Weather Records on 8 May 1981

613 weather records were set or tied worldwide on 8 May 1981. Highest significance: Butterworth (Tnk), ZA.

Key Facts for 8 May 1981

On 8 May 1981, 613 weather records were set or tied at long-record stations worldwide.
166 were record highs and 232 were record lows, counting maximum and minimum temperature.
By timescale, 1 were all-time records, 13 monthly and 599 daily.
Butterworth (Tnk) set a daily record precipitation of 100.0 mm (3.9 in) on 8 May 1981.
Across 163 earlier years (1795 to 2026) the same calendar date averaged 429 records.

Record Map

613 stations

613 station records on 8 May 1981 are marked on the map, coloured by record type. Dot size shows the significance score. Made with Natural Earth.

Weather records on 8 May 1981: highest significance records shown on the map
Station	Country	Type	Value	Significance
Butterworth (Tnk)	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	100.0 mm (3.9 in)	66 of 100 (Major)
Ft Benton	United States	Record daily precipitation	40.1 mm (1.6 in)	61 of 100 (Major)
Bikaner	India	Record daily precipitation	30.0 mm (1.2 in)	55 of 100 (Notable)
Manoa 712.1	United States	Record daily precipitation	68.3 mm (2.7 in)	55 of 100 (Notable)
Kalihi Rsch Site 777	United States	Record daily precipitation	98.6 mm (3.9 in)	53 of 100 (Notable)
Southport 5 N	United States	Record daily precipitation	90.7 mm (3.6 in)	52 of 100 (Notable)
Waiahole 837	United States	Record daily precipitation	137.9 mm (5.4 in)	52 of 100 (Notable)
UNIV of Hawaii 713	United States	Record daily precipitation	46.2 mm (1.8 in)	49 of 100 (Notable)
Sanderson	United States	Record daily precipitation	55.9 mm (2.2 in)	48 of 100 (Notable)
Sogndal - Selseng	Norway	Record snow depth	115.0 cm (45.3 in)	47 of 100 (Notable)
Lake City 2 SE	United States	Record daily precipitation	61.7 mm (2.4 in)	47 of 100 (Notable)
Buffalo 2 SSW	United States	Record daily precipitation	66.3 mm (2.6 in)	45 of 100 (Notable)
Princeville Rch 1117	United States	Record daily precipitation	64.5 mm (2.5 in)	45 of 100 (Notable)
Bozeman Montana State UNIV	United States	Record daily snowfall	7.1 cm (2.8 in)	44 of 100 (Notable)
Meade	United States	Record daily precipitation	33.8 mm (1.3 in)	39 of 100 (Notable)
Southport 5 N	United States	Record low minimum temperature	5.6 C (42.1 F)	39 of 100 (Notable)
Wilson 3 SW	United States	Record low maximum temperature	12.8 C (55.0 F)	39 of 100 (Notable)
Goldsboro 4 SE	United States	Record low maximum temperature	10.0 C (50.0 F)	39 of 100 (Notable)
Molteno (Mun)	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	26.0 mm (1.0 in)	38 of 100 (Notable)
Queimadas	Brazil	Record daily precipitation	99.2 mm (3.9 in)	37 of 100 (Notable)
Ex Hacienda San Diego	Mexico	Record high minimum temperature	21.7 C (71.1 F)	37 of 100 (Notable)
Dunkeld	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	27.0 mm (1.1 in)	36 of 100 (Notable)
Waynesboro 2 S	United States	Record low maximum temperature	16.7 C (62.1 F)	36 of 100 (Notable)
Coldwater	United States	Record daily precipitation	50.3 mm (2.0 in)	36 of 100 (Notable)
Highwood 7 NE	United States	Record daily precipitation	46.7 mm (1.8 in)	36 of 100 (Notable)
