Weather Records on 20 January 1991

562 weather records were set or tied worldwide on 20 January 1991. Highest significance: Ellesmere, ZA.

Key Facts for 20 January 1991

On 20 January 1991, 562 weather records were set or tied at long-record stations worldwide.
281 were record highs and 29 were record lows, counting maximum and minimum temperature.
By timescale, 1 were all-time records, 18 monthly and 543 daily.
Ellesmere set a daily record precipitation of 62.5 mm (2.5 in) on 20 January 1991.
Across 157 earlier years (1795 to 2026) the same calendar date averaged 511 records.

Record Map

562 stations

562 station records on 20 January 1991 are marked on the map, coloured by record type. Dot size shows the significance score. Made with Natural Earth.

Weather records on 20 January 1991: highest significance records shown on the map
Station	Country	Type	Value	Significance
Ellesmere	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	62.5 mm (2.5 in)	70 of 100 (Major)
Philippolis (Pol)	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	48.0 mm (1.9 in)	63 of 100 (Major)
Greenvale	Australia	Record daily precipitation	110.0 mm (4.3 in)	56 of 100 (Notable)
Taung	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	100.0 mm (3.9 in)	54 of 100 (Notable)
Oranje	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	63.5 mm (2.5 in)	52 of 100 (Notable)
Jamestown	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	52.0 mm (2.0 in)	49 of 100 (Notable)
Avoca	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	37.8 mm (1.5 in)	48 of 100 (Notable)
Live Oak	United States	Record daily precipitation	89.7 mm (3.5 in)	48 of 100 (Notable)
Douglas	United States	Record daily precipitation	96.8 mm (3.8 in)	48 of 100 (Notable)
Georgetown 2 E	United States	Record daily precipitation	46.7 mm (1.8 in)	48 of 100 (Notable)
Boysen Dam	United States	Record daily snowfall	5.1 cm (2.0 in)	48 of 100 (Notable)
Urgench	Uzbekistan	Record daily precipitation	31.1 mm (1.2 in)	48 of 100 (Notable)
Moreson	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	66.5 mm (2.6 in)	47 of 100 (Notable)
Clifton Vale	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	43.7 mm (1.7 in)	46 of 100 (Notable)
Perry	United States	Record daily precipitation	81.3 mm (3.2 in)	46 of 100 (Notable)
Conway	United States	Record daily precipitation	76.7 mm (3.0 in)	46 of 100 (Notable)
Balfes Creek Post Office	Australia	Record daily precipitation	75.2 mm (3.0 in)	45 of 100 (Notable)
Hughenden	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	49.0 mm (1.9 in)	45 of 100 (Notable)
Nququ (Bos)	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	53.7 mm (2.1 in)	44 of 100 (Notable)
Donkerhoek	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	26.0 mm (1.0 in)	44 of 100 (Notable)
Buffelsfontein 14	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	31.0 mm (1.2 in)	43 of 100 (Notable)
Arrabury Station	Australia	Record daily precipitation	25.0 mm (1.0 in)	42 of 100 (Notable)
Springfontein (Mun)	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	75.0 mm (3.0 in)	42 of 100 (Notable)
Ludiksdam	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	55.5 mm (2.2 in)	42 of 100 (Notable)
Opaeula 870	United States	Record high minimum temperature	25.6 C (78.1 F)	42 of 100 (Notable)
