Weather Records on 20 December 1980

667 weather records were set or tied worldwide on 20 December 1980. Highest significance: Vrugbaar, ZA.

Key Facts for 20 December 1980

On 20 December 1980, 667 weather records were set or tied at long-record stations worldwide.
92 were record highs and 386 were record lows, counting maximum and minimum temperature.
By timescale, 3 were all-time records, 15 monthly and 649 daily.
Vrugbaar set a daily record precipitation of 43.5 mm (1.7 in) on 20 December 1980.
Across 163 earlier years (1793 to 2025) the same calendar date averaged 466 records.

Record Map

667 stations

667 station records on 20 December 1980 are marked on the map, coloured by record type. Dot size shows the significance score. Made with Natural Earth.

Weather records on 20 December 1980: highest significance records shown on the map
Station	Country	Type	Value	Significance
Vrugbaar	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	43.5 mm (1.7 in)	58 of 100 (Notable)
Midland Water Pollution Contro	Canada	Record daily precipitation	50.0 mm (2.0 in)	49 of 100 (Notable)
Pouso Redondo	Brazil	Record daily precipitation	103.2 mm (4.1 in)	47 of 100 (Notable)
Morretes	Brazil	Record daily precipitation	75.6 mm (3.0 in)	45 of 100 (Notable)
Milagres	Brazil	Record daily precipitation	57.0 mm (2.2 in)	44 of 100 (Notable)
Ituporanga (Pcd)	Brazil	Record daily precipitation	62.6 mm (2.5 in)	41 of 100 (Notable)
Midland Water Pollution Contro	Canada	Record daily snowfall	50.0 cm (19.7 in)	39 of 100 (Notable)
Nicosia	Cyprus	Record high minimum temperature	10.7 C (51.3 F)	39 of 100 (Notable)
Drobeta Turnu Severin	Romania	Record daily precipitation	59.8 mm (2.4 in)	39 of 100 (Notable)
Forquilhinha	Brazil	Record daily precipitation	56.3 mm (2.2 in)	38 of 100 (Notable)
Tulbagh (Pol)	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	39.5 mm (1.6 in)	37 of 100 (Notable)
Enderby	Canada	Record daily snowfall	14.0 cm (5.5 in)	36 of 100 (Notable)
La Plaisante	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	48.0 mm (1.9 in)	35 of 100 (Notable)
Sonora	United States	Record low maximum temperature	1.7 C (35.1 F)	35 of 100 (Notable)
Manassas 3 NW	United States	Record low minimum temperature	-15.0 C (5.0 F)	35 of 100 (Notable)
Oconto 4 W	United States	Record low maximum temperature	-14.4 C (6.1 F)	35 of 100 (Notable)
Lake City	United States	Record high maximum temperature	8.9 C (48.0 F)	34 of 100 (Routine)
Conceicao	Brazil	Record daily precipitation	54.0 mm (2.1 in)	33 of 100 (Routine)
Port Stanley	Canada	Record low maximum temperature	-9.0 C (15.8 F)	33 of 100 (Routine)
Paarl (Tnk)	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	25.0 mm (1.0 in)	33 of 100 (Routine)
Guthrie Ctr	United States	Record low maximum temperature	-11.7 C (10.9 F)	32 of 100 (Routine)
Rio Pequeno	Brazil	Record daily precipitation	57.8 mm (2.3 in)	31 of 100 (Routine)
Kingman	United States	Record low maximum temperature	-6.1 C (21.0 F)	31 of 100 (Routine)
Montague 4 NW	United States	Record low maximum temperature	-8.9 C (16.0 F)	31 of 100 (Routine)
Morrisville 6 SW	United States	Record snow depth	58.4 cm (23.0 in)	31 of 100 (Routine)