Dillon	United States	Record daily precipitation	35.6 mm (1.4 in)	36 of 100 (Notable)
Arnsberg	Germany	Record high minimum temperature	13.0 C (55.4 F)	35 of 100 (Notable)
Jety-Konur	Kazakhstan	Record daily precipitation	25.5 mm (1.0 in)	35 of 100 (Notable)
Arkadelphia 2 N	United States	Record low maximum temperature	20.6 C (69.1 F)	35 of 100 (Notable)
Waynoka	United States	Record daily precipitation	71.1 mm (2.8 in)	35 of 100 (Notable)
Tenerife/Los Rodeos	Spain	Record daily precipitation	25.6 mm (1.0 in)	34 of 100 (Routine)
Belhaven 1 SE	United States	Record low maximum temperature	11.1 C (52.0 F)	34 of 100 (Routine)
Roxboro 7 ESE	United States	Record low minimum temperature	2.2 C (36.0 F)	34 of 100 (Routine)
Bakersfield	United States	Record daily precipitation	36.1 mm (1.4 in)	34 of 100 (Routine)
Sitka Magnetic Obsy	United States	Record high maximum temperature	23.9 C (75.0 F)	34 of 100 (Routine)
Punchbowl Crater 709	United States	Record daily precipitation	36.3 mm (1.4 in)	34 of 100 (Routine)
Waycross 4 NE	United States	Record low maximum temperature	20.0 C (68.0 F)	33 of 100 (Routine)
Lewistown 11 SSE	United States	Record daily snowfall	17.8 cm (7.0 in)	33 of 100 (Routine)
Freedom	United States	Record daily precipitation	57.9 mm (2.3 in)	33 of 100 (Routine)
Lewistown AP	United States	Record daily snowfall	16.5 cm (6.5 in)	33 of 100 (Routine)
Biskra	Algeria	Record high minimum temperature	24.0 C (75.2 F)	32 of 100 (Routine)
Mwanza	Tanzania	Record daily precipitation	32.3 mm (1.3 in)	32 of 100 (Routine)
Aetna 2 S	United States	Record daily precipitation	53.3 mm (2.1 in)	32 of 100 (Routine)
Bolivar Wtr Wks	United States	Record low maximum temperature	14.4 C (57.9 F)	32 of 100 (Routine)
Fall Rvr Lake	United States	Record daily precipitation	27.7 mm (1.1 in)	31 of 100 (Routine)
Calhoun 2 N	United States	Record low maximum temperature	18.9 C (66.0 F)	31 of 100 (Routine)
Tasiilaq	Greenland [Denmark]	Record low maximum temperature	0.1 C (32.2 F)	30 of 100 (Routine)
Holly	United States	Record low minimum temperature	-1.1 C (30.0 F)	30 of 100 (Routine)
Denton	United States	Record daily precipitation	28.2 mm (1.1 in)	30 of 100 (Routine)
Rocky Boy	United States	Record daily precipitation	31.0 mm (1.2 in)	30 of 100 (Routine)
Kingstree	United States	Record daily precipitation	48.0 mm (1.9 in)	30 of 100 (Routine)
Winthrop 1 WSW	United States	Record low minimum temperature	-5.6 C (21.9 F)	30 of 100 (Routine)
Dillingham FAA AP	United States	Record high minimum temperature	11.1 C (52.0 F)	30 of 100 (Routine)
Rostov-Na-Donu	Russia	Record daily precipitation	28.1 mm (1.1 in)	29 of 100 (Routine)
Cheyenne Wells 2NE	United States	Record daily precipitation	25.7 mm (1.0 in)	29 of 100 (Routine)
Booneville	United States	Record low maximum temperature	17.2 C (63.0 F)	29 of 100 (Routine)
Winifred	United States	Record daily precipitation	26.7 mm (1.1 in)	29 of 100 (Routine)
Saint Paul Is AP	United States	Record high maximum temperature	10.6 C (51.1 F)	29 of 100 (Routine)
Port Gibson 1 NE	United States	Record low maximum temperature	19.4 C (66.9 F)	28 of 100 (Routine)
Bowie	United States	Record daily precipitation	36.8 mm (1.4 in)	28 of 100 (Routine)

