Weather Records on 16 May 1974

1,207 weather records were set or tied worldwide on 16 May 1974. Highest significance: Bulwer (Tnk), ZA.

Key Facts for 16 May 1974

On 16 May 1974, 1,207 weather records were set or tied at long-record stations worldwide.
410 were record highs and 393 were record lows, counting maximum and minimum temperature.
By timescale, 3 were all-time records, 70 monthly and 1,134 daily.
Bulwer (Tnk) set an all-time record daily precipitation of 144.0 mm (5.7 in) on 16 May 1974.
Across 165 earlier years (1802 to 2026) the same calendar date averaged 434 records.

Record Map

1,207 stations

1,207 station records on 16 May 1974 are marked on the map, coloured by record type. Dot size shows the significance score. Made with Natural Earth.

Weather records on 16 May 1974: highest significance records shown on the map
Station	Country	Type	Value	Significance
Bulwer (Tnk)	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	144.0 mm (5.7 in)	74 of 100 (Major)
Hotham Heights	Australia	Record daily precipitation	271.1 mm (10.7 in)	73 of 100 (Major)
Russell	Canada	Record daily snowfall	8.6 cm (3.4 in)	72 of 100 (Major)
Officer (Jesmond Dene)	Australia	Record daily precipitation	80.6 mm (3.2 in)	71 of 100 (Major)
Deal Island	Australia	Record daily precipitation	116.0 mm (4.6 in)	65 of 100 (Major)
Coranderrk Badger Weir	Australia	Record daily precipitation	84.4 mm (3.3 in)	64 of 100 (Major)
Agnes River	Australia	Record daily precipitation	66.2 mm (2.6 in)	63 of 100 (Major)
Yan Yean	Australia	Record daily precipitation	50.4 mm (2.0 in)	61 of 100 (Major)
Scotsburn (Mount Boninyong)	Australia	Record daily precipitation	42.0 mm (1.7 in)	61 of 100 (Major)
Sydenham	Australia	Record daily precipitation	57.4 mm (2.3 in)	60 of 100 (Major)
Little River (Mount Rothwell)	Australia	Record daily precipitation	31.6 mm (1.2 in)	59 of 100 (Notable)
Toorourrong Reservoir (Toorour	Australia	Record daily precipitation	73.6 mm (2.9 in)	56 of 100 (Notable)
Boronia 1	Australia	Record daily precipitation	60.2 mm (2.4 in)	54 of 100 (Notable)
Box Hill Aged Mens Retreat	Australia	Record daily precipitation	45.2 mm (1.8 in)	54 of 100 (Notable)
Kallista Forestry	Australia	Record daily precipitation	77.8 mm (3.1 in)	54 of 100 (Notable)
Durdidwarrah	Australia	Record daily precipitation	43.4 mm (1.7 in)	54 of 100 (Notable)
Clarksdale	United States	Record daily precipitation	106.7 mm (4.2 in)	54 of 100 (Notable)
Inverloch	Australia	Record daily precipitation	55.0 mm (2.2 in)	53 of 100 (Notable)
Aberdeen	United States	Record daily precipitation	77.0 mm (3.0 in)	53 of 100 (Notable)
Hartford Wwtp	United States	Record daily precipitation	55.4 mm (2.2 in)	52 of 100 (Notable)
Keilor (Arundel)	Australia	Record daily precipitation	52.0 mm (2.0 in)	51 of 100 (Notable)
Maquoketa	United States	Record daily precipitation	53.3 mm (2.1 in)	51 of 100 (Notable)
Marshalltown	United States	Record daily precipitation	66.8 mm (2.6 in)	51 of 100 (Notable)
Van Vleet	United States	Record daily precipitation	104.6 mm (4.1 in)	51 of 100 (Notable)
Wonthaggi	Australia	Record daily precipitation	67.6 mm (2.7 in)	50 of 100 (Notable)
