Weather Records on 20 May 1979

683 weather records were set or tied worldwide on 20 May 1979. Highest significance: Bernalillo, US.

Key Facts for 20 May 1979

On 20 May 1979, 683 weather records were set or tied at long-record stations worldwide.
284 were record highs and 167 were record lows, counting maximum and minimum temperature.
By timescale, 0 were all-time records, 19 monthly and 664 daily.
Bernalillo set a daily record precipitation of 27.7 mm (1.1 in) on 20 May 1979.
Across 162 earlier years (1802 to 2026) the same calendar date averaged 454 records.

Record Map

683 stations

683 station records on 20 May 1979 are marked on the map, coloured by record type. Dot size shows the significance score. Made with Natural Earth.

Weather records on 20 May 1979: highest significance records shown on the map
Station	Country	Type	Value	Significance
Bernalillo	United States	Record daily precipitation	27.7 mm (1.1 in)	64 of 100 (Major)
Parsons 2 NW	United States	Record daily precipitation	110.2 mm (4.3 in)	58 of 100 (Notable)
Normandin Cda	Canada	Record daily precipitation	65.0 mm (2.6 in)	57 of 100 (Notable)
Roosevelt 1 S	United States	Record daily precipitation	25.7 mm (1.0 in)	55 of 100 (Notable)
Houston	United States	Record daily precipitation	59.9 mm (2.4 in)	50 of 100 (Notable)
Newkirk	United States	Record daily precipitation	44.5 mm (1.8 in)	50 of 100 (Notable)
Nantes-Bouguenais	France	Record daily precipitation	36.3 mm (1.4 in)	48 of 100 (Notable)
Cook STN	United States	Record daily precipitation	73.7 mm (2.9 in)	48 of 100 (Notable)
Newton	United States	Record daily precipitation	51.6 mm (2.0 in)	47 of 100 (Notable)
El Dorado	United States	Record daily precipitation	56.1 mm (2.2 in)	46 of 100 (Notable)
Ozark	United States	Record daily precipitation	86.4 mm (3.4 in)	46 of 100 (Notable)
Mormon Flat	United States	Record daily precipitation	35.1 mm (1.4 in)	45 of 100 (Notable)
Paola	United States	Record daily precipitation	43.2 mm (1.7 in)	45 of 100 (Notable)
Galena	United States	Record daily precipitation	65.0 mm (2.6 in)	45 of 100 (Notable)
Mansfield	United States	Record daily precipitation	74.9 mm (2.9 in)	45 of 100 (Notable)
Sombrerete (Dge)	Mexico	Record low maximum temperature	15.6 C (60.1 F)	44 of 100 (Notable)
Cheyenne Wells 2NE	United States	Record daily precipitation	62.7 mm (2.5 in)	43 of 100 (Notable)
Buffalo 2N	United States	Record daily precipitation	75.2 mm (3.0 in)	43 of 100 (Notable)
Castle Hot Springs	United States	Record daily precipitation	37.1 mm (1.5 in)	42 of 100 (Notable)
Ft Smith Rgnl AP	United States	Record daily precipitation	80.8 mm (3.2 in)	42 of 100 (Notable)
Caplinger Mills	United States	Record daily precipitation	95.3 mm (3.8 in)	41 of 100 (Notable)
McAlester Rgnl AP	United States	Record daily precipitation	85.9 mm (3.4 in)	41 of 100 (Notable)
Tranebjerg	Denmark	Record low minimum temperature	1.2 C (34.2 F)	40 of 100 (Notable)
Lerwick	United Kingdom	Record daily precipitation	25.0 mm (1.0 in)	40 of 100 (Notable)
Kremsmuenster	Austria	Record high maximum temperature	28.4 C (83.1 F)	39 of 100 (Notable)
Naalehu 14	United States	Record low minimum temperature	14.4 C (57.9 F)	39 of 100 (Notable)
Pierce City	United States	Record daily precipitation	102.6 mm (4.0 in)	38 of 100 (Notable)
