Weather Records on 20 January 1997

658 weather records were set or tied worldwide on 20 January 1997. Highest significance: Doornplaat, ZA.

Key Facts for 20 January 1997

On 20 January 1997, 658 weather records were set or tied at long-record stations worldwide.
243 were record highs and 101 were record lows, counting maximum and minimum temperature.
By timescale, 8 were all-time records, 11 monthly and 639 daily.
Doornplaat set a daily record precipitation of 72.5 mm (2.9 in) on 20 January 1997.
Across 157 earlier years (1795 to 2026) the same calendar date averaged 511 records.

Record Map

658 stations

658 station records on 20 January 1997 are marked on the map, coloured by record type. Dot size shows the significance score. Made with Natural Earth.

Weather records on 20 January 1997: highest significance records shown on the map
Station	Country	Type	Value	Significance
Doornplaat	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	72.5 mm (2.9 in)	71 of 100 (Major)
Kalispell Glacier AP	United States	Record snow depth	111.8 cm (44.0 in)	62 of 100 (Major)
Timber Lake	United States	Record snow depth	73.7 cm (29.0 in)	51 of 100 (Notable)
Victoria Cp&L	United States	Record daily precipitation	50.8 mm (2.0 in)	51 of 100 (Notable)
Coloso	Puerto Rico [United States]	Record daily precipitation	47.5 mm (1.9 in)	50 of 100 (Notable)
Sedro-Woolley	United States	Record daily precipitation	33.5 mm (1.3 in)	50 of 100 (Notable)
Selby	United States	Record snow depth	111.8 cm (44.0 in)	49 of 100 (Notable)
Misurata	Libya	Record daily precipitation	36.1 mm (1.4 in)	48 of 100 (Notable)
Mobridge 2NNW	United States	Record snow depth	76.2 cm (30.0 in)	48 of 100 (Notable)
Huron Rgnl AP	United States	Record snow depth	50.8 cm (20.0 in)	48 of 100 (Notable)
Dupree 15 SSE	United States	Record snow depth	76.2 cm (30.0 in)	47 of 100 (Notable)
Arltunga	Australia	Record daily precipitation	36.0 mm (1.4 in)	46 of 100 (Notable)
Snowflake 15 W	United States	Record snow depth	33.0 cm (13.0 in)	46 of 100 (Notable)
La Belle	United States	Record low minimum temperature	-7.2 C (19.0 F)	44 of 100 (Notable)
Crookston NW Exp STN	United States	Record snow depth	88.9 cm (35.0 in)	44 of 100 (Notable)
Eureka	United States	Record snow depth	127.0 cm (50.0 in)	44 of 100 (Notable)
Waianae 798	United States	Record daily precipitation	88.6 mm (3.5 in)	44 of 100 (Notable)
Redwood Falls Muni AP	United States	Record snow depth	61.0 cm (24.0 in)	44 of 100 (Notable)
Vila Canoas	Brazil	Record daily precipitation	60.5 mm (2.4 in)	43 of 100 (Notable)
Timburi	Brazil	Record daily precipitation	58.5 mm (2.3 in)	43 of 100 (Notable)
Gibson City	United States	Record snow depth	30.5 cm (12.0 in)	43 of 100 (Notable)
Minneapolis	United States	Record high maximum temperature	22.2 C (72.0 F)	43 of 100 (Notable)
Canby	United States	Record snow depth	76.2 cm (30.0 in)	43 of 100 (Notable)
Ixtlan del Rio	Mexico	Record daily precipitation	27.9 mm (1.1 in)	40 of 100 (Notable)
Olivine	South Africa	Record daily precipitation	58.5 mm (2.3 in)	40 of 100 (Notable)
Abilene	United States	Record high maximum temperature	21.7 C (71.1 F)	40 of 100 (Notable)
Mc Leod 3 E	United States	Record snow depth	114.3 cm (45.0 in)	40 of 100 (Notable)
Wildrose 3NW	United States	Record daily snowfall	10.2 cm (4.0 in)	40 of 100 (Notable)
