	daily rain	48.3 mm (1.9 in)	29.2 mm (1.1 in)	22 years	42 of 100 (Notable)
21 May 1973	Zegveld, NL	daily rain	27.4 mm (1.1 in)	13.6 mm (0.5 in)	28 years	42 of 100 (Notable)
21 May 1973	Newport, US	daily rain	41.9 mm (1.6 in)	26.4 mm (1.0 in)	16 years	42 of 100 (Notable)
21 May 1973	Gaspe, CA	daily rain	39.9 mm (1.6 in)	20.8 mm (0.8 in)	36 years	41 of 100 (Notable)
21 May 1973	Bassum (A), DE	monthly rain	35.8 mm (1.4 in)	8.3 mm (0.33 in)	34 years	41 of 100 (Notable)
21 May 1973	Fleming, US	daily rain	48.8 mm (1.9 in)	31.8 mm (1.3 in)	12 years	41 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 1973

Records set or tied on this calendar date in each year from 1793 to 1973. 1973 had 493 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 1973-05-21: 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 2026-10-13 (13 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).