Weather Records on 20 April 1978

800 weather records were set or tied worldwide on 20 April 1978. Highest significance: Kentani (Bos), ZA.

Key Facts for 20 April 1978

On 20 April 1978, 800 weather records were set or tied at long-record stations worldwide.
126 were record highs and 248 were record lows, counting maximum and minimum temperature.
By timescale, 4 were all-time records, 16 monthly and 780 daily.
Kentani (Bos) set a daily record precipitation of 135.0 mm (5.3 in) on 20 April 1978.
Across 159 earlier years (1807 to 2026) the same calendar date averaged 460 records.

Record Map

800 stations

800 station records on 20 April 1978 are marked on the map, coloured by record type. Dot size shows the significance score. Made with Natural Earth.

Weather records on 20 April 1978: highest significance records shown on the map
Station	Country	Type	Value	Significance
Kentani (Bos)	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	135.0 mm (5.3 in)	72 of 100 (Major)
Cwebe	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	201.5 mm (7.9 in)	68 of 100 (Major)
Engcobo (Tnk)	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	48.0 mm (1.9 in)	66 of 100 (Major)
Keilands	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	47.0 mm (1.9 in)	65 of 100 (Major)
Ntsubane (Bos)	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	368.5 mm (14.5 in)	63 of 100 (Major)
Tonti (Bos)	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	118.5 mm (4.7 in)	60 of 100 (Major)
Mbulu (Bos)	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	77.0 mm (3.0 in)	58 of 100 (Notable)
Bele (Bos)	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	79.0 mm (3.1 in)	57 of 100 (Notable)
Mkambati	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	243.0 mm (9.6 in)	57 of 100 (Notable)
Bar Harbor 3 NW	United States	Record daily precipitation	53.8 mm (2.1 in)	57 of 100 (Notable)
Belleville	Canada	Record daily precipitation	31.1 mm (1.2 in)	55 of 100 (Notable)
Ibeka (Bos)	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	138.0 mm (5.4 in)	55 of 100 (Notable)
Eastport	United States	Record daily precipitation	57.2 mm (2.3 in)	55 of 100 (Notable)
Willowvale (Tnk)	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	69.0 mm (2.7 in)	53 of 100 (Notable)
East London -Signal STN	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	45.0 mm (1.8 in)	52 of 100 (Notable)
Blaauwkop	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	85.3 mm (3.4 in)	52 of 100 (Notable)
Mount Uniacke	Canada	Record daily precipitation	54.4 mm (2.1 in)	51 of 100 (Notable)
Hopewell	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	121.2 mm (4.8 in)	51 of 100 (Notable)
Glenora	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	56.0 mm (2.2 in)	51 of 100 (Notable)
Korana "Xorana"	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	76.0 mm (3.0 in)	50 of 100 (Notable)
Mqanduli (Tnk)	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	48.0 mm (1.9 in)	50 of 100 (Notable)
Notinsila (Bos)	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	120.0 mm (4.7 in)	50 of 100 (Notable)
Brandfort (Mag)	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	53.0 mm (2.1 in)	50 of 100 (Notable)
New London	United States	Record daily snowfall	11.4 cm (4.5 in)	49 of 100 (Notable)