Morrisons (Ballark)	Australia	Record daily precipitation	37.4 mm (1.5 in)	50 of 100 (Notable)
Batesville	United States	Record daily precipitation	110.0 mm (4.3 in)	50 of 100 (Notable)
Fish Creek (Hoddle Range)	Australia	Record daily precipitation	87.0 mm (3.4 in)	49 of 100 (Notable)
San Remo	Australia	Record daily precipitation	71.4 mm (2.8 in)	49 of 100 (Notable)
Sunbury (Salesian College )	Australia	Record daily precipitation	54.8 mm (2.2 in)	49 of 100 (Notable)
Caulfield (Racecourse)	Australia	Record daily precipitation	56.0 mm (2.2 in)	48 of 100 (Notable)
Brighton (Dendy Park Bowling C	Australia	Record daily precipitation	42.2 mm (1.7 in)	48 of 100 (Notable)
Narre Warren North (Narre Warr	Australia	Record daily precipitation	70.0 mm (2.8 in)	48 of 100 (Notable)
Ringwood	Australia	Record daily precipitation	55.0 mm (2.2 in)	48 of 100 (Notable)
Elaine (Larundel)	Australia	Record daily precipitation	35.8 mm (1.4 in)	48 of 100 (Notable)
Grangeville	United States	Record low minimum temperature	-6.1 C (21.0 F)	48 of 100 (Notable)
Vinton	United States	Record daily precipitation	43.2 mm (1.7 in)	48 of 100 (Notable)
Lambert 1W	United States	Record daily precipitation	105.4 mm (4.1 in)	48 of 100 (Notable)
Kemoo Camp 8 855	United States	Record daily precipitation	59.9 mm (2.4 in)	48 of 100 (Notable)
Jung	Australia	Record daily precipitation	50.4 mm (2.0 in)	47 of 100 (Notable)
Alberton Post Office	Australia	Record daily precipitation	50.3 mm (2.0 in)	47 of 100 (Notable)
Toora	Australia	Record daily precipitation	67.0 mm (2.6 in)	47 of 100 (Notable)
Outtrim	Australia	Record daily precipitation	55.1 mm (2.2 in)	47 of 100 (Notable)
Laverton Salines	Australia	Record daily precipitation	38.4 mm (1.5 in)	47 of 100 (Notable)
Mount Macedon (Burncranna)	Australia	Record daily precipitation	52.6 mm (2.1 in)	47 of 100 (Notable)
Maribyrnong Explosives Factory	Australia	Record daily precipitation	46.4 mm (1.8 in)	47 of 100 (Notable)
Toledo 3N	United States	Record daily precipitation	49.8 mm (2.0 in)	47 of 100 (Notable)
Virginia City	United States	Record low minimum temperature	-9.4 C (15.1 F)	47 of 100 (Notable)
Madalya	Australia	Record daily precipitation	51.2 mm (2.0 in)	46 of 100 (Notable)
Croydon (Samuel Street)	Australia	Record daily precipitation	46.0 mm (1.8 in)	46 of 100 (Notable)
Beaconsfield 2	Australia	Record daily precipitation	71.0 mm (2.8 in)	46 of 100 (Notable)
Essendon Airport	Australia	Record daily precipitation	34.8 mm (1.4 in)	46 of 100 (Notable)
Ballan	Australia	Record daily precipitation	46.4 mm (1.8 in)	46 of 100 (Notable)
Laverton Raaf	Australia	Record daily precipitation	35.0 mm (1.4 in)	46 of 100 (Notable)
Torquay	Australia	Record daily precipitation	30.6 mm (1.2 in)	46 of 100 (Notable)
Canowindra (Canowindra Street)	Australia	Record daily precipitation	31.1 mm (1.2 in)	45 of 100 (Notable)
Merrigum	Australia	Record daily precipitation	39.4 mm (1.6 in)	45 of 100 (Notable)
Leongatha Sth Gippsland Water	Australia	Record daily precipitation	48.8 mm (1.9 in)	45 of 100 (Notable)
Mount Best (Upper Toora)	Australia	Record daily precipitation	86.7 mm (3.4 in)	45 of 100 (Notable)
Mickleham	Australia	Record daily precipitation	58.0 mm (2.3 in)	45 of 100 (Notable)