Santa Rosa de Lima (Camboata)	Brazil	Record daily precipitation	41.7 mm (1.6 in)	41 of 100 (Notable)
Ibeka (Bos)	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	43.6 mm (1.7 in)	41 of 100 (Notable)
Mansfield 5 W	United States	Record daily precipitation	27.9 mm (1.1 in)	41 of 100 (Notable)
Groot-Arendskraal	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	28.5 mm (1.1 in)	40 of 100 (Notable)
Waycross 4 NE	United States	Record daily precipitation	77.2 mm (3.0 in)	40 of 100 (Notable)
Torrevieja	Spain	Record daily precipitation	41.3 mm (1.6 in)	39 of 100 (Notable)
Tweefontein	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	94.0 mm (3.7 in)	38 of 100 (Notable)
Clonagh Station	Australia	Record daily precipitation	100.0 mm (3.9 in)	37 of 100 (Notable)
Sullivans Is	United States	Record daily precipitation	44.7 mm (1.8 in)	37 of 100 (Notable)
Puente Colgante	Mexico	Record high minimum temperature	25.0 C (77.0 F)	36 of 100 (Notable)
Ocampo	Mexico	Record high maximum temperature	31.7 C (89.1 F)	36 of 100 (Notable)
Karasjok	Norway	Record high minimum temperature	-2.4 C (27.7 F)	36 of 100 (Notable)
Riverton	United States	Record daily snowfall	6.4 cm (2.5 in)	36 of 100 (Notable)
Wiluna	Australia	Record high minimum temperature	33.6 C (92.5 F)	35 of 100 (Notable)
Goombie	Australia	Record daily precipitation	66.0 mm (2.6 in)	35 of 100 (Notable)
Vajda-Guba	Russia	Record high minimum temperature	-0.2 C (31.6 F)	35 of 100 (Notable)
Maclear (Mag)	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	76.0 mm (3.0 in)	35 of 100 (Notable)
Jacobsdal (Pol)	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	40.0 mm (1.6 in)	35 of 100 (Notable)
Brooklet 1 W	United States	Record daily precipitation	41.1 mm (1.6 in)	35 of 100 (Notable)
Sapelo Is	United States	Record daily precipitation	60.5 mm (2.4 in)	35 of 100 (Notable)
Monticello 5 SE	United States	Record daily precipitation	94.0 mm (3.7 in)	34 of 100 (Routine)
Wildeperdehoek	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	30.0 mm (1.2 in)	33 of 100 (Routine)
Groblershoop;Boegoeb	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	56.0 mm (2.2 in)	33 of 100 (Routine)
Valencia	Spain	Record daily precipitation	32.4 mm (1.3 in)	33 of 100 (Routine)
Little Hills	United States	Record daily snowfall	15.5 cm (6.1 in)	33 of 100 (Routine)
Cacahoatan	Mexico	Record daily precipitation	36.6 mm (1.4 in)	32 of 100 (Routine)
Lake City 2 E	United States	Record daily precipitation	55.9 mm (2.2 in)	32 of 100 (Routine)
Cairo 1SW	United States	Record daily precipitation	93.0 mm (3.7 in)	32 of 100 (Routine)
Hilton Head	United States	Record daily precipitation	46.5 mm (1.8 in)	32 of 100 (Routine)
Tenosique (Smn)	Mexico	Record high maximum temperature	37.2 C (99.0 F)	31 of 100 (Routine)
Vaalbank	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	65.0 mm (2.6 in)	31 of 100 (Routine)
Mayo	United States	Record daily precipitation	80.3 mm (3.2 in)	31 of 100 (Routine)
McClellanville	United States	Record daily precipitation	53.3 mm (2.1 in)	31 of 100 (Routine)
El Tejar	Mexico	Record daily precipitation	27.9 mm (1.1 in)	30 of 100 (Routine)
Inverway	Australia	Record daily precipitation	64.0 mm (2.5 in)	29 of 100 (Routine)

