Weather Records on 28 May 1981

711 weather records were set or tied worldwide on 28 May 1981. Highest significance: Goudveld (Bos), ZA.

Key Facts for 28 May 1981

On 28 May 1981, 711 weather records were set or tied at long-record stations worldwide.
213 were record highs and 74 were record lows, counting maximum and minimum temperature.
By timescale, 1 were all-time records, 17 monthly and 693 daily.
Goudveld (Bos) set a daily record precipitation of 106.0 mm (4.2 in) on 28 May 1981.
Across 161 earlier years (1794 to 2026) the same calendar date averaged 440 records.

Record Map

711 stations

711 station records on 28 May 1981 are marked on the map, coloured by record type. Dot size shows the significance score. Made with Natural Earth.

Weather records on 28 May 1981: highest significance records shown on the map
Station	Country	Type	Value	Significance
Goudveld (Bos)	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	106.0 mm (4.2 in)	75 of 100 (Major)
Morgantown Muni AP	United States	Record daily precipitation	42.7 mm (1.7 in)	75 of 100 (Major)
Harkerville (Bos)	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	100.0 mm (3.9 in)	73 of 100 (Major)
Steytlerville (Mag)	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	42.0 mm (1.7 in)	62 of 100 (Major)
Bloukrans (Bos)	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	140.0 mm (5.5 in)	61 of 100 (Major)
Sterkstroom (Pol)	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	52.0 mm (2.0 in)	60 of 100 (Major)
Concordia (Bos)	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	104.5 mm (4.1 in)	55 of 100 (Notable)
Buffelsnek (Bos)	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	92.0 mm (3.6 in)	54 of 100 (Notable)
Glenwood 2WNW	United States	Record daily precipitation	43.9 mm (1.7 in)	54 of 100 (Notable)
Pilger	Canada	Record daily precipitation	55.0 mm (2.2 in)	52 of 100 (Notable)
Matjiesrivier (Skl)	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	64.5 mm (2.5 in)	52 of 100 (Notable)
Gouna (Bos)	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	119.5 mm (4.7 in)	51 of 100 (Notable)
Rocky Mt	United States	Record daily precipitation	58.4 mm (2.3 in)	51 of 100 (Notable)
Payson	United States	Record daily precipitation	27.4 mm (1.1 in)	50 of 100 (Notable)
Welbedagt	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	34.5 mm (1.4 in)	48 of 100 (Notable)
Kruisrivier	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	45.0 mm (1.8 in)	48 of 100 (Notable)
Ariri	Brazil	Record daily precipitation	120.6 mm (4.7 in)	47 of 100 (Notable)
Chietla	Mexico	Record daily precipitation	61.5 mm (2.4 in)	47 of 100 (Notable)
Millungera Station	Australia	Record daily precipitation	50.0 mm (2.0 in)	46 of 100 (Notable)
Lumberton	United States	Record daily precipitation	75.7 mm (3.0 in)	46 of 100 (Notable)
Smithfield	United States	Record daily precipitation	162.8 mm (6.4 in)	46 of 100 (Notable)
Altamirano (Smn)	Mexico	Record daily precipitation	74.9 mm (2.9 in)	45 of 100 (Notable)
Eernewoude	Netherlands	Record daily precipitation	25.0 mm (1.0 in)	45 of 100 (Notable)
George Airport	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	78.0 mm (3.1 in)	45 of 100 (Notable)
Murraysburg (Pol)	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	47.0 mm (1.9 in)	45 of 100 (Notable)
