Weather Records on 20 August 1974

565 weather records were set or tied worldwide on 20 August 1974. Highest significance: Hamilton, US.

Key Facts for 20 August 1974

On 20 August 1974, 565 weather records were set or tied at long-record stations worldwide.
145 were record highs and 225 were record lows, counting maximum and minimum temperature.
By timescale, 2 were all-time records, 26 monthly and 537 daily.
Hamilton set a monthly record daily precipitation of 44.2 mm (1.7 in) on 20 August 1974.
Across 163 earlier years (1797 to 2026) the same calendar date averaged 454 records.

Record Map

565 stations

565 station records on 20 August 1974 are marked on the map, coloured by record type. Dot size shows the significance score. Made with Natural Earth.

Weather records on 20 August 1974: highest significance records shown on the map
Station	Country	Type	Value	Significance
Hamilton	United States	Record daily precipitation	44.2 mm (1.7 in)	66 of 100 (Major)
Elsenburg	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	50.0 mm (2.0 in)	65 of 100 (Major)
Malmesbury	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	42.0 mm (1.7 in)	55 of 100 (Notable)
Indore	India	Record daily precipitation	160.0 mm (6.3 in)	54 of 100 (Notable)
Darby	United States	Record daily precipitation	44.5 mm (1.8 in)	52 of 100 (Notable)
Baudette	United States	Record daily precipitation	69.1 mm (2.7 in)	51 of 100 (Notable)
Muncheberg	Germany	Record daily precipitation	28.9 mm (1.1 in)	50 of 100 (Notable)
Martinsdale 3 NNW	United States	Record daily precipitation	38.4 mm (1.5 in)	50 of 100 (Notable)
Helena 6 N	United States	Record daily precipitation	39.6 mm (1.6 in)	49 of 100 (Notable)
Slangfontein	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	64.0 mm (2.5 in)	48 of 100 (Notable)
The Towers	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	49.0 mm (1.9 in)	47 of 100 (Notable)
Rainier Paradise Rs	United States	Record snow depth	35.6 cm (14.0 in)	47 of 100 (Notable)
Elliston	United States	Record daily precipitation	40.4 mm (1.6 in)	46 of 100 (Notable)
Ft Logan 4 ESE	United States	Record daily precipitation	43.4 mm (1.7 in)	46 of 100 (Notable)
Edgeley 3WNW	United States	Record daily precipitation	50.0 mm (2.0 in)	46 of 100 (Notable)
Lagarto	Brazil	Record daily precipitation	45.0 mm (1.8 in)	45 of 100 (Notable)
White Sulphur Springs	United States	Record daily precipitation	46.7 mm (1.8 in)	45 of 100 (Notable)
Great Falls AP	United States	Record daily precipitation	40.1 mm (1.6 in)	45 of 100 (Notable)
Wittenberg	Germany	Record daily precipitation	26.5 mm (1.0 in)	44 of 100 (Notable)
Conde	Brazil	Record daily precipitation	70.5 mm (2.8 in)	43 of 100 (Notable)
Williston Sloulin Fld	United States	Record daily precipitation	29.2 mm (1.1 in)	43 of 100 (Notable)
Vrugbaar	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	60.0 mm (2.4 in)	42 of 100 (Notable)
Vondelingsfontein	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	42.5 mm (1.7 in)	42 of 100 (Notable)
Puts	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	40.0 mm (1.6 in)	41 of 100 (Notable)
Welbedacht	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	29.0 mm (1.1 in)	40 of 100 (Notable)
Nieuwoudville (Pol)	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	37.5 mm (1.5 in)	40 of 100 (Notable)
Hebron	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	28.0 mm (1.1 in)	40 of 100 (Notable)
Murcia/Alcantarilla	Spain	Record daily precipitation	25.8 mm (1.0 in)	40 of 100 (Notable)
