Weather Records on 12 May 1981

855 weather records were set or tied worldwide on 12 May 1981. Highest significance: Mohonk Lake, US.

Key Facts for 12 May 1981

On 12 May 1981, 855 weather records were set or tied at long-record stations worldwide.
271 were record highs and 303 were record lows, counting maximum and minimum temperature.
By timescale, 3 were all-time records, 57 monthly and 795 daily.
Mohonk Lake set a daily record precipitation of 81.0 mm (3.2 in) on 12 May 1981.
Across 164 earlier years (1814 to 2026) the same calendar date averaged 450 records.

Record Map

855 stations

855 station records on 12 May 1981 are marked on the map, coloured by record type. Dot size shows the significance score. Made with Natural Earth.

Weather records on 12 May 1981: highest significance records shown on the map
Station	Country	Type	Value	Significance
Mohonk Lake	United States	Record daily precipitation	81.0 mm (3.2 in)	69 of 100 (Major)
Belvidere	United States	Record daily precipitation	69.9 mm (2.8 in)	66 of 100 (Major)
Huntley Exp STN	United States	Record daily precipitation	46.2 mm (1.8 in)	58 of 100 (Notable)
Avon	United States	Record daily precipitation	43.4 mm (1.7 in)	57 of 100 (Notable)
Northville	United States	Record daily precipitation	67.1 mm (2.6 in)	57 of 100 (Notable)
Somerville 4 NW	United States	Record daily precipitation	72.4 mm (2.9 in)	54 of 100 (Notable)
Liberty 1 NE	United States	Record daily precipitation	94.7 mm (3.7 in)	54 of 100 (Notable)
Conshohocken	United States	Record daily precipitation	68.8 mm (2.7 in)	54 of 100 (Notable)
Nantes-Bouguenais	France	Record daily precipitation	46.7 mm (1.8 in)	53 of 100 (Notable)
Rapelje	United States	Record snow depth	25.4 cm (10.0 in)	53 of 100 (Notable)
Matamoras	United States	Record daily precipitation	81.5 mm (3.2 in)	53 of 100 (Notable)
Buynaksk	Russia	Record daily precipitation	37.0 mm (1.5 in)	52 of 100 (Notable)
Newton	United States	Record daily precipitation	60.2 mm (2.4 in)	52 of 100 (Notable)
W Pt	United States	Record daily precipitation	85.6 mm (3.4 in)	52 of 100 (Notable)
Pte de Chassiron	France	Record daily precipitation	54.9 mm (2.2 in)	51 of 100 (Notable)
Ringwood	United States	Record daily precipitation	81.5 mm (3.2 in)	51 of 100 (Notable)
Siliguri	India	Record daily precipitation	140.0 mm (5.5 in)	50 of 100 (Notable)
Maseskar	Sweden	Record daily precipitation	33.6 mm (1.3 in)	50 of 100 (Notable)
Belle Ile - le Talut	France	Record daily precipitation	29.8 mm (1.2 in)	48 of 100 (Notable)
Flemington 5 NNW	United States	Record daily precipitation	90.2 mm (3.6 in)	48 of 100 (Notable)
Glenham	United States	Record daily precipitation	66.5 mm (2.6 in)	48 of 100 (Notable)
Grahamsville	United States	Record daily precipitation	79.0 mm (3.1 in)	48 of 100 (Notable)
Lezay	France	Record daily precipitation	36.9 mm (1.5 in)	47 of 100 (Notable)
Little Falls	United States	Record daily precipitation	64.5 mm (2.5 in)	47 of 100 (Notable)
Split Rock Pond	United States	Record daily precipitation	83.6 mm (3.3 in)	46 of 100 (Notable)
Long Pond Pocono Lake	United States	Record daily precipitation	69.6 mm (2.7 in)	46 of 100 (Notable)