Alexandria (Pol)	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	35.0 mm (1.4 in)	48 of 100 (Notable)
Rabula (Bos)	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	80.0 mm (3.1 in)	48 of 100 (Notable)
Hat Creek	United States	Record daily precipitation	29.0 mm (1.1 in)	48 of 100 (Notable)
Mansfield	United States	Record daily precipitation	62.7 mm (2.5 in)	48 of 100 (Notable)
Great Brak River	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	36.0 mm (1.4 in)	47 of 100 (Notable)
Elliotdale (Tnk)	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	62.6 mm (2.5 in)	47 of 100 (Notable)
Hatchville	United States	Record daily precipitation	56.4 mm (2.2 in)	47 of 100 (Notable)
Trenton Ont Hydro	Canada	Record daily precipitation	29.4 mm (1.2 in)	46 of 100 (Notable)
Papane (Bos)	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	70.5 mm (2.8 in)	46 of 100 (Notable)
Port Hope	Canada	Record daily precipitation	25.2 mm (1.0 in)	45 of 100 (Notable)
Alapajevsk	Russia	Record daily precipitation	28.2 mm (1.1 in)	45 of 100 (Notable)
Manubie (Bos)	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	208.5 mm (8.2 in)	45 of 100 (Notable)
Edgartown	United States	Record daily precipitation	53.8 mm (2.1 in)	45 of 100 (Notable)
Baddeck	Canada	Record daily precipitation	30.2 mm (1.2 in)	44 of 100 (Notable)
Stevenson Dam	United States	Record daily precipitation	52.6 mm (2.1 in)	44 of 100 (Notable)
Salmon Hole	Canada	Record daily precipitation	38.6 mm (1.5 in)	43 of 100 (Notable)
Peddie (Mag)	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	40.0 mm (1.6 in)	43 of 100 (Notable)
Seymour (Mag)	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	30.5 mm (1.2 in)	43 of 100 (Notable)
Bushy Vales, Margate	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	345.9 mm (13.6 in)	43 of 100 (Notable)
Bizana (Bos)	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	39.5 mm (1.6 in)	42 of 100 (Notable)
Machias	United States	Record daily precipitation	48.3 mm (1.9 in)	42 of 100 (Notable)
Jua	Brazil	Record daily precipitation	68.2 mm (2.7 in)	41 of 100 (Notable)
Musquash	Canada	Record daily precipitation	53.2 mm (2.1 in)	41 of 100 (Notable)
Vishakhapatnam	India	Record daily precipitation	53.1 mm (2.1 in)	41 of 100 (Notable)
Kamyslov	Russia	Record daily precipitation	27.4 mm (1.1 in)	41 of 100 (Notable)
Mill Holme	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	44.3 mm (1.7 in)	41 of 100 (Notable)
Nqadu Heights (Bos)	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	51.0 mm (2.0 in)	41 of 100 (Notable)
Haliburton A	Canada	Record daily snowfall	17.5 cm (6.9 in)	40 of 100 (Notable)
Fort Beaufort	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	38.0 mm (1.5 in)	40 of 100 (Notable)
Morris Plains 1 W	United States	Record daily precipitation	45.2 mm (1.8 in)	40 of 100 (Notable)
Qunu (Bos)	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	40.0 mm (1.6 in)	39 of 100 (Notable)
Burney	United States	Record daily precipitation	27.9 mm (1.1 in)	39 of 100 (Notable)
Midland Water Pollution Contro	Canada	Record daily snowfall	7.6 cm (3.0 in)	38 of 100 (Notable)
Blue Hill Coop	United States	Record daily precipitation	36.6 mm (1.4 in)	38 of 100 (Notable)
Port Aux Basques	Canada	Record daily precipitation	34.4 mm (1.4 in)	37 of 100 (Notable)
Oktjabrskij-Gorodok	Russia	Record low minimum temperature	-5.5 C (22.1 F)	37 of 100 (Notable)

