Weather Records on 20 May 1986

790 weather records were set or tied worldwide on 20 May 1986. Highest significance: Hot Springs, US.

Key Facts for 20 May 1986

On 20 May 1986, 790 weather records were set or tied at long-record stations worldwide.
335 were record highs and 237 were record lows, counting maximum and minimum temperature.
By timescale, 2 were all-time records, 23 monthly and 765 daily.
Hot Springs set a daily record precipitation of 64.5 mm (2.5 in) on 20 May 1986.
Across 162 earlier years (1802 to 2026) the same calendar date averaged 454 records.

Record Map

790 stations

790 station records on 20 May 1986 are marked on the map, coloured by record type. Dot size shows the significance score. Made with Natural Earth.

Weather records on 20 May 1986: highest significance records shown on the map
Station	Country	Type	Value	Significance
Hot Springs	United States	Record daily precipitation	64.5 mm (2.5 in)	58 of 100 (Notable)
Sparta 3.5 SSW	United States	Record daily precipitation	99.1 mm (3.9 in)	56 of 100 (Notable)
Fredonia	United States	Record daily precipitation	68.1 mm (2.7 in)	53 of 100 (Notable)
Sherman	United States	Record daily precipitation	47.0 mm (1.9 in)	51 of 100 (Notable)
Hagerstown 1E	United States	Record daily precipitation	44.5 mm (1.8 in)	49 of 100 (Notable)
Chengdu	China	Record daily precipitation	78.6 mm (3.1 in)	46 of 100 (Notable)
Midland	Australia	Record daily precipitation	37.2 mm (1.5 in)	44 of 100 (Notable)
Qionghai	China	Record daily precipitation	155.4 mm (6.1 in)	44 of 100 (Notable)
Beavertown 1 NE	United States	Record daily precipitation	58.7 mm (2.3 in)	44 of 100 (Notable)
Kantunilkin	Mexico	Record daily precipitation	81.8 mm (3.2 in)	43 of 100 (Notable)
Dongfang	China	Record daily precipitation	84.7 mm (3.3 in)	42 of 100 (Notable)
Martinsburg E W Virginia Rgnl	United States	Record daily precipitation	59.7 mm (2.4 in)	42 of 100 (Notable)
Mount Wellington (the Springs)	Australia	Record daily precipitation	34.4 mm (1.4 in)	40 of 100 (Notable)
Calcutta/Dum Dum	India	Record daily precipitation	64.0 mm (2.5 in)	40 of 100 (Notable)
Berlin	United States	Record high minimum temperature	15.6 C (60.1 F)	40 of 100 (Notable)
Weert	Netherlands	Record daily precipitation	27.0 mm (1.1 in)	38 of 100 (Notable)
Kalamazoo State Hospital	United States	Record low maximum temperature	8.9 C (48.0 F)	38 of 100 (Notable)
Standish 4NE	United States	Record low maximum temperature	8.3 C (46.9 F)	38 of 100 (Notable)
Culver City	United States	Record high minimum temperature	20.0 C (68.0 F)	37 of 100 (Notable)
Payette	United States	Record high minimum temperature	15.0 C (59.0 F)	37 of 100 (Notable)
Pickens 1	United States	Record daily precipitation	40.4 mm (1.6 in)	37 of 100 (Notable)
Swansea Post Office	Australia	Record daily precipitation	28.0 mm (1.1 in)	36 of 100 (Notable)
Greene	United States	Record daily precipitation	40.6 mm (1.6 in)	36 of 100 (Notable)
Old Forge	United States	Record high minimum temperature	15.6 C (60.1 F)	36 of 100 (Notable)
Evanston 1 E	United States	Record high minimum temperature	6.7 C (44.1 F)	36 of 100 (Notable)
Elizabethtown	United States	Record daily precipitation	69.9 mm (2.8 in)	35 of 100 (Notable)