Taio (Pcd)	Brazil	Record daily precipitation	100.3 mm (3.9 in)	30 of 100 (Routine)
Leroy 5 WSW	United States	Record low maximum temperature	-10.6 C (12.9 F)	30 of 100 (Routine)
Las Vegas 2 NW	United States	Record low maximum temperature	-5.6 C (21.9 F)	30 of 100 (Routine)
Melrose	United States	Record low maximum temperature	-0.6 C (30.9 F)	30 of 100 (Routine)
Alpine	United States	Record low maximum temperature	-3.3 C (26.1 F)	30 of 100 (Routine)
Sturgeon Bay Exp Farm	United States	Record low maximum temperature	-13.9 C (7.0 F)	30 of 100 (Routine)
Natitingou	Benin	Record low minimum temperature	13.5 C (56.3 F)	29 of 100 (Routine)
Pomerode	Brazil	Record daily precipitation	55.8 mm (2.2 in)	29 of 100 (Routine)
Taquarucu	Brazil	Record daily precipitation	43.3 mm (1.7 in)	29 of 100 (Routine)
Kafferskraal	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	60.0 mm (2.4 in)	29 of 100 (Routine)
Alma	United States	Record low maximum temperature	-11.7 C (10.9 F)	28 of 100 (Routine)
Lake City Exp Farm	United States	Record low maximum temperature	-12.8 C (9.0 F)	28 of 100 (Routine)
Sao Ludgero	Brazil	Record daily precipitation	45.0 mm (1.8 in)	27 of 100 (Routine)
Jaen (Instituto)	Spain	Record high minimum temperature	12.0 C (53.6 F)	27 of 100 (Routine)
Independence	United States	Record high maximum temperature	19.4 C (66.9 F)	27 of 100 (Routine)
Humpty Doo Station	Australia	Record daily precipitation	63.6 mm (2.5 in)	26 of 100 (Routine)
Contendas Do Sincora	Brazil	Record daily precipitation	46.4 mm (1.8 in)	26 of 100 (Routine)
Sassandra	Cote D'Ivoire	Record low minimum temperature	18.8 C (65.8 F)	26 of 100 (Routine)
Zinapecuaro	Mexico	Record low minimum temperature	-2.2 C (28.0 F)	26 of 100 (Routine)
Piaxtla	Mexico	Record low maximum temperature	21.7 C (71.1 F)	26 of 100 (Routine)
Coimbra	Portugal	Record high minimum temperature	13.1 C (55.6 F)	26 of 100 (Routine)
Villiersdorp	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	47.8 mm (1.9 in)	26 of 100 (Routine)
Greenville 2 NNE	United States	Record low minimum temperature	-20.0 C (-4.0 F)	26 of 100 (Routine)
Hamburg	United States	Record low minimum temperature	-15.6 C (3.9 F)	26 of 100 (Routine)
Coleman	United States	Record low maximum temperature	-1.7 C (28.9 F)	26 of 100 (Routine)
Mt Locke	United States	Record low maximum temperature	-2.2 C (28.0 F)	26 of 100 (Routine)
Marinette	United States	Record low maximum temperature	-13.9 C (7.0 F)	26 of 100 (Routine)
Grindstone Island	Canada	Record low maximum temperature	-11.6 C (11.1 F)	25 of 100 (Routine)
Tabou	Cote D'Ivoire	Record low minimum temperature	18.4 C (65.1 F)	25 of 100 (Routine)
San Nicolas Is	United States	Record high maximum temperature	23.3 C (73.9 F)	25 of 100 (Routine)
Bobo-Dioulasso	Burkina Faso	Record low maximum temperature	26.0 C (78.8 F)	25 of 100 (Routine)
Ibirama (Pcd)	Brazil	Record daily precipitation	40.8 mm (1.6 in)	24 of 100 (Routine)
St Margaret's Bay	Canada	Record low maximum temperature	-17.0 C (1.4 F)	24 of 100 (Routine)
Jumatan (Cfe)	Mexico	Record low minimum temperature	10.0 C (50.0 F)	24 of 100 (Routine)
Mtn Home 1 NNW	United States	Record low maximum temperature	-2.8 C (27.0 F)	24 of 100 (Routine)