Waskada	Canada	Record daily precipitation	38.6 mm (1.5 in)	38 of 100 (Notable)
Elk City 1NE	United States	Record daily precipitation	27.9 mm (1.1 in)	38 of 100 (Notable)
Huntley Exp STN	United States	Record daily precipitation	39.1 mm (1.5 in)	38 of 100 (Notable)
Hannah 2 N	United States	Record daily precipitation	37.6 mm (1.5 in)	38 of 100 (Notable)
Cottbus	Germany	Record daily precipitation	27.6 mm (1.1 in)	37 of 100 (Notable)
Eersterivier (Bos)	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	46.5 mm (1.8 in)	37 of 100 (Notable)
Bastrop	United States	Record daily precipitation	28.4 mm (1.1 in)	37 of 100 (Notable)
Faulkton	United States	Record high minimum temperature	23.9 C (75.0 F)	37 of 100 (Notable)
St George	Canada	Record high minimum temperature	21.7 C (71.1 F)	36 of 100 (Notable)
Bogorodskoe	Russia	Record daily precipitation	28.0 mm (1.1 in)	36 of 100 (Notable)
Langgewens (Wrs)	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	31.5 mm (1.2 in)	36 of 100 (Notable)
Jessieville	United States	Record daily precipitation	67.3 mm (2.6 in)	36 of 100 (Notable)
Sun Rvr 4 S	United States	Record daily precipitation	25.9 mm (1.0 in)	36 of 100 (Notable)
Winner	United States	Record high minimum temperature	25.6 C (78.1 F)	36 of 100 (Notable)
Wien	Austria	Record high minimum temperature	20.2 C (68.4 F)	35 of 100 (Notable)
Alliance	Canada	Record low minimum temperature	-1.1 C (30.0 F)	35 of 100 (Notable)
Leipzig-Holzhausen	Germany	Record low maximum temperature	14.6 C (58.3 F)	35 of 100 (Notable)
Warroad	United States	Record daily precipitation	56.4 mm (2.2 in)	35 of 100 (Notable)
Lokenburg	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	25.0 mm (1.0 in)	34 of 100 (Routine)
Brisbane Regional Office	Australia	Record high maximum temperature	28.2 C (82.8 F)	33 of 100 (Routine)
Sprague	Canada	Record daily precipitation	39.4 mm (1.6 in)	33 of 100 (Routine)
Durbanville (Pol)	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	44.0 mm (1.7 in)	33 of 100 (Routine)
Tortosa - Observatorio del Ebr	Spain	Record daily precipitation	32.4 mm (1.3 in)	33 of 100 (Routine)
Concrete Ppl Fish STN	United States	Record low maximum temperature	14.4 C (57.9 F)	33 of 100 (Routine)
Helena AP ASOS	United States	Record daily precipitation	29.2 mm (1.1 in)	33 of 100 (Routine)
Plauen	Germany	Record low maximum temperature	12.9 C (55.2 F)	32 of 100 (Routine)
Gravelly	United States	Record daily precipitation	50.8 mm (2.0 in)	32 of 100 (Routine)
Gothenburg	United States	Record high minimum temperature	23.3 C (73.9 F)	32 of 100 (Routine)
Springer	United States	Record high minimum temperature	17.2 C (63.0 F)	32 of 100 (Routine)
Kennebec	United States	Record high minimum temperature	25.0 C (77.0 F)	32 of 100 (Routine)
Kazalinsk	Kazakhstan	Record high minimum temperature	23.1 C (73.6 F)	31 of 100 (Routine)
Petropavlovskij Majak	Russia	Record low maximum temperature	8.5 C (47.3 F)	31 of 100 (Routine)

Counts by Type and Timescale

565 records

Records set or tied on 20 August 1974 by type: Highest daily maximum 55, Lowest daily maximum 137, Highest daily minimum 90, Lowest daily minimum 88, Heaviest daily rainfall 192, Heaviest daily snowfall 2, Deepest snow cover 1.

Records on 20 August 1974 by type
Record type	Records
Highest daily maximum	55
Lowest daily maximum	137
Highest daily minimum	90
Lowest daily minimum	88
Heaviest daily rainfall	192
Heaviest daily snowfall	2
Deepest snow cover	1

Records on 20 August 1974 by timescale: all-time 2, monthly 26, daily 537.