Counts by Type and Timescale

562 records

Records set or tied on 20 January 1991 by type: Highest daily maximum 126, Lowest daily maximum 10, Highest daily minimum 155, Lowest daily minimum 19, Heaviest daily rainfall 226, Heaviest daily snowfall 19, Deepest snow cover 7.

Records on 20 January 1991 by type
Record type	Records
Highest daily maximum	126
Lowest daily maximum	10
Highest daily minimum	155
Lowest daily minimum	19
Heaviest daily rainfall	226
Heaviest daily snowfall	19
Deepest snow cover	7

Records on 20 January 1991 by timescale: all-time 1, monthly 18, daily 543.

How Much Records Were Beaten By

473 broken records

Margins by which the 473 broken records beat the old ones, in degrees Celsius for temperature and millimetres for precipitation and snow; the largest margin was 96.0. Ties are not counted.

Top 20 by Significance

20 January 1991

Top 20 records on 20 January 1991 by significance
Date	Station	Record	Value	Beat old record by	Old record stood	Significance
20 January 1991	Ellesmere, ZA	daily rain	62.5 mm (2.5 in)	34.6 mm (1.4 in)	98 years	70 of 100 (Major)
20 January 1991	Philippolis (Pol), ZA	daily rain	48.0 mm (1.9 in)	27.4 mm (1.1 in)	99 years	63 of 100 (Major)
20 January 1991	Greenvale, AU	daily rain	110.0 mm (4.3 in)	46.5 mm (1.8 in)	76 years	56 of 100 (Notable)
20 January 1991	Taung, ZA	daily rain	100.0 mm (3.9 in)	67.0 mm (2.6 in)	19 years	54 of 100 (Notable)
20 January 1991	Oranje, ZA	monthly rain	63.5 mm (2.5 in)	10.2 mm (0.4 in)	80 years	52 of 100 (Notable)
20 January 1991	Jamestown, ZA	daily rain	52.0 mm (2.0 in)	23.6 mm (0.9 in)	61 years	49 of 100 (Notable)
20 January 1991	Avoca, ZA	daily rain	37.8 mm (1.5 in)	12.1 mm (0.5 in)	98 years	48 of 100 (Notable)
20 January 1991	Live Oak, US	daily rain	89.7 mm (3.5 in)	53.1 mm (2.1 in)	16 years	48 of 100 (Notable)
20 January 1991	Douglas, US	daily rain	96.8 mm (3.8 in)	56.4 mm (2.2 in)	12 years	48 of 100 (Notable)
20 January 1991	Georgetown 2 E, US	daily rain	46.7 mm (1.8 in)	16.2 mm (0.6 in)	88 years	48 of 100 (Notable)
20 January 1991	Boysen Dam, US	daily snowfall	5.1 cm (2.0 in)	5.1 cm (2.0 in)	41 years	48 of 100 (Notable)
20 January 1991	Urgench, UZ	daily rain	31.1 mm (1.2 in)	23.2 mm (0.9 in)	13 years	48 of 100 (Notable)
20 January 1991	Moreson, ZA	daily rain	66.5 mm (2.6 in)	44.0 mm (1.7 in)	24 years	47 of 100 (Notable)
20 January 1991	Clifton Vale, ZA	daily rain	43.7 mm (1.7 in)	32.2 mm (1.3 in)	36 years	46 of 100 (Notable)
20 January 1991	Perry, US	daily rain	81.3 mm (3.2 in)	49.5 mm (1.9 in)	16 years	46 of 100 (Notable)
20 January 1991	Conway, US	daily rain	76.7 mm (3.0 in)	37.1 mm (1.5 in)	12 years	46 of 100 (Notable)
20 January 1991	Balfes Creek Post Office, AU	daily rain	75.2 mm (3.0 in)	25.7 mm (1.0 in)	81 years	45 of 100 (Notable)
20 January 1991	Hughenden, ZA	daily rain	49.0 mm (1.9 in)	34.5 mm (1.4 in)	16 years	45 of 100 (Notable)
20 January 1991	Nququ (Bos), ZA	daily rain	53.7 mm (2.1 in)	24.5 mm (1.0 in)	56 years	44 of 100 (Notable)
20 January 1991	Donkerhoek, ZA	daily rain	26.0 mm (1.0 in)	22.4 mm (0.9 in)	56 years	44 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 1991

Records set or tied on this calendar date in each year from 1795 to 1991. 1991 had 562 records.

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

Records on 01-20 in each year
Year	Records
1795	2
1796	1
1798	1
1804	2
1820	1
1844	1
1850	1
1858	2
1861	1
1862	1
1863	1
1866	2
1867	1
1872	1
1874	4
1875	4
1878	1
1879	1
1880	5
1881	4
1885	1
1890	2
1891	1
1892	3
1893	3
1894	1
1895	2
1896	1
1897	3
1898	6
1899	12
1900	15
1901	11
1902	5
1903	4
1904	14
1905	2
1906	25
1907	26
1908	9
1909	30
1910	11
1911	3
1912	7
1913	44
1914	57
1915	153
1916	34
1917	123
1918	71
1919	28
1920	103
1921	45
1922	86
1923	41
1924	298
1925	181
1926	110
1927	381
1928	383
1929	203
1930	540
1931	90
1932	139
1933	441
1934	118
1935	904
1936	602
1937	1,041
1938	219
1939	238
1940	1,147
1941	214
1942	979
1943	1,002
1944	568
1945	302
1946	487
1947	534
1948	422
1949	429
1950	653
1951	958
1952	386
1953	476
1954	791
1955	278
1956	906
1957	349
1958	494
1959	603
1960	329
1961	641
1962	1,162
1963	921
1964	567
1965	283
1966	634
1967	556
1968	1,096
1969	859
1970	1,301
1971	936
1972	823
1973	450
1974	978
1975	688
1976	848
1977	997
1978	1,669
1979	1,158
1980	423
1981	823
1982	958
1983	847
1984	1,957
1985	2,188
1986	1,327
1987	1,063
1988	1,637
1989	955
1990	1,257
1991	562
1992	493
1993	1,327
1994	2,035
1995	1,136
1996	851
1997	658
1998	576
1999	1,368
2000	1,132
2001	667
2002	666
2003	732
2004	451
2005	1,335
2006	1,395
2007	2,143
2008	1,366
2009	738
2010	986
2011	731
2012	848
2013	432
2014	480
2015	413
2016	726
2017	1,370
2018	634
2019	722
2020	498
2021	375
2022	346
2023	778
2024	841
2025	1,599
2026	193

Download the Data

Data for records on 1991-01-20: 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	414
20 to 40	44
40 to 60	10
60 to 80	4
80 to 100	1