Burlington Intl AP	United States	Record daily precipitation	45.2 mm (1.8 in)	46 of 100 (Notable)
Canoe Brook	United States	Record daily precipitation	67.6 mm (2.7 in)	45 of 100 (Notable)
Beylagan Aerodrome	Azerbaijan	Record daily precipitation	35.2 mm (1.4 in)	44 of 100 (Notable)
Oktyabr Skoye	Russia	Record daily precipitation	27.1 mm (1.1 in)	44 of 100 (Notable)
Mnt Fletcher (Tnk)	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	90.0 mm (3.5 in)	42 of 100 (Notable)
Phoenicia	United States	Record daily precipitation	110.0 mm (4.3 in)	42 of 100 (Notable)
Chadds Ford 2 NE	United States	Record daily precipitation	57.7 mm (2.3 in)	42 of 100 (Notable)
Gouldsboro	United States	Record daily precipitation	50.5 mm (2.0 in)	42 of 100 (Notable)
Vestervig	Denmark	Record high minimum temperature	14.1 C (57.4 F)	41 of 100 (Notable)
Rijeka	Croatia	Record daily precipitation	50.0 mm (2.0 in)	41 of 100 (Notable)
Springdale	United States	Record daily snowfall	15.2 cm (6.0 in)	41 of 100 (Notable)
Utsira Fyr	Norway	Record high minimum temperature	14.9 C (58.8 F)	40 of 100 (Notable)
Halmstad	Sweden	Record high minimum temperature	15.3 C (59.5 F)	40 of 100 (Notable)
Mt Morris 2W	United States	Record daily precipitation	35.1 mm (1.4 in)	40 of 100 (Notable)
Palm 3 SE	United States	Record daily precipitation	53.8 mm (2.1 in)	40 of 100 (Notable)
Paupack 1 WSW	United States	Record daily precipitation	67.6 mm (2.7 in)	40 of 100 (Notable)
Essex Fells Svc Bldg	United States	Record daily precipitation	74.4 mm (2.9 in)	39 of 100 (Notable)
Ellenville	United States	Record daily precipitation	72.1 mm (2.8 in)	39 of 100 (Notable)
Brome	Canada	Record daily precipitation	27.0 mm (1.1 in)	38 of 100 (Notable)
Komsomolsk-Na-Amure	Russia	Record daily precipitation	31.0 mm (1.2 in)	38 of 100 (Notable)
Hopkinsville	United States	Record low maximum temperature	8.3 C (46.9 F)	38 of 100 (Notable)
Boonton 1 SE	United States	Record daily precipitation	64.0 mm (2.5 in)	38 of 100 (Notable)
Wanaque Raymond Dam	United States	Record daily precipitation	73.9 mm (2.9 in)	38 of 100 (Notable)
Carthage	United States	Record low maximum temperature	10.6 C (51.1 F)	38 of 100 (Notable)
Lebanon	United States	Record low maximum temperature	10.0 C (50.0 F)	38 of 100 (Notable)
Mercedes	Uruguay	Record daily precipitation	79.0 mm (3.1 in)	38 of 100 (Notable)
Sogndal - Selseng	Norway	Record snow depth	92.0 cm (36.2 in)	37 of 100 (Notable)
Mqanduli (Tnk)	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	35.0 mm (1.4 in)	37 of 100 (Notable)
Kristianstad	Sweden	Record high minimum temperature	14.7 C (58.5 F)	37 of 100 (Notable)
Murfreesboro 5 N	United States	Record low maximum temperature	10.0 C (50.0 F)	37 of 100 (Notable)
Bendoc Park	Australia	Record daily precipitation	34.0 mm (1.3 in)	36 of 100 (Notable)
Takayama	Japan	Record daily precipitation	49.0 mm (1.9 in)	36 of 100 (Notable)
Lima	United States	Record snow depth	25.4 cm (10.0 in)	36 of 100 (Notable)
Princeton Wtr Wks	United States	Record daily precipitation	57.4 mm (2.3 in)	36 of 100 (Notable)