Counts by Type and Timescale

613 records

Records set or tied on 8 May 1981 by type: Highest daily maximum 85, Lowest daily maximum 94, Highest daily minimum 81, Lowest daily minimum 138, Heaviest daily rainfall 202, Heaviest daily snowfall 11, Deepest snow cover 2.

Records on 8 May 1981 by type
Record type	Records
Highest daily maximum	85
Lowest daily maximum	94
Highest daily minimum	81
Lowest daily minimum	138
Heaviest daily rainfall	202
Heaviest daily snowfall	11
Deepest snow cover	2

Records on 8 May 1981 by timescale: all-time 1, monthly 13, daily 599.

How Much Records Were Beaten By

485 broken records

Margins by which the 485 broken records beat the old ones, in degrees Celsius for temperature and millimetres for precipitation and snow; the largest margin was 520.0. Ties are not counted.

Top 20 by Significance

8 May 1981

Top 20 records on 8 May 1981 by significance
Date	Station	Record	Value	Beat old record by	Old record stood	Significance
8 May 1981	Butterworth (Tnk), ZA	daily rain	100.0 mm (3.9 in)	91.6 mm (3.6 in)	58 years	66 of 100 (Major)
8 May 1981	Ft Benton, US	daily rain	40.1 mm (1.6 in)	26.1 mm (1.0 in)	71 years	61 of 100 (Major)
8 May 1981	Bikaner, IN	daily rain	30.0 mm (1.2 in)	28.7 mm (1.1 in)	62 years	55 of 100 (Notable)
8 May 1981	Manoa 712.1, US	daily rain	68.3 mm (2.7 in)	32.7 mm (1.3 in)	67 years	55 of 100 (Notable)
8 May 1981	Kalihi Rsch Site 777, US	daily rain	98.6 mm (3.9 in)	58.0 mm (2.3 in)	48 years	53 of 100 (Notable)
8 May 1981	Southport 5 N, US	daily rain	90.7 mm (3.6 in)	36.1 mm (1.4 in)	64 years	52 of 100 (Notable)
8 May 1981	Waiahole 837, US	daily rain	137.9 mm (5.4 in)	69.3 mm (2.7 in)	38 years	52 of 100 (Notable)
8 May 1981	UNIV of Hawaii 713, US	daily rain	46.2 mm (1.8 in)	33.5 mm (1.3 in)	40 years	49 of 100 (Notable)
8 May 1981	Sanderson, US	daily rain	55.9 mm (2.2 in)	39.9 mm (1.6 in)	26 years	48 of 100 (Notable)
8 May 1981	Sogndal - Selseng, NO	daily snow depth	115.0 cm (45.3 in)	52.0 cm (20.5 in)	54 years	47 of 100 (Notable)
8 May 1981	Lake City 2 SE, US	daily rain	61.7 mm (2.4 in)	41.9 mm (1.6 in)	42 years	47 of 100 (Notable)
8 May 1981	Buffalo 2 SSW, US	daily rain	66.3 mm (2.6 in)	39.6 mm (1.6 in)	40 years	45 of 100 (Notable)
8 May 1981	Princeville Rch 1117, US	daily rain	64.5 mm (2.5 in)	50.0 mm (2.0 in)	40 years	45 of 100 (Notable)
8 May 1981	Bozeman Montana State UNIV, US	daily snowfall	7.1 cm (2.8 in)	7.1 cm (2.8 in)	87 years	44 of 100 (Notable)
8 May 1981	Meade, US	daily rain	33.8 mm (1.3 in)	8.1 mm (0.32 in)	84 years	39 of 100 (Notable)
8 May 1981	Southport 5 N, US	daily low min	5.6 C (42.1 F)	2.2 C (4.0 F)	84 years	39 of 100 (Notable)
8 May 1981	Wilson 3 SW, US	daily low max	12.8 C (55.0 F)	6.6 C (11.9 F)	64 years	39 of 100 (Notable)
8 May 1981	Goldsboro 4 SE, US	monthly low max	10.0 C (50.0 F)	1.1 C (2.0 F)	63 years	39 of 100 (Notable)
8 May 1981	Molteno (Mun), ZA	daily rain	26.0 mm (1.0 in)	2.4 mm (0.09 in)	90 years	38 of 100 (Notable)
8 May 1981	Queimadas, BR	daily rain	99.2 mm (3.9 in)	42.9 mm (1.7 in)	12 years	37 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

1795 to 1981

Records set or tied on this calendar date in each year from 1795 to 1981. 1981 had 613 records.

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

Records on 05-08 in each year
Year	Records
1795	2
1806	1
1825	1
1834	1
1845	2
1848	1
1849	1
1851	1
1852	1
1857	1
1858	2
1861	2
1862	1
1863	1
1865	1
1867	4
1868	1
1873	1
1874	3
1876	3
1879	1
1880	1
1882	4
1883	1
1885	1
1886	3
1888	2
1889	1
1890	2
1891	2
1892	2
1893	3
1894	1
1895	1
1896	3
1897	5
1898	2
1900	10
1901	5
1902	5
1903	11
1904	13
1905	17
1906	27
1907	7
1908	14
1909	19
1910	26
1911	34
1912	36
1913	34
1914	71
1915	35
1916	17
1917	108
1918	47
1919	132
1920	62
1921	35
1922	38
1923	510
1924	196
1925	272
1926	191
1927	328
1928	310
1929	194
1930	572
1931	403
1932	283
1933	553
1934	728
1935	78
1936	650
1937	107
1938	425
1939	235
1940	296
1941	271
1942	128
1943	465
1944	258
1945	646
1946	271
1947	1,152
1948	453
1949	361
1950	748
1951	274
1952	794
1953	580
1954	463
1955	411
1956	490
1957	546
1958	440
1959	252
1960	748
1961	556
1962	450
1963	1,105
1964	731
1965	704
1966	522
1967	573
1968	424
1969	542
1970	501
1971	413
1972	509
1973	527
1974	777
1975	555
1976	989
1977	682
1978	676
1979	1,113
1980	722
1981	613
1982	557
1983	638
1984	1,072
1985	591
1986	1,210
1987	1,226
1988	632
1989	1,543
1990	715
1991	710
1992	1,740
1993	892
1994	768
1995	1,340
1996	908
1997	973
1998	1,348
1999	985
2000	1,782
2001	851
2002	1,843
2003	1,420
2004	1,133
2005	685
2006	801
2007	718
2008	595
2009	779
2010	1,079
2011	602
2012	709
2013	686
2014	958
2015	647
2016	752
2017	467
2018	711
2019	723
2020	599
2021	419
2022	908
2023	579
2024	1,015
2025	380
2026	292

Download the Data

Data for records on 1981-05-08: 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 2026-10-15 (15 October 2026). Records are computed by this site and are not official.

Data as of 2026-10-15. Last revised 15 October 2026 (2026-10-15).

Margin	Records
0 to 100	480
100 to 200	4
200 to 300	0
300 to 400	0
400 to 500	0
500 to 600	1