Natashquan A	Canada	Record high maximum temperature	23.7 C (74.7 F)	37 of 100 (Notable)
Nurnberg	Germany	Record high maximum temperature	30.2 C (86.4 F)	37 of 100 (Notable)
Osawatomie	United States	Record daily precipitation	52.3 mm (2.1 in)	37 of 100 (Notable)
Wrixum/Fohr	Germany	Record low minimum temperature	1.9 C (35.4 F)	36 of 100 (Notable)
Uil	Kazakhstan	Record high minimum temperature	19.4 C (66.9 F)	36 of 100 (Notable)
Henichesk	Ukraine	Record high minimum temperature	17.7 C (63.9 F)	36 of 100 (Notable)
Wichita Falls Muni AP	United States	Record daily precipitation	86.6 mm (3.4 in)	36 of 100 (Notable)
North Lake	United States	Record daily precipitation	26.4 mm (1.0 in)	35 of 100 (Notable)
Madison	United States	Record daily precipitation	37.1 mm (1.5 in)	35 of 100 (Notable)
Centerville 5 NE	United States	Record daily precipitation	97.8 mm (3.9 in)	35 of 100 (Notable)
Perryville Wtp	United States	Record daily precipitation	25.4 mm (1.0 in)	35 of 100 (Notable)
Abbott 1 SE	United States	Record daily precipitation	30.5 mm (1.2 in)	35 of 100 (Notable)
Black Lake	United States	Record daily precipitation	33.0 mm (1.3 in)	35 of 100 (Notable)
Nordby (Fano)	Denmark	Record low minimum temperature	1.6 C (34.9 F)	34 of 100 (Routine)
Avon Park 2 W	United States	Record low minimum temperature	12.8 C (55.0 F)	34 of 100 (Routine)
Walnut 4S	United States	Record daily precipitation	63.5 mm (2.5 in)	34 of 100 (Routine)
Denton	United States	Record low minimum temperature	-5.0 C (23.0 F)	34 of 100 (Routine)
Youngs Siding	Australia	Record daily precipitation	37.2 mm (1.5 in)	33 of 100 (Routine)
Salzburg	Austria	Record high maximum temperature	32.2 C (90.0 F)	33 of 100 (Routine)
Gospic	Croatia	Record high maximum temperature	28.5 C (83.3 F)	33 of 100 (Routine)
Barrage Gouin	Canada	Record high minimum temperature	14.4 C (57.9 F)	32 of 100 (Routine)
Munchen-Nymphenburg	Germany	Record high maximum temperature	30.9 C (87.6 F)	32 of 100 (Routine)
Perm	Russia	Record high minimum temperature	16.3 C (61.3 F)	32 of 100 (Routine)
Westcliffe	United States	Record daily precipitation	27.2 mm (1.1 in)	32 of 100 (Routine)
Siloam Springs 1E	United States	Record daily precipitation	50.8 mm (2.0 in)	32 of 100 (Routine)
Henderson 2 NNW	United States	Record low maximum temperature	17.2 C (63.0 F)	32 of 100 (Routine)
Roxboro 7 ESE	United States	Record low maximum temperature	17.8 C (64.0 F)	32 of 100 (Routine)
Stuttgart-Stadt	Germany	Record high maximum temperature	31.2 C (88.2 F)	31 of 100 (Routine)
Carthage	United States	Record daily precipitation	61.0 mm (2.4 in)	31 of 100 (Routine)
Reynolds	United States	Record daily precipitation	56.1 mm (2.2 in)	31 of 100 (Routine)
Cartwright	Canada	Record high maximum temperature	27.2 C (81.0 F)	30 of 100 (Routine)
Hohenpeissenberg	Germany	Record high maximum temperature	26.2 C (79.2 F)	30 of 100 (Routine)
San Felipe	Mexico	Record low maximum temperature	26.7 C (80.1 F)	30 of 100 (Routine)

Counts by Type and Timescale

683 records

Records set or tied on 20 May 1979 by type: Highest daily maximum 144, Lowest daily maximum 93, Highest daily minimum 140, Lowest daily minimum 74, Heaviest daily rainfall 230, Deepest snow cover 2.