Counts by Type and Timescale

667 records

Records set or tied on 20 December 1980 by type: Highest daily maximum 46, Lowest daily maximum 261, Highest daily minimum 46, Lowest daily minimum 125, Heaviest daily rainfall 159, Heaviest daily snowfall 22, Deepest snow cover 8.

Records on 20 December 1980 by type
Record type	Records
Highest daily maximum	46
Lowest daily maximum	261
Highest daily minimum	46
Lowest daily minimum	125
Heaviest daily rainfall	159
Heaviest daily snowfall	22
Deepest snow cover	8

Records on 20 December 1980 by timescale: all-time 3, monthly 15, daily 649.

How Much Records Were Beaten By

526 broken records

Margins by which the 526 broken records beat the old ones, in degrees Celsius for temperature and millimetres for precipitation and snow; the largest margin was 228.0. Ties are not counted.

Top 20 by Significance

20 December 1980

Top 20 records on 20 December 1980 by significance
Date	Station	Record	Value	Beat old record by	Old record stood	Significance
20 December 1980	Vrugbaar, ZA	daily rain	43.5 mm (1.7 in)	25.2 mm (1.0 in)	39 years	58 of 100 (Notable)
20 December 1980	Midland Water Pollution Contro, CA	monthly rain	50.0 mm (2.0 in)	4.3 mm (0.17 in)	80 years	49 of 100 (Notable)
20 December 1980	Pouso Redondo, BR	daily rain	103.2 mm (4.1 in)	74.2 mm (2.9 in)	13 years	47 of 100 (Notable)
20 December 1980	Morretes, BR	daily rain	75.6 mm (3.0 in)	50.8 mm (2.0 in)	14 years	45 of 100 (Notable)
20 December 1980	Milagres, BR	daily rain	57.0 mm (2.2 in)	38.8 mm (1.5 in)	55 years	44 of 100 (Notable)
20 December 1980	Ituporanga (Pcd), BR	daily rain	62.6 mm (2.5 in)	34.0 mm (1.3 in)	39 years	41 of 100 (Notable)
20 December 1980	Midland Water Pollution Contro, CA	all-time snowfall	50.0 cm (19.7 in)	4.3 cm (1.7 in)	16 years	39 of 100 (Notable)
20 December 1980	Nicosia, CY	daily high min	10.7 C (51.3 F)	0.1 C (0.2 F)	98 years	39 of 100 (Notable)
20 December 1980	Drobeta Turnu Severin, RO	monthly rain	59.8 mm (2.4 in)	7.8 mm (0.31 in)	46 years	39 of 100 (Notable)
20 December 1980	Forquilhinha, BR	daily rain	56.3 mm (2.2 in)	42.3 mm (1.7 in)	7 years	38 of 100 (Notable)
20 December 1980	Tulbagh (Pol), ZA	daily rain	39.5 mm (1.6 in)	15.4 mm (0.6 in)	47 years	37 of 100 (Notable)
20 December 1980	Enderby, CA	daily snowfall	14.0 cm (5.5 in)	1.8 cm (0.7 in)	86 years	36 of 100 (Notable)
20 December 1980	La Plaisante, ZA	monthly rain	48.0 mm (1.9 in)	12.0 mm (0.5 in)	3 years	35 of 100 (Notable)
20 December 1980	Sonora, US	daily low max	1.7 C (35.1 F)	3.9 C (7.0 F)	71 years	35 of 100 (Notable)
20 December 1980	Manassas 3 NW, US	daily low min	-15.0 C (5.0 F)	2.2 C (4.0 F)	79 years	35 of 100 (Notable)
20 December 1980	Oconto 4 W, US	daily low max	-14.4 C (6.1 F)	2.2 C (4.0 F)	79 years	35 of 100 (Notable)
20 December 1980	Lake City, US	daily high max	8.9 C (48.0 F)	3.3 C (5.9 F)	70 years	34 of 100 (Routine)
20 December 1980	Conceicao, BR	daily rain	54.0 mm (2.1 in)	12.0 mm (0.5 in)	65 years	33 of 100 (Routine)
20 December 1980	Port Stanley, CA	daily low max	-9.0 C (15.8 F)	0.1 C (0.2 F)	79 years	33 of 100 (Routine)
20 December 1980	Paarl (Tnk), ZA	daily rain	25.0 mm (1.0 in)	1.9 mm (0.07 in)	70 years	33 of 100 (Routine)

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 1980

Records set or tied on this calendar date in each year from 1793 to 1980. 1980 had 667 records.

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

Records on 12-20 in each year
Year	Records
1793	1
1795	1
1804	1
1805	2
1808	1
1815	1
1828	1
1837	1
1846	1
1855	8
1858	1
1860	1
1866	1
1867	1
1868	1
1869	1
1871	2
1874	3
1875	1
1877	2
1878	1
1879	1
1880	1
1881	1
1882	1
1884	4
1885	1
1886	4
1889	4
1890	2
1891	2
1892	1
1894	2
1895	8
1896	1
1897	4
1898	2
1899	1
1900	7
1901	8
1902	14
1903	17
1904	9
1905	5
1906	5
1907	11
1908	5
1909	22
1910	17
1911	24
1912	27
1913	7
1914	43
1915	18
1916	45
1917	33
1918	18
1919	25
1920	22
1921	101
1922	88
1923	215
1924	332
1925	96
1926	163
1927	200
1928	93
1929	256
1930	67
1931	536
1932	170
1933	492
1934	265
1935	152
1936	416
1937	181
1938	240
1939	308
1940	965
1941	633
1942	817
1943	193
1944	340
1945	430
1946	327
1947	385
1948	345
1949	1,141
1950	758
1951	926
1952	394
1953	385
1954	416
1955	726
1956	471
1957	1,354
1958	382
1959	142
1960	354
1961	369
1962	475
1963	875
1964	499
1965	353
1966	555
1967	1,370
1968	482
1969	514
1970	518
1971	441
1972	448
1973	1,184
1974	328
1975	610
1976	382
1977	484
1978	910
1979	600
1980	667
1981	1,681
1982	712
1983	2,995
1984	1,411
1985	1,035
1986	321
1987	1,179
1988	760
1989	1,812
1990	1,885
1991	1,172
1992	1,134
1993	1,266
1994	813
1995	1,128
1996	1,448
1997	651
1998	1,110
1999	938
2000	1,150
2001	523
2002	943
2003	1,315
2004	836
2005	515
2006	1,387
2007	986
2008	1,356
2009	1,502
2010	2,055
2011	846
2012	1,131
2013	584
2014	524
2015	1,238
2016	603
2017	688
2018	592
2019	731
2020	554
2021	442
2022	567
2023	1,242
2024	897
2025	1,166

Download the Data

Data for records on 1980-12-20: 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	521
50 to 100	4
100 to 150	0
150 to 200	0
200 to 250	1