Sebeni (Bos)	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	62.5 mm (2.5 in)	45 of 100 (Notable)
Ratcliff	United States	Record daily precipitation	129.8 mm (5.1 in)	45 of 100 (Notable)
Piracuruca	Brazil	Record daily precipitation	63.0 mm (2.5 in)	44 of 100 (Notable)
Verhoture	Russia	Record daily precipitation	32.4 mm (1.3 in)	44 of 100 (Notable)
Weltevrede	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	36.5 mm (1.4 in)	44 of 100 (Notable)
Nqadu Heights (Bos)	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	41.0 mm (1.6 in)	44 of 100 (Notable)
Bergplaats (Bos)	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	91.0 mm (3.6 in)	43 of 100 (Notable)
Oudtshoorn	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	26.0 mm (1.0 in)	42 of 100 (Notable)
Avoca	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	35.0 mm (1.4 in)	42 of 100 (Notable)
Camden 3 W	United States	Record daily precipitation	38.1 mm (1.5 in)	42 of 100 (Notable)
Tlacotepec de Benito Juarez	Mexico	Record daily precipitation	47.8 mm (1.9 in)	41 of 100 (Notable)
Korana "Xorana"	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	55.0 mm (2.2 in)	41 of 100 (Notable)
Iturbide	Mexico	Record daily precipitation	30.5 mm (1.2 in)	40 of 100 (Notable)
Maclear (Mag)	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	28.0 mm (1.1 in)	40 of 100 (Notable)
Rust-En-Vrede	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	53.0 mm (2.1 in)	39 of 100 (Notable)
Mooredale	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	42.0 mm (1.7 in)	39 of 100 (Notable)
Buffelsfontein 14	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	40.0 mm (1.6 in)	39 of 100 (Notable)
Clifton Vale	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	34.8 mm (1.4 in)	39 of 100 (Notable)
Sogndal - Selseng	Norway	Record snow depth	15.0 cm (5.9 in)	38 of 100 (Notable)
Florence 8 NE	United States	Record daily precipitation	74.7 mm (2.9 in)	38 of 100 (Notable)
Mazapa	Mexico	Record high minimum temperature	15.6 C (60.1 F)	36 of 100 (Notable)
Witelsbos (Bos)	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	99.0 mm (3.9 in)	36 of 100 (Notable)
Springfontein (Mun)	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	40.0 mm (1.6 in)	36 of 100 (Notable)
Kudymkar	Russia	Record daily precipitation	29.0 mm (1.1 in)	35 of 100 (Notable)
Willowmore	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	37.7 mm (1.5 in)	35 of 100 (Notable)
Sarelsrivier	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	34.2 mm (1.3 in)	35 of 100 (Notable)
Hamelfontein	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	30.0 mm (1.2 in)	35 of 100 (Notable)
Tucson Camp Ave Exp	United States	Record high minimum temperature	18.9 C (66.0 F)	35 of 100 (Notable)
Toms River	United States	Record high maximum temperature	34.4 C (93.9 F)	35 of 100 (Notable)
Atwood Lake	United States	Record daily precipitation	37.6 mm (1.5 in)	35 of 100 (Notable)
Poprad/Tatry	Slovakia	Record daily precipitation	43.7 mm (1.7 in)	34 of 100 (Routine)
Cacalotenango	Mexico	Record daily precipitation	63.0 mm (2.5 in)	33 of 100 (Routine)
Winterhoek	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	38.5 mm (1.5 in)	33 of 100 (Routine)
Elliot	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	35.0 mm (1.4 in)	33 of 100 (Routine)
Oranje	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	40.5 mm (1.6 in)	33 of 100 (Routine)