Counts by Type and Timescale

800 records

Records set or tied on 20 April 1978 by type: Highest daily maximum 70, Lowest daily maximum 198, Highest daily minimum 56, Lowest daily minimum 50, Heaviest daily rainfall 361, Heaviest daily snowfall 53, Deepest snow cover 12.

Records on 20 April 1978 by type
Record type	Records
Highest daily maximum	70
Lowest daily maximum	198
Highest daily minimum	56
Lowest daily minimum	50
Heaviest daily rainfall	361
Heaviest daily snowfall	53
Deepest snow cover	12

Records on 20 April 1978 by timescale: all-time 4, monthly 16, daily 780.

How Much Records Were Beaten By

668 broken records

Margins by which the 668 broken records beat the old ones, in degrees Celsius for temperature and millimetres for precipitation and snow; the largest margin was 203.0. Ties are not counted.

Top 20 by Significance

20 April 1978

Top 20 records on 20 April 1978 by significance
Date	Station	Record	Value	Beat old record by	Old record stood	Significance
20 April 1978	Kentani (Bos), ZA	daily rain	135.0 mm (5.3 in)	115.9 mm (4.6 in)	77 years	72 of 100 (Major)
20 April 1978	Cwebe, ZA	daily rain	201.5 mm (7.9 in)	148.9 mm (5.9 in)	72 years	68 of 100 (Major)
20 April 1978	Engcobo (Tnk), ZA	daily rain	48.0 mm (1.9 in)	33.5 mm (1.3 in)	76 years	66 of 100 (Major)
20 April 1978	Keilands, ZA	daily rain	47.0 mm (1.9 in)	29.2 mm (1.1 in)	76 years	65 of 100 (Major)
20 April 1978	Ntsubane (Bos), ZA	all-time rain	368.5 mm (14.5 in)	44.6 mm (1.8 in)	54 years	63 of 100 (Major)
20 April 1978	Tonti (Bos), ZA	monthly rain	118.5 mm (4.7 in)	52.0 mm (2.0 in)	14 years	60 of 100 (Major)
20 April 1978	Mbulu (Bos), ZA	daily rain	77.0 mm (3.0 in)	47.8 mm (1.9 in)	44 years	58 of 100 (Notable)
20 April 1978	Bele (Bos), ZA	daily rain	79.0 mm (3.1 in)	56.6 mm (2.2 in)	40 years	57 of 100 (Notable)
20 April 1978	Mkambati, ZA	all-time rain	243.0 mm (9.6 in)	43.1 mm (1.7 in)	29 years	57 of 100 (Notable)
20 April 1978	Bar Harbor 3 NW, US	daily rain	53.8 mm (2.1 in)	32.2 mm (1.3 in)	73 years	57 of 100 (Notable)
20 April 1978	Belleville, CA	daily rain	31.1 mm (1.2 in)	11.0 mm (0.4 in)	100 years	55 of 100 (Notable)
20 April 1978	Ibeka (Bos), ZA	monthly rain	138.0 mm (5.4 in)	41.5 mm (1.6 in)	29 years	55 of 100 (Notable)
20 April 1978	Eastport, US	daily rain	57.2 mm (2.3 in)	20.9 mm (0.8 in)	68 years	55 of 100 (Notable)
20 April 1978	Willowvale (Tnk), ZA	daily rain	69.0 mm (2.7 in)	58.0 mm (2.3 in)	21 years	53 of 100 (Notable)
20 April 1978	East London -Signal STN, ZA	daily rain	45.0 mm (1.8 in)	21.4 mm (0.8 in)	93 years	52 of 100 (Notable)
20 April 1978	Blaauwkop, ZA	daily rain	85.3 mm (3.4 in)	63.7 mm (2.5 in)	24 years	52 of 100 (Notable)
20 April 1978	Mount Uniacke, CA	daily rain	54.4 mm (2.1 in)	35.6 mm (1.4 in)	41 years	51 of 100 (Notable)
20 April 1978	Hopewell, ZA	daily rain	121.2 mm (4.8 in)	83.2 mm (3.3 in)	19 years	51 of 100 (Notable)
20 April 1978	Glenora, ZA	daily rain	56.0 mm (2.2 in)	39.0 mm (1.5 in)	20 years	51 of 100 (Notable)
20 April 1978	Korana "Xorana", ZA	daily rain	76.0 mm (3.0 in)	61.0 mm (2.4 in)	16 years	50 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

1807 to 1978

Records set or tied on this calendar date in each year from 1807 to 1978. 1978 had 800 records.

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

Records on 04-20 in each year
Year	Records
1807	3
1817	1
1838	1
1849	2
1851	1
1852	4
1854	1
1858	1
1860	1
1864	1
1865	3
1868	1
1869	1
1870	1
1872	1
1874	3
1875	4
1876	1
1878	2
1880	2
1881	2
1884	1
1885	1
1886	2
1889	1
1891	2
1892	1
1893	6
1894	8
1895	7
1896	3
1897	6
1898	1
1899	1
1901	8
1902	3
1903	14
1904	31
1905	9
1906	12
1907	18
1908	14
1909	22
1910	25
1911	18
1912	12
1913	19
1914	46
1915	45
1916	19
1917	33
1918	42
1919	17
1920	49
1921	27
1922	40
1923	157
1924	113
1925	169
1926	310
1927	442
1928	212
1929	182
1930	87
1931	255
1932	166
1933	279
1934	384
1935	384
1936	311
1937	427
1938	339
1939	158
1940	519
1941	558
1942	223
1943	670
1944	304
1945	391
1946	395
1947	308
1948	493
1949	477
1950	329
1951	690
1952	552
1953	1,071
1954	377
1955	623
1956	384
1957	730
1958	327
1959	563
1960	472
1961	1,078
1962	487
1963	595
1964	749
1965	724
1966	1,174
1967	864
1968	975
1969	382
1970	948
1971	765
1972	531
1973	982
1974	673
1975	344
1976	661
1977	693
1978	800
1979	495
1980	1,539
1981	706
1982	906
1983	1,844
1984	922
1985	1,140
1986	770
1987	1,447
1988	1,144
1989	1,187
1990	1,495
1991	1,075
1992	1,009
1993	772
1994	756
1995	1,351
1996	970
1997	833
1998	1,490
1999	674
2000	931
2001	752
2002	1,081
2003	758
2004	567
2005	707
2006	859
2007	582
2008	1,110
2009	845
2010	693
2011	1,477
2012	726
2013	1,520
2014	384
2015	702
2016	650
2017	734
2018	1,309
2019	1,019
2020	449
2021	1,215
2022	596
2023	828
2024	673
2025	836
2026	533

Download the Data

Data for records on 1978-04-20: 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	647
50 to 100	15
100 to 150	4
150 to 200	1
200 to 250	1