Oelrichs	United States	Record high maximum temperature	17.2 C (63.0 F)	40 of 100 (Notable)
Mount Gambier Post Office	Australia	Record high maximum temperature	40.9 C (105.6 F)	39 of 100 (Notable)
Roscoe	United States	Record snow depth	81.3 cm (32.0 in)	39 of 100 (Notable)
Victor 4 N	United States	Record snow depth	96.5 cm (38.0 in)	38 of 100 (Notable)
Rest Lake	United States	Record snow depth	91.4 cm (36.0 in)	38 of 100 (Notable)
Thangoo	Australia	Record daily precipitation	75.2 mm (3.0 in)	37 of 100 (Notable)
Campina da Alegria	Brazil	Record daily precipitation	63.3 mm (2.5 in)	37 of 100 (Notable)
Coronel Macedo	Brazil	Record daily precipitation	45.8 mm (1.8 in)	37 of 100 (Notable)
Plainville 4WNW	United States	Record high maximum temperature	21.1 C (70.0 F)	37 of 100 (Notable)
Wilmot	United States	Record snow depth	119.4 cm (47.0 in)	37 of 100 (Notable)
Pohakea Brg 307.2	United States	Record daily precipitation	77.2 mm (3.0 in)	37 of 100 (Notable)
Aberdeen	United States	Record snow depth	71.1 cm (28.0 in)	37 of 100 (Notable)
Hope Vale	Australia	Record daily precipitation	289.0 mm (11.4 in)	36 of 100 (Notable)
Pollock	United States	Record snow depth	55.9 cm (22.0 in)	36 of 100 (Notable)
W Lafayette 6 NW	United States	Record snow depth	25.4 cm (10.0 in)	35 of 100 (Notable)
Sealy	United States	Record daily precipitation	50.8 mm (2.0 in)	35 of 100 (Notable)
Sundance	United States	Record high maximum temperature	11.7 C (53.1 F)	35 of 100 (Notable)
Mellette 4 W	United States	Record snow depth	76.2 cm (30.0 in)	34 of 100 (Routine)
Onida 4 NW	United States	Record snow depth	61.0 cm (24.0 in)	34 of 100 (Routine)
Engenheiro Maia	Brazil	Record daily precipitation	71.3 mm (2.8 in)	33 of 100 (Routine)
Worms	Germany	Record snow depth	22.0 cm (8.7 in)	33 of 100 (Routine)
Utuado	Puerto Rico [United States]	Record daily precipitation	27.9 mm (1.1 in)	33 of 100 (Routine)
Tenerife/Los Rodeos	Spain	Record daily precipitation	43.8 mm (1.7 in)	33 of 100 (Routine)
Pacific	United States	Record snow depth	20.3 cm (8.0 in)	33 of 100 (Routine)
Blunt	United States	Record snow depth	40.6 cm (16.0 in)	33 of 100 (Routine)
Couderay 7 W	United States	Record snow depth	101.6 cm (40.0 in)	33 of 100 (Routine)
Barkly Downs	Australia	Record daily precipitation	69.0 mm (2.7 in)	32 of 100 (Routine)
Autlan	Mexico	Record low maximum temperature	18.9 C (66.0 F)	32 of 100 (Routine)
Pawnee City	United States	Record high minimum temperature	1.7 C (35.1 F)	32 of 100 (Routine)
Tarkio	United States	Record high maximum temperature	17.2 C (63.0 F)	32 of 100 (Routine)
Hallettsville 2 N	United States	Record daily precipitation	34.5 mm (1.4 in)	31 of 100 (Routine)
Hartford Brainard Fld	United States	Record low minimum temperature	-22.2 C (-8.0 F)	31 of 100 (Routine)

Counts by Type and Timescale

658 records

Records set or tied on 20 January 1997 by type: Highest daily maximum 145, Lowest daily maximum 47, Highest daily minimum 98, Lowest daily minimum 54, Heaviest daily rainfall 191, Heaviest daily snowfall 4, Deepest snow cover 119.

Records on 20 January 1997 by type
Record type	Records
Highest daily maximum	145
Lowest daily maximum	47
Highest daily minimum	98
Lowest daily minimum	54
Heaviest daily rainfall	191
Heaviest daily snowfall	4
Deepest snow cover	119

Records on 20 January 1997 by timescale: all-time 8, monthly 11, daily 639.