Counts by Type and Timescale

855 records

Records set or tied on 12 May 1981 by type: Highest daily maximum 69, Lowest daily maximum 143, Highest daily minimum 202, Lowest daily minimum 160, Heaviest daily rainfall 265, Heaviest daily snowfall 7, Deepest snow cover 9.

Records on 12 May 1981 by type
Record type	Records
Highest daily maximum	69
Lowest daily maximum	143
Highest daily minimum	202
Lowest daily minimum	160
Heaviest daily rainfall	265
Heaviest daily snowfall	7
Deepest snow cover	9

Records on 12 May 1981 by timescale: all-time 3, monthly 57, daily 795.

How Much Records Were Beaten By

722 broken records

Margins by which the 722 broken records beat the old ones, in degrees Celsius for temperature and millimetres for precipitation and snow; the largest margin was 300.0. Ties are not counted.

Top 20 by Significance

12 May 1981

Top 20 records on 12 May 1981 by significance
Date	Station	Record	Value	Beat old record by	Old record stood	Significance
12 May 1981	Mohonk Lake, US	daily rain	81.0 mm (3.2 in)	43.4 mm (1.7 in)	82 years	69 of 100 (Major)
12 May 1981	Belvidere, US	daily rain	69.9 mm (2.8 in)	43.2 mm (1.7 in)	56 years	66 of 100 (Major)
12 May 1981	Huntley Exp STN, US	daily rain	46.2 mm (1.8 in)	26.9 mm (1.1 in)	46 years	58 of 100 (Notable)
12 May 1981	Avon, US	daily rain	43.4 mm (1.7 in)	20.0 mm (0.8 in)	67 years	57 of 100 (Notable)
12 May 1981	Northville, US	monthly rain	67.1 mm (2.6 in)	16.8 mm (0.7 in)	67 years	57 of 100 (Notable)
12 May 1981	Somerville 4 NW, US	daily rain	72.4 mm (2.9 in)	36.8 mm (1.4 in)	38 years	54 of 100 (Notable)
12 May 1981	Liberty 1 NE, US	monthly rain	94.7 mm (3.7 in)	24.1 mm (0.9 in)	33 years	54 of 100 (Notable)
12 May 1981	Conshohocken, US	daily rain	68.8 mm (2.7 in)	39.8 mm (1.6 in)	48 years	54 of 100 (Notable)
12 May 1981	Nantes-Bouguenais, FR	daily rain	46.7 mm (1.8 in)	34.4 mm (1.4 in)	35 years	53 of 100 (Notable)
12 May 1981	Rapelje, US	daily snow depth	25.4 cm (10.0 in)	25.4 cm (10.0 in)	72 years	53 of 100 (Notable)
12 May 1981	Matamoras, US	monthly rain	81.5 mm (3.2 in)	23.1 mm (0.9 in)	43 years	53 of 100 (Notable)
12 May 1981	Buynaksk, RU	daily rain	37.0 mm (1.5 in)	22.6 mm (0.9 in)	35 years	52 of 100 (Notable)
12 May 1981	Newton, US	daily rain	60.2 mm (2.4 in)	19.6 mm (0.8 in)	83 years	52 of 100 (Notable)
12 May 1981	W Pt, US	daily rain	85.6 mm (3.4 in)	54.9 mm (2.2 in)	12 years	52 of 100 (Notable)
12 May 1981	Pte de Chassiron, FR	daily rain	54.9 mm (2.2 in)	45.1 mm (1.8 in)	8 years	51 of 100 (Notable)
12 May 1981	Ringwood, US	daily rain	81.5 mm (3.2 in)	39.6 mm (1.6 in)	28 years	51 of 100 (Notable)
12 May 1981	Siliguri, IN	daily rain	140.0 mm (5.5 in)	62.8 mm (2.5 in)	50 years	50 of 100 (Notable)
12 May 1981	Maseskar, SE	daily rain	33.6 mm (1.3 in)	21.5 mm (0.8 in)	4 years	50 of 100 (Notable)
12 May 1981	Belle Ile - le Talut, FR	daily rain	29.8 mm (1.2 in)	22.8 mm (0.9 in)	10 years	48 of 100 (Notable)
12 May 1981	Flemington 5 NNW, US	monthly rain	90.2 mm (3.6 in)	21.9 mm (0.9 in)	32 years	48 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

1814 to 1981

Records set or tied on this calendar date in each year from 1814 to 1981. 1981 had 855 records.

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

Records on 05-12 in each year
Year	Records
1814	2
1823	1
1825	1
1827	1
1834	1
1837	1
1838	1
1845	1
1847	1
1848	1
1849	2
1851	1
1855	2
1860	2
1862	2
1863	1
1867	1
1868	1
1872	2
1874	1
1877	1
1878	1
1879	1
1881	4
1882	5
1884	3
1885	2
1886	3
1887	1
1888	1
1889	1
1890	1
1891	4
1894	1
1895	1
1896	1
1897	7
1898	3
1900	3
1901	6
1902	5
1903	7
1904	11
1905	10
1906	20
1907	53
1908	12
1909	4
1910	9
1911	37
1912	46
1913	6
1914	36
1915	50
1916	42
1917	54
1918	113
1919	42
1920	19
1921	64
1922	43
1923	109
1924	245
1925	275
1926	121
1927	167
1928	192
1929	172
1930	500
1931	350
1932	199
1933	476
1934	293
1935	404
1936	329
1937	214
1938	394
1939	233
1940	440
1941	568
1942	418
1943	803
1944	368
1945	389
1946	653
1947	286
1948	390
1949	414
1950	283
1951	427
1952	711
1953	891
1954	305
1955	265
1956	1,568
1957	454
1958	714
1959	740
1960	1,583
1961	381
1962	713
1963	777
1964	401
1965	196
1966	909
1967	810
1968	890
1969	506
1970	698
1971	668
1972	641
1973	393
1974	702
1975	418
1976	541
1977	855
1978	802
1979	763
1980	684
1981	855
1982	763
1983	1,281
1984	887
1985	1,199
1986	473
1987	1,295
1988	619
1989	856
1990	617
1991	1,177
1992	1,022
1993	1,208
1994	738
1995	1,190
1996	1,420
1997	921
1998	1,576
1999	881
2000	1,486
2001	1,015
2002	1,027
2003	861
2004	1,054
2005	1,369
2006	797
2007	630
2008	858
2009	687
2010	1,250
2011	1,119
2012	660
2013	689
2014	949
2015	958
2016	421
2017	529
2018	819
2019	784
2020	1,338
2021	712
2022	1,930
2023	429
2024	447
2025	940
2026	1,110

Download the Data

Data for records on 1981-05-12: 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 2026-10-16 (16 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	708
50 to 100	7
100 to 150	2
150 to 200	3
200 to 250	0
250 to 300	2