Counts by Type and Timescale

1,207 records

Records set or tied on 16 May 1974 by type: Highest daily maximum 94, Lowest daily maximum 163, Highest daily minimum 316, Lowest daily minimum 230, Heaviest daily rainfall 382, Heaviest daily snowfall 19, Deepest snow cover 3.

Records on 16 May 1974 by type
Record type	Records
Highest daily maximum	94
Lowest daily maximum	163
Highest daily minimum	316
Lowest daily minimum	230
Heaviest daily rainfall	382
Heaviest daily snowfall	19
Deepest snow cover	3

Records on 16 May 1974 by timescale: all-time 3, monthly 70, daily 1,134.

How Much Records Were Beaten By

985 broken records

Margins by which the 985 broken records beat the old ones, in degrees Celsius for temperature and millimetres for precipitation and snow; the largest margin was 381.0. Ties are not counted.

Top 20 by Significance

16 May 1974

Top 20 records on 16 May 1974 by significance
Date	Station	Record	Value	Beat old record by	Old record stood	Significance
16 May 1974	Bulwer (Tnk), ZA	all-time rain	144.0 mm (5.7 in)	46.0 mm (1.8 in)	33 years	74 of 100 (Major)
16 May 1974	Hotham Heights, AU	all-time rain	271.1 mm (10.7 in)	133.7 mm (5.3 in)	29 years	73 of 100 (Major)
16 May 1974	Russell, CA	daily snowfall	8.6 cm (3.4 in)	8.6 cm (3.4 in)	90 years	72 of 100 (Major)
16 May 1974	Officer (Jesmond Dene), AU	monthly rain	80.6 mm (3.2 in)	26.0 mm (1.0 in)	43 years	71 of 100 (Major)
16 May 1974	Deal Island, AU	monthly rain	116.0 mm (4.6 in)	61.6 mm (2.4 in)	21 years	65 of 100 (Major)
16 May 1974	Coranderrk Badger Weir, AU	daily rain	84.4 mm (3.3 in)	35.1 mm (1.4 in)	56 years	64 of 100 (Major)
16 May 1974	Agnes River, AU	daily rain	66.2 mm (2.6 in)	39.3 mm (1.5 in)	56 years	63 of 100 (Major)
16 May 1974	Yan Yean, AU	monthly rain	50.4 mm (2.0 in)	8.5 mm (0.33 in)	83 years	61 of 100 (Major)
16 May 1974	Scotsburn (Mount Boninyong), AU	daily rain	42.0 mm (1.7 in)	14.1 mm (0.6 in)	115 years	61 of 100 (Major)
16 May 1974	Sydenham, AU	monthly rain	57.4 mm (2.3 in)	25.4 mm (1.0 in)	22 years	60 of 100 (Major)
16 May 1974	Little River (Mount Rothwell), AU	daily rain	31.6 mm (1.2 in)	18.9 mm (0.7 in)	35 years	59 of 100 (Notable)
16 May 1974	Toorourrong Reservoir (Toorour, AU	monthly rain	73.6 mm (2.9 in)	25.1 mm (1.0 in)	4 years	56 of 100 (Notable)
16 May 1974	Boronia 1, AU	daily rain	60.2 mm (2.4 in)	36.1 mm (1.4 in)	35 years	54 of 100 (Notable)
16 May 1974	Box Hill Aged Mens Retreat, AU	daily rain	45.2 mm (1.8 in)	26.7 mm (1.1 in)	35 years	54 of 100 (Notable)
16 May 1974	Kallista Forestry, AU	daily rain	77.8 mm (3.1 in)	51.9 mm (2.0 in)	35 years	54 of 100 (Notable)
16 May 1974	Durdidwarrah, AU	daily rain	43.4 mm (1.7 in)	19.0 mm (0.7 in)	35 years	54 of 100 (Notable)
16 May 1974	Clarksdale, US	daily rain	106.7 mm (4.2 in)	71.6 mm (2.8 in)	20 years	54 of 100 (Notable)
16 May 1974	Inverloch, AU	daily rain	55.0 mm (2.2 in)	29.3 mm (1.2 in)	25 years	53 of 100 (Notable)
16 May 1974	Aberdeen, US	daily rain	77.0 mm (3.0 in)	44.7 mm (1.8 in)	51 years	53 of 100 (Notable)
16 May 1974	Hartford Wwtp, US	monthly rain	55.4 mm (2.2 in)	10.7 mm (0.4 in)	75 years	52 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 1974

Records set or tied on this calendar date in each year from 1802 to 1974. 1974 had 1,207 records.

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

Records on 05-16 in each year
Year	Records
1802	1
1806	1
1820	1
1825	1
1832	1
1837	1
1847	1
1856	1
1858	1
1861	1
1862	1
1863	1
1864	1
1866	1
1867	2
1871	1
1874	3
1878	1
1879	1
1880	1
1881	1
1882	1
1883	1
1884	1
1885	1
1886	1
1887	2
1888	2
1889	2
1890	1
1891	4
1892	3
1893	1
1894	2
1895	6
1896	2
1897	1
1898	11
1899	6
1900	7
1901	2
1902	10
1903	9
1904	17
1905	13
1906	25
1907	13
1908	6
1909	57
1910	24
1911	22
1912	13
1913	24
1914	11
1915	104
1916	38
1917	48
1918	395
1919	28
1920	69
1921	106
1922	31
1923	126
1924	152
1925	177
1926	211
1927	230
1928	121
1929	273
1930	170
1931	254
1932	441
1933	268
1934	304
1935	320
1936	520
1937	279
1938	299
1939	448
1940	334
1941	429
1942	721
1943	652
1944	531
1945	888
1946	327
1947	344
1948	281
1949	360
1950	210
1951	558
1952	773
1953	421
1954	251
1955	525
1956	697
1957	610
1958	361
1959	680
1960	370
1961	378
1962	1,295
1963	552
1964	313
1965	442
1966	420
1967	611
1968	790
1969	423
1970	520
1971	509
1972	625
1973	869
1974	1,207
1975	544
1976	518
1977	1,269
1978	808
1979	506
1980	830
1981	896
1982	427
1983	1,579
1984	981
1985	536
1986	747
1987	1,369
1988	946
1989	938
1990	1,068
1991	1,094
1992	809
1993	653
1994	705
1995	1,235
1996	1,835
1997	1,932
1998	1,500
1999	778
2000	1,129
2001	1,110
2002	694
2003	1,289
2004	869
2005	870
2006	1,345
2007	692
2008	1,034
2009	897
2010	836
2011	1,398
2012	770
2013	596
2014	1,483
2015	782
2016	793
2017	710
2018	1,013
2019	572
2020	431
2021	419
2022	717
2023	653
2024	601
2025	993
2026	558

Download the Data

Data for records on 1974-05-16: 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	975
50 to 100	7
100 to 150	1
150 to 200	1
200 to 250	0
250 to 300	0
300 to 350	0
350 to 400	1