Records on 20 May 1979 by type
Record type	Records
Highest daily maximum	144
Lowest daily maximum	93
Highest daily minimum	140
Lowest daily minimum	74
Heaviest daily rainfall	230
Heaviest daily snowfall	0
Deepest snow cover	2

Records on 20 May 1979 by timescale: all-time 0, monthly 19, daily 664.

How Much Records Were Beaten By

587 broken records

Margins by which the 587 broken records beat the old ones, in degrees Celsius for temperature and millimetres for precipitation and snow; the largest margin was 70.8. Ties are not counted.

Top 20 by Significance

20 May 1979

Top 20 records on 20 May 1979 by significance
Date	Station	Record	Value	Beat old record by	Old record stood	Significance
20 May 1979	Bernalillo, US	daily rain	27.7 mm (1.1 in)	20.1 mm (0.8 in)	78 years	64 of 100 (Major)
20 May 1979	Parsons 2 NW, US	daily rain	110.2 mm (4.3 in)	70.8 mm (2.8 in)	44 years	58 of 100 (Notable)
20 May 1979	Normandin Cda, CA	monthly rain	65.0 mm (2.6 in)	25.1 mm (1.0 in)	15 years	57 of 100 (Notable)
20 May 1979	Roosevelt 1 S, US	daily rain	25.7 mm (1.0 in)	18.6 mm (0.7 in)	61 years	55 of 100 (Notable)
20 May 1979	Houston, US	daily rain	59.9 mm (2.4 in)	35.8 mm (1.4 in)	60 years	50 of 100 (Notable)
20 May 1979	Newkirk, US	daily rain	44.5 mm (1.8 in)	40.4 mm (1.6 in)	48 years	50 of 100 (Notable)
20 May 1979	Nantes-Bouguenais, FR	daily rain	36.3 mm (1.4 in)	26.1 mm (1.0 in)	16 years	48 of 100 (Notable)
20 May 1979	Cook STN, US	daily rain	73.7 mm (2.9 in)	50.1 mm (2.0 in)	28 years	48 of 100 (Notable)
20 May 1979	Newton, US	daily rain	51.6 mm (2.0 in)	28.7 mm (1.1 in)	64 years	47 of 100 (Notable)
20 May 1979	El Dorado, US	daily rain	56.1 mm (2.2 in)	29.4 mm (1.2 in)	64 years	46 of 100 (Notable)
20 May 1979	Ozark, US	daily rain	86.4 mm (3.4 in)	60.0 mm (2.4 in)	18 years	46 of 100 (Notable)
20 May 1979	Mormon Flat, US	daily rain	35.1 mm (1.4 in)	33.3 mm (1.3 in)	2 years	45 of 100 (Notable)
20 May 1979	Paola, US	daily rain	43.2 mm (1.7 in)	19.8 mm (0.8 in)	79 years	45 of 100 (Notable)
20 May 1979	Galena, US	daily rain	65.0 mm (2.6 in)	35.0 mm (1.4 in)	54 years	45 of 100 (Notable)
20 May 1979	Mansfield, US	daily rain	74.9 mm (2.9 in)	20.3 mm (0.8 in)	82 years	45 of 100 (Notable)
20 May 1979	Sombrerete (Dge), MX	daily low max	15.6 C (60.1 F)	7.2 C (13.0 F)	57 years	44 of 100 (Notable)
20 May 1979	Cheyenne Wells 2NE, US	daily rain	62.7 mm (2.5 in)	32.2 mm (1.3 in)	17 years	43 of 100 (Notable)
20 May 1979	Buffalo 2N, US	daily rain	75.2 mm (3.0 in)	49.5 mm (1.9 in)	28 years	43 of 100 (Notable)
20 May 1979	Castle Hot Springs, US	monthly rain	37.1 mm (1.5 in)	21.1 mm (0.8 in)	19 years	42 of 100 (Notable)
20 May 1979	Ft Smith Rgnl AP, US	daily rain	80.8 mm (3.2 in)	53.1 mm (2.1 in)	24 years	42 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 1979

Records set or tied on this calendar date in each year from 1802 to 1979. 1979 had 683 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 1979-05-20: 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 10	513
10 to 20	42
20 to 30	15
30 to 40	8
40 to 50	3
50 to 60	4
60 to 70	1
70 to 80	1