Weather Records on 20 January 1996

851 weather records were set or tied worldwide on 20 January 1996. Highest significance: River Falls, US.

Key Facts for 20 January 1996

On 20 January 1996, 851 weather records were set or tied at long-record stations worldwide.
231 were record highs and 279 were record lows, counting maximum and minimum temperature.
By timescale, 8 were all-time records, 25 monthly and 818 daily.
River Falls set a monthly record daily precipitation of 38.9 mm (1.5 in) on 20 January 1996.
Across 157 earlier years (1795 to 2026) the same calendar date averaged 509 records.

Record Map

851 stations

851 station records on 20 January 1996 are marked on the map, coloured by record type. Dot size shows the significance score. Made with Natural Earth.

Weather records on 20 January 1996: highest significance records shown on the map
Station	Country	Type	Value	Significance
River Falls	United States	Record daily precipitation	38.9 mm (1.5 in)	75 of 100 (Major)
Cortland	United States	Record daily precipitation	37.8 mm (1.5 in)	71 of 100 (Major)
Little Falls City Rsch	United States	Record daily precipitation	36.1 mm (1.4 in)	71 of 100 (Major)
Haskinville	United States	Record daily precipitation	38.1 mm (1.5 in)	68 of 100 (Major)
Watertown	United States	Record daily precipitation	39.4 mm (1.6 in)	67 of 100 (Major)
Morrisville 6 SW	United States	Record daily precipitation	41.9 mm (1.6 in)	66 of 100 (Major)
Stillwater Rsvr	United States	Record daily precipitation	40.6 mm (1.6 in)	66 of 100 (Major)
Towanda 1 S	United States	Record daily precipitation	34.0 mm (1.3 in)	66 of 100 (Major)
Cayuga Lock #1	United States	Record daily precipitation	41.9 mm (1.6 in)	64 of 100 (Major)
Newton	United States	Record daily precipitation	51.1 mm (2.0 in)	62 of 100 (Major)
Pinkham Notch	United States	Record daily precipitation	88.4 mm (3.5 in)	60 of 100 (Major)
Rio Do Pouso	Brazil	Record daily precipitation	154.2 mm (6.1 in)	58 of 100 (Notable)
Cooperstown	United States	Record daily precipitation	35.6 mm (1.4 in)	57 of 100 (Notable)
Aguirre	Puerto Rico [United States]	Record daily precipitation	50.8 mm (2.0 in)	55 of 100 (Notable)
Whitney Point Lake	United States	Record daily precipitation	35.3 mm (1.4 in)	54 of 100 (Notable)
Atlanta 5 WNW	United States	Record daily precipitation	26.4 mm (1.0 in)	52 of 100 (Notable)
Charlotteburg Rsvr	United States	Record daily precipitation	46.5 mm (1.8 in)	52 of 100 (Notable)
Highmarket 2W	United States	Record daily precipitation	43.4 mm (1.7 in)	52 of 100 (Notable)
Ithaca Cornell UNIV	United States	Record daily precipitation	47.5 mm (1.9 in)	52 of 100 (Notable)
Delhi 2 SE	United States	Record daily precipitation	52.1 mm (2.1 in)	51 of 100 (Notable)
Glenham	United States	Record daily precipitation	59.9 mm (2.4 in)	51 of 100 (Notable)
Skaneateles	United States	Record daily precipitation	43.2 mm (1.7 in)	51 of 100 (Notable)
Windham 3 E	United States	Record daily precipitation	57.2 mm (2.3 in)	51 of 100 (Notable)
Canaan	United States	Record daily precipitation	44.5 mm (1.8 in)	51 of 100 (Notable)
Arkville 2 W	United States	Record daily precipitation	54.6 mm (2.1 in)	50 of 100 (Notable)
Aurora Rsch Farm	United States	Record daily precipitation	44.5 mm (1.8 in)	50 of 100 (Notable)