Chidlow	Australia	Record daily precipitation	28.8 mm (1.1 in)	34 of 100 (Routine)
Sonnblick	Austria	Record high maximum temperature	7.1 C (44.8 F)	34 of 100 (Routine)
Nanchong	China	Record daily precipitation	87.0 mm (3.4 in)	34 of 100 (Routine)
Regensburg	Germany	Record high minimum temperature	15.8 C (60.4 F)	34 of 100 (Routine)
Central Michigan UNIV	United States	Record low maximum temperature	8.9 C (48.0 F)	34 of 100 (Routine)
Brackettville	United States	Record low minimum temperature	11.1 C (52.0 F)	34 of 100 (Routine)
Allisonia 2 SSE	United States	Record daily precipitation	45.2 mm (1.8 in)	34 of 100 (Routine)
Little Swanport (Lisdillon)	Australia	Record daily precipitation	30.0 mm (1.2 in)	33 of 100 (Routine)
Freiburg	Germany	Record high minimum temperature	15.9 C (60.6 F)	33 of 100 (Routine)
Padilla	Mexico	Record low minimum temperature	11.7 C (53.1 F)	33 of 100 (Routine)
Lawrence	United States	Record high maximum temperature	32.2 C (90.0 F)	33 of 100 (Routine)
Holland Wtp	United States	Record low maximum temperature	10.0 C (50.0 F)	33 of 100 (Routine)
Bolivar	United States	Record high minimum temperature	15.0 C (59.0 F)	33 of 100 (Routine)
Clarence	United States	Record daily precipitation	37.3 mm (1.5 in)	33 of 100 (Routine)
Bamberg	Germany	Record high minimum temperature	15.1 C (59.2 F)	32 of 100 (Routine)
Basel Binningen	Switzerland	Record high minimum temperature	16.3 C (61.3 F)	32 of 100 (Routine)
Goshen 3SW	United States	Record low maximum temperature	8.9 C (48.0 F)	32 of 100 (Routine)
Bloomingdale	United States	Record low maximum temperature	10.0 C (50.0 F)	32 of 100 (Routine)
Durham	United States	Record daily precipitation	63.5 mm (2.5 in)	32 of 100 (Routine)
Saginaw Mbs Intl AP	United States	Record low maximum temperature	8.9 C (48.0 F)	32 of 100 (Routine)
La Huerta	Mexico	Record low maximum temperature	25.0 C (77.0 F)	31 of 100 (Routine)
Vallecillo (Smn)	Mexico	Record low minimum temperature	13.9 C (57.0 F)	31 of 100 (Routine)
Wilson 4 S	United States	Record daily precipitation	43.2 mm (1.7 in)	31 of 100 (Routine)
Cuero	United States	Record low minimum temperature	11.1 C (52.0 F)	31 of 100 (Routine)
Sonnblick	Austria	Record high minimum temperature	1.7 C (35.1 F)	30 of 100 (Routine)
Wisley	United Kingdom	Record high minimum temperature	13.0 C (55.4 F)	30 of 100 (Routine)
E Tawas	United States	Record low maximum temperature	7.2 C (45.0 F)	30 of 100 (Routine)
West Milton	United States	Record daily precipitation	41.1 mm (1.6 in)	30 of 100 (Routine)
Webster Springs	United States	Record daily precipitation	40.1 mm (1.6 in)	30 of 100 (Routine)
Qu Xian	China	Record daily precipitation	130.1 mm (5.1 in)	29 of 100 (Routine)
Plauen	Germany	Record high minimum temperature	13.6 C (56.5 F)	29 of 100 (Routine)
Santiago Undameo	Mexico	Record daily precipitation	30.5 mm (1.2 in)	29 of 100 (Routine)
Monticello 5 SE	United States	Record low maximum temperature	21.7 C (71.1 F)	29 of 100 (Routine)
Potlatch 3 NNE	United States	Record high minimum temperature	12.2 C (54.0 F)	29 of 100 (Routine)

Counts by Type and Timescale

790 records

Records set or tied on 20 May 1986 by type: Highest daily maximum 86, Lowest daily maximum 142, Highest daily minimum 249, Lowest daily minimum 95, Heaviest daily rainfall 218.