How Much Records Were Beaten By

447 broken records

Margins by which the 447 broken records beat the old ones, in degrees Celsius for temperature and millimetres for precipitation and snow; the largest margin was 356.0. Ties are not counted.

Top 20 by Significance

20 August 1974

Top 20 records on 20 August 1974 by significance
Date	Station	Record	Value	Beat old record by	Old record stood	Significance
20 August 1974	Hamilton, US	monthly rain	44.2 mm (1.7 in)	17.3 mm (0.7 in)	26 years	66 of 100 (Major)
20 August 1974	Elsenburg, ZA	daily rain	50.0 mm (2.0 in)	33.8 mm (1.3 in)	61 years	65 of 100 (Major)
20 August 1974	Malmesbury, ZA	daily rain	42.0 mm (1.7 in)	25.5 mm (1.0 in)	41 years	55 of 100 (Notable)
20 August 1974	Indore, IN	daily rain	160.0 mm (6.3 in)	80.8 mm (3.2 in)	29 years	54 of 100 (Notable)
20 August 1974	Darby, US	monthly rain	44.5 mm (1.8 in)	8.9 mm (0.35 in)	47 years	52 of 100 (Notable)
20 August 1974	Baudette, US	daily rain	69.1 mm (2.7 in)	38.6 mm (1.5 in)	39 years	51 of 100 (Notable)
20 August 1974	Muncheberg, DE	daily rain	28.9 mm (1.1 in)	11.4 mm (0.4 in)	83 years	50 of 100 (Notable)
20 August 1974	Martinsdale 3 NNW, US	daily rain	38.4 mm (1.5 in)	27.0 mm (1.1 in)	8 years	50 of 100 (Notable)
20 August 1974	Helena 6 N, US	daily rain	39.6 mm (1.6 in)	26.4 mm (1.0 in)	15 years	49 of 100 (Notable)
20 August 1974	Slangfontein, ZA	monthly rain	64.0 mm (2.5 in)	23.4 mm (0.9 in)	44 years	48 of 100 (Notable)
20 August 1974	The Towers, ZA	daily rain	49.0 mm (1.9 in)	20.6 mm (0.8 in)	41 years	47 of 100 (Notable)
20 August 1974	Rainier Paradise Rs, US	daily snow depth	35.6 cm (14.0 in)	35.6 cm (14.0 in)	25 years	47 of 100 (Notable)
20 August 1974	Elliston, US	monthly rain	40.4 mm (1.6 in)	13.0 mm (0.5 in)	15 years	46 of 100 (Notable)
20 August 1974	Ft Logan 4 ESE, US	monthly rain	43.4 mm (1.7 in)	14.7 mm (0.6 in)	11 years	46 of 100 (Notable)
20 August 1974	Edgeley 3WNW, US	daily rain	50.0 mm (2.0 in)	25.9 mm (1.0 in)	56 years	46 of 100 (Notable)
20 August 1974	Lagarto, BR	daily rain	45.0 mm (1.8 in)	25.0 mm (1.0 in)	0 years	45 of 100 (Notable)
20 August 1974	White Sulphur Springs, US	monthly rain	46.7 mm (1.8 in)	8.6 mm (0.34 in)	40 years	45 of 100 (Notable)
20 August 1974	Great Falls AP, US	daily rain	40.1 mm (1.6 in)	28.9 mm (1.1 in)	8 years	45 of 100 (Notable)
20 August 1974	Wittenberg, DE	daily rain	26.5 mm (1.0 in)	12.4 mm (0.5 in)	59 years	44 of 100 (Notable)
20 August 1974	Conde, BR	daily rain	70.5 mm (2.8 in)	47.5 mm (1.9 in)	0 years	43 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 1974

Records set or tied on this calendar date in each year from 1797 to 1974. 1974 had 565 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 1974-08-20: 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 50	445
50 to 100	1
100 to 150	0
150 to 200	0
200 to 250	0
250 to 300	0
300 to 350	0
350 to 400	1