Boonville 4 SSW	United States	Record daily precipitation	51.8 mm (2.0 in)	50 of 100 (Notable)
Wilkes Barre	United States	Record daily precipitation	63.5 mm (2.5 in)	50 of 100 (Notable)
Belowra Station	Australia	Record daily precipitation	63.0 mm (2.5 in)	49 of 100 (Notable)
Falls Village	United States	Record daily precipitation	40.9 mm (1.6 in)	49 of 100 (Notable)
Candor 2SE	United States	Record daily precipitation	52.8 mm (2.1 in)	49 of 100 (Notable)
Chemung	United States	Record daily precipitation	51.1 mm (2.0 in)	49 of 100 (Notable)
Saint Johnsbury	United States	Record daily precipitation	38.1 mm (1.5 in)	49 of 100 (Notable)
Lindoia	Brazil	Record daily precipitation	99.1 mm (3.9 in)	48 of 100 (Notable)
Mattoon	United States	Record daily snowfall	6.9 cm (2.7 in)	48 of 100 (Notable)
Locke 2 W	United States	Record daily precipitation	45.0 mm (1.8 in)	48 of 100 (Notable)
New London Lock #22	United States	Record daily precipitation	36.3 mm (1.4 in)	48 of 100 (Notable)
Colville	United States	Record daily snowfall	10.2 cm (4.0 in)	48 of 100 (Notable)
Tetonia Exp STN	United States	Record daily snowfall	15.2 cm (6.0 in)	47 of 100 (Notable)
Chesterfield	United States	Record daily precipitation	43.9 mm (1.7 in)	47 of 100 (Notable)
Grafton	United States	Record high maximum temperature	12.8 C (55.0 F)	47 of 100 (Notable)
Alcove Dam	United States	Record daily precipitation	54.6 mm (2.1 in)	47 of 100 (Notable)
Dzitas	Mexico	Record daily precipitation	82.3 mm (3.2 in)	46 of 100 (Notable)
Leon Virgen del Camino	Spain	Record daily precipitation	33.9 mm (1.3 in)	46 of 100 (Notable)
Monroe 5 NNE	United States	Record daily precipitation	35.1 mm (1.4 in)	46 of 100 (Notable)
Chelsea	United States	Record daily precipitation	44.5 mm (1.8 in)	46 of 100 (Notable)
Elizabethtown	United States	Record daily precipitation	43.2 mm (1.7 in)	45 of 100 (Notable)
Elmira	United States	Record daily precipitation	43.2 mm (1.7 in)	45 of 100 (Notable)
Liberty 1 NE	United States	Record daily precipitation	52.8 mm (2.1 in)	44 of 100 (Notable)
Saint Johnsbury	United States	Record high maximum temperature	14.4 C (57.9 F)	44 of 100 (Notable)
Mount Fairy (Merigan)	Australia	Record daily precipitation	34.0 mm (1.3 in)	43 of 100 (Notable)
San Juan Bautista Cuicatlan (	Mexico	Record low maximum temperature	13.9 C (57.0 F)	43 of 100 (Notable)
Claryville	United States	Record daily precipitation	38.9 mm (1.5 in)	43 of 100 (Notable)
Cavendish	United States	Record daily precipitation	43.7 mm (1.7 in)	43 of 100 (Notable)
Bellingham Intl AP	United States	Record daily snowfall	14.0 cm (5.5 in)	43 of 100 (Notable)
Porto	Portugal	Record daily precipitation	56.6 mm (2.2 in)	42 of 100 (Notable)
Gardiner	United States	Record daily precipitation	29.2 mm (1.1 in)	42 of 100 (Notable)
Virginia City	United States	Record daily snowfall	12.7 cm (5.0 in)	42 of 100 (Notable)
Berlin	United States	Record daily precipitation	30.0 mm (1.2 in)	41 of 100 (Notable)
Hanover	United States	Record high maximum temperature	11.7 C (53.1 F)	41 of 100 (Notable)

Counts by Type and Timescale

851 records

Records set or tied on 20 January 1996 by type: Highest daily maximum 168, Lowest daily maximum 104, Highest daily minimum 63, Lowest daily minimum 175, Heaviest daily rainfall 274, Heaviest daily snowfall 36, Deepest snow cover 31.