Counts by Type and Timescale

711 records

Records set or tied on 28 May 1981 by type: Highest daily maximum 52, Lowest daily maximum 46, Highest daily minimum 161, Lowest daily minimum 28, Heaviest daily rainfall 423, Deepest snow cover 1.

Records on 28 May 1981 by type
Record type	Records
Highest daily maximum	52
Lowest daily maximum	46
Highest daily minimum	161
Lowest daily minimum	28
Heaviest daily rainfall	423
Heaviest daily snowfall	0
Deepest snow cover	1

Records on 28 May 1981 by timescale: all-time 1, monthly 17, daily 693.

How Much Records Were Beaten By

594 broken records

Margins by which the 594 broken records beat the old ones, in degrees Celsius for temperature and millimetres for precipitation and snow; the largest margin was 150.0. Ties are not counted.

Top 20 by Significance

28 May 1981

Top 20 records on 28 May 1981 by significance
Date	Station	Record	Value	Beat old record by	Old record stood	Significance
28 May 1981	Goudveld (Bos), ZA	daily rain	106.0 mm (4.2 in)	70.7 mm (2.8 in)	89 years	75 of 100 (Major)
28 May 1981	Morgantown Muni AP, US	daily rain	42.7 mm (1.7 in)	27.5 mm (1.1 in)	107 years	75 of 100 (Major)
28 May 1981	Harkerville (Bos), ZA	daily rain	100.0 mm (3.9 in)	75.4 mm (3.0 in)	82 years	73 of 100 (Major)
28 May 1981	Steytlerville (Mag), ZA	daily rain	42.0 mm (1.7 in)	25.5 mm (1.0 in)	67 years	62 of 100 (Major)
28 May 1981	Bloukrans (Bos), ZA	daily rain	140.0 mm (5.5 in)	100.9 mm (4.0 in)	36 years	61 of 100 (Major)
28 May 1981	Sterkstroom (Pol), ZA	daily rain	52.0 mm (2.0 in)	37.8 mm (1.5 in)	36 years	60 of 100 (Major)
28 May 1981	Concordia (Bos), ZA	daily rain	104.5 mm (4.1 in)	72.5 mm (2.9 in)	23 years	55 of 100 (Notable)
28 May 1981	Buffelsnek (Bos), ZA	daily rain	92.0 mm (3.6 in)	65.0 mm (2.6 in)	23 years	54 of 100 (Notable)
28 May 1981	Glenwood 2WNW, US	daily rain	43.9 mm (1.7 in)	23.1 mm (0.9 in)	81 years	54 of 100 (Notable)
28 May 1981	Pilger, CA	daily rain	55.0 mm (2.2 in)	24.0 mm (0.9 in)	55 years	52 of 100 (Notable)
28 May 1981	Matjiesrivier (Skl), ZA	daily rain	64.5 mm (2.5 in)	59.5 mm (2.3 in)	26 years	52 of 100 (Notable)
28 May 1981	Gouna (Bos), ZA	daily rain	119.5 mm (4.7 in)	90.5 mm (3.6 in)	23 years	51 of 100 (Notable)
28 May 1981	Rocky Mt, US	daily rain	58.4 mm (2.3 in)	34.8 mm (1.4 in)	48 years	51 of 100 (Notable)
28 May 1981	Payson, US	daily rain	27.4 mm (1.1 in)	23.6 mm (0.9 in)	28 years	50 of 100 (Notable)
28 May 1981	Welbedagt, ZA	daily rain	34.5 mm (1.4 in)	28.0 mm (1.1 in)	23 years	48 of 100 (Notable)
28 May 1981	Kruisrivier, ZA	daily rain	45.0 mm (1.8 in)	26.2 mm (1.0 in)	48 years	48 of 100 (Notable)
28 May 1981	Ariri, BR	daily rain	120.6 mm (4.7 in)	87.8 mm (3.5 in)	10 years	47 of 100 (Notable)
28 May 1981	Chietla, MX	daily rain	61.5 mm (2.4 in)	38.6 mm (1.5 in)	28 years	47 of 100 (Notable)
28 May 1981	Millungera Station, AU	daily rain	50.0 mm (2.0 in)	38.3 mm (1.5 in)	40 years	46 of 100 (Notable)
28 May 1981	Lumberton, US	daily rain	75.7 mm (3.0 in)	33.8 mm (1.3 in)	48 years	46 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

1794 to 1981

Records set or tied on this calendar date in each year from 1794 to 1981. 1981 had 711 records.

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

Records on 05-28 in each year
Year	Records
1794	1
1797	1
1811	1
1824	1
1832	1
1836	5
1840	1
1841	1
1847	2
1848	1
1851	2
1857	1
1858	1
1863	1
1865	1
1868	4
1869	1
1876	1
1879	2
1880	2
1884	3
1885	2
1887	1
1888	3
1889	3
1890	3
1891	2
1892	9
1893	2
1894	9
1895	1
1896	5
1897	6
1898	1
1899	6
1900	4
1901	6
1902	12
1903	9
1904	6
1905	14
1906	31
1907	36
1908	26
1909	7
1910	18
1911	42
1912	19
1913	28
1914	58
1915	27
1916	24
1917	36
1918	43
1919	43
1920	33
1921	87
1922	80
1923	72
1924	109
1925	122
1926	143
1927	301
1928	150
1929	355
1930	131
1931	574
1932	171
1933	212
1934	537
1935	186
1936	337
1937	212
1938	285
1939	433
1940	217
1941	711
1942	279
1943	238
1944	330
1945	331
1946	413
1947	1,049
1948	333
1949	321
1950	276
1951	503
1952	314
1953	392
1954	382
1955	413
1956	456
1957	272
1958	792
1959	557
1960	431
1961	1,026
1962	859
1963	368
1964	394
1965	536
1966	284
1967	350
1968	610
1969	863
1970	310
1971	767
1972	575
1973	834
1974	585
1975	397
1976	914
1977	826
1978	802
1979	521
1980	808
1981	711
1982	1,204
1983	1,666
1984	1,357
1985	914
1986	591
1987	1,139
1988	806
1989	817
1990	1,024
1991	1,647
1992	1,610
1993	870
1994	981
1995	1,078
1996	1,438
1997	1,108
1998	1,043
1999	952
2000	1,229
2001	1,024
2002	612
2003	1,049
2004	875
2005	1,032
2006	1,566
2007	1,084
2008	902
2009	733
2010	937
2011	1,188
2012	1,237
2013	541
2014	781
2015	487
2016	625
2017	710
2018	1,348
2019	973
2020	875
2021	537
2022	476
2023	445
2024	907
2025	663
2026	1,053

Download the Data

Data for records on 1981-05-28: 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 2026-10-14 (14 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 20	540
20 to 40	38
40 to 60	8
60 to 80	4
80 to 100	2
100 to 120	1
120 to 140	0
140 to 160	1