Records on 20 May 1986 by type
Record type	Records
Highest daily maximum	86
Lowest daily maximum	142
Highest daily minimum	249
Lowest daily minimum	95
Heaviest daily rainfall	218
Heaviest daily snowfall	0
Deepest snow cover	0

Records on 20 May 1986 by timescale: all-time 2, monthly 23, daily 765.

How Much Records Were Beaten By

617 broken records

Margins by which the 617 broken records beat the old ones, in degrees Celsius for temperature and millimetres for precipitation and snow; the largest margin was 104.6. Ties are not counted.

Top 20 by Significance

20 May 1986

Top 20 records on 20 May 1986 by significance
Date	Station	Record	Value	Beat old record by	Old record stood	Significance
20 May 1986	Hot Springs, US	daily rain	64.5 mm (2.5 in)	23.4 mm (0.9 in)	89 years	58 of 100 (Notable)
20 May 1986	Sparta 3.5 SSW, US	daily rain	99.1 mm (3.9 in)	74.7 mm (2.9 in)	41 years	56 of 100 (Notable)
20 May 1986	Fredonia, US	monthly rain	68.1 mm (2.7 in)	14.8 mm (0.6 in)	58 years	53 of 100 (Notable)
20 May 1986	Sherman, US	daily rain	47.0 mm (1.9 in)	34.8 mm (1.4 in)	28 years	51 of 100 (Notable)
20 May 1986	Hagerstown 1E, US	daily rain	44.5 mm (1.8 in)	17.6 mm (0.7 in)	77 years	49 of 100 (Notable)
20 May 1986	Chengdu, CN	daily rain	78.6 mm (3.1 in)	46.3 mm (1.8 in)	12 years	46 of 100 (Notable)
20 May 1986	Midland, AU	daily rain	37.2 mm (1.5 in)	24.5 mm (1.0 in)	40 years	44 of 100 (Notable)
20 May 1986	Qionghai, CN	daily rain	155.4 mm (6.1 in)	104.6 mm (4.1 in)	4 years	44 of 100 (Notable)
20 May 1986	Beavertown 1 NE, US	daily rain	58.7 mm (2.3 in)	31.0 mm (1.2 in)	36 years	44 of 100 (Notable)
20 May 1986	Kantunilkin, MX	daily rain	81.8 mm (3.2 in)	61.2 mm (2.4 in)	16 years	43 of 100 (Notable)
20 May 1986	Dongfang, CN	daily rain	84.7 mm (3.3 in)	59.0 mm (2.3 in)	16 years	42 of 100 (Notable)
20 May 1986	Martinsburg E W Virginia Rgnl, US	daily rain	59.7 mm (2.4 in)	7.6 mm (0.30 in)	91 years	42 of 100 (Notable)
20 May 1986	Mount Wellington (the Springs), AU	daily rain	34.4 mm (1.4 in)	12.3 mm (0.5 in)	68 years	40 of 100 (Notable)
20 May 1986	Calcutta/Dum Dum, IN	daily rain	64.0 mm (2.5 in)	46.8 mm (1.8 in)	17 years	40 of 100 (Notable)
20 May 1986	Berlin, US	daily high min	15.6 C (60.1 F)	0.6 C (1.1 F)	96 years	40 of 100 (Notable)
20 May 1986	Weert, NL	daily rain	27.0 mm (1.1 in)	18.3 mm (0.7 in)	3 years	38 of 100 (Notable)
20 May 1986	Kalamazoo State Hospital, US	daily low max	8.9 C (48.0 F)	1.7 C (3.1 F)	91 years	38 of 100 (Notable)
20 May 1986	Standish 4NE, US	daily low max	8.3 C (46.9 F)	1.7 C (3.1 F)	90 years	38 of 100 (Notable)
20 May 1986	Culver City, US	daily high min	20.0 C (68.0 F)	4.4 C (7.9 F)	45 years	37 of 100 (Notable)
20 May 1986	Payette, US	daily high min	15.0 C (59.0 F)	1.1 C (2.0 F)	88 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

1802 to 1986

Records set or tied on this calendar date in each year from 1802 to 1986. 1986 had 790 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 1986-05-20: 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 20	599
20 to 40	12
40 to 60	3
60 to 80	2
80 to 100	0
100 to 120	1