Records on 20 January 1996 by type
Record type	Records
Highest daily maximum	168
Lowest daily maximum	104
Highest daily minimum	63
Lowest daily minimum	175
Heaviest daily rainfall	274
Heaviest daily snowfall	36
Deepest snow cover	31

Records on 20 January 1996 by timescale: all-time 8, monthly 25, daily 818.

How Much Records Were Beaten By

683 broken records

Margins by which the 683 broken records beat the old ones, in degrees Celsius for temperature and millimetres for precipitation and snow; the largest margin was 305.0. Ties are not counted.

Top 20 by Significance

20 January 1996

Top 20 records on 20 January 1996 by significance
Date	Station	Record	Value	Beat old record by	Old record stood	Significance
20 January 1996	River Falls, US	monthly rain	38.9 mm (1.5 in)	18.6 mm (0.7 in)	62 years	75 of 100 (Major)
20 January 1996	Cortland, US	daily rain	37.8 mm (1.5 in)	25.1 mm (1.0 in)	70 years	71 of 100 (Major)
20 January 1996	Little Falls City Rsch, US	daily rain	36.1 mm (1.4 in)	18.8 mm (0.7 in)	97 years	71 of 100 (Major)
20 January 1996	Haskinville, US	daily rain	38.1 mm (1.5 in)	20.3 mm (0.8 in)	70 years	68 of 100 (Major)
20 January 1996	Watertown, US	daily rain	39.4 mm (1.6 in)	16.0 mm (0.6 in)	95 years	67 of 100 (Major)
20 January 1996	Morrisville 6 SW, US	daily rain	41.9 mm (1.6 in)	33.0 mm (1.3 in)	60 years	66 of 100 (Major)
20 January 1996	Stillwater Rsvr, US	daily rain	40.6 mm (1.6 in)	27.9 mm (1.1 in)	64 years	66 of 100 (Major)
20 January 1996	Towanda 1 S, US	daily rain	34.0 mm (1.3 in)	17.0 mm (0.7 in)	97 years	66 of 100 (Major)
20 January 1996	Cayuga Lock #1, US	daily rain	41.9 mm (1.6 in)	31.7 mm (1.2 in)	60 years	64 of 100 (Major)
20 January 1996	Newton, US	daily rain	51.1 mm (2.0 in)	22.1 mm (0.9 in)	97 years	62 of 100 (Major)
20 January 1996	Pinkham Notch, US	daily rain	88.4 mm (3.5 in)	53.9 mm (2.1 in)	48 years	60 of 100 (Major)
20 January 1996	Rio Do Pouso, BR	monthly rain	154.2 mm (6.1 in)	53.8 mm (2.1 in)	13 years	58 of 100 (Notable)
20 January 1996	Cooperstown, US	daily rain	35.6 mm (1.4 in)	16.5 mm (0.6 in)	70 years	57 of 100 (Notable)
20 January 1996	Aguirre, PR	daily rain	50.8 mm (2.0 in)	45.0 mm (1.8 in)	37 years	55 of 100 (Notable)
20 January 1996	Whitney Point Lake, US	daily rain	35.3 mm (1.4 in)	18.8 mm (0.7 in)	60 years	54 of 100 (Notable)
20 January 1996	Atlanta 5 WNW, US	daily rain	26.4 mm (1.0 in)	12.7 mm (0.5 in)	44 years	52 of 100 (Notable)
20 January 1996	Charlotteburg Rsvr, US	daily rain	46.5 mm (1.8 in)	15.0 mm (0.6 in)	97 years	52 of 100 (Notable)
20 January 1996	Highmarket 2W, US	daily rain	43.4 mm (1.7 in)	21.6 mm (0.9 in)	68 years	52 of 100 (Notable)
20 January 1996	Ithaca Cornell UNIV, US	daily rain	47.5 mm (1.9 in)	33.3 mm (1.3 in)	9 years	52 of 100 (Notable)
20 January 1996	Delhi 2 SE, US	monthly rain	52.1 mm (2.1 in)	19.1 mm (0.8 in)	5 years	51 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 1996

Records set or tied on this calendar date in each year from 1795 to 1996. 1996 had 851 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 1996-01-20: 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 50	651
50 to 100	23
100 to 150	3
150 to 200	2
200 to 250	1
250 to 300	2
300 to 350	1