How Much Records Were Beaten By

525 broken records

Margins by which the 525 broken records beat the old ones, in degrees Celsius for temperature and millimetres for precipitation and snow; the largest margin was 661.0. Ties are not counted.

Top 20 by Significance

20 January 1997

Top 20 records on 20 January 1997 by significance
Date	Station	Record	Value	Beat old record by	Old record stood	Significance
20 January 1997	Doornplaat, ZA	daily rain	72.5 mm (2.9 in)	51.2 mm (2.0 in)	79 years	71 of 100 (Major)
20 January 1997	Kalispell Glacier AP, US	daily snow depth	111.8 cm (44.0 in)	63.5 cm (25.0 in)	45 years	62 of 100 (Major)
20 January 1997	Timber Lake, US	daily snow depth	73.7 cm (29.0 in)	35.6 cm (14.0 in)	45 years	51 of 100 (Notable)
20 January 1997	Victoria Cp&L, US	daily rain	50.8 mm (2.0 in)	20.3 mm (0.8 in)	97 years	51 of 100 (Notable)
20 January 1997	Coloso, PR	daily rain	47.5 mm (1.9 in)	30.2 mm (1.2 in)	36 years	50 of 100 (Notable)
20 January 1997	Sedro-Woolley, US	daily rain	33.5 mm (1.3 in)	10.6 mm (0.4 in)	97 years	50 of 100 (Notable)
20 January 1997	Selby, US	daily snow depth	111.8 cm (44.0 in)	66.1 cm (26.0 in)	3 years	49 of 100 (Notable)
20 January 1997	Misurata, LY	daily rain	36.1 mm (1.4 in)	30.0 mm (1.2 in)	36 years	48 of 100 (Notable)
20 January 1997	Mobridge 2NNW, US	daily snow depth	76.2 cm (30.0 in)	43.2 cm (17.0 in)	3 years	48 of 100 (Notable)
20 January 1997	Huron Rgnl AP, US	daily snow depth	50.8 cm (20.0 in)	10.2 cm (4.0 in)	99 years	48 of 100 (Notable)
20 January 1997	Dupree 15 SSE, US	daily snow depth	76.2 cm (30.0 in)	48.3 cm (19.0 in)	19 years	47 of 100 (Notable)
20 January 1997	Arltunga, AU	daily rain	36.0 mm (1.4 in)	14.4 mm (0.6 in)	93 years	46 of 100 (Notable)
20 January 1997	Snowflake 15 W, US	daily snow depth	33.0 cm (13.0 in)	22.8 cm (9.0 in)	10 years	46 of 100 (Notable)
20 January 1997	La Belle, US	all-time low min	-7.2 C (19.0 F)	0.5 C (0.9 F)	62 years	44 of 100 (Notable)
20 January 1997	Crookston NW Exp STN, US	daily snow depth	88.9 cm (35.0 in)	38.1 cm (15.0 in)	28 years	44 of 100 (Notable)
20 January 1997	Eureka, US	daily snow depth	127.0 cm (50.0 in)	58.4 cm (23.0 in)	3 years	44 of 100 (Notable)
20 January 1997	Waianae 798, US	daily rain	88.6 mm (3.5 in)	62.7 mm (2.5 in)	15 years	44 of 100 (Notable)
20 January 1997	Redwood Falls Muni AP, US	daily snow depth	61.0 cm (24.0 in)	22.9 cm (9.0 in)	54 years	44 of 100 (Notable)
20 January 1997	Vila Canoas, BR	daily rain	60.5 mm (2.4 in)	35.1 mm (1.4 in)	25 years	43 of 100 (Notable)
20 January 1997	Timburi, BR	daily rain	58.5 mm (2.3 in)	37.9 mm (1.5 in)	51 years	43 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 1997

Records set or tied on this calendar date in each year from 1795 to 1997. 1997 had 658 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 1997-01-20: 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 100	474
100 to 200	23
200 to 300	13
300 to 400	7
400 to 500	5
500 to 600	1
600 to 700	2