Weather Records on 21 May 1998

1,200 weather records were set or tied worldwide on 21 May 1998. Highest significance: Youyang, CN.

Key Facts for 21 May 1998

On 21 May 1998, 1,200 weather records were set or tied at long-record stations worldwide.
751 were record highs and 216 were record lows, counting maximum and minimum temperature.
By timescale, 3 were all-time records, 42 monthly and 1,155 daily.
Youyang set a monthly record daily precipitation of 154.4 mm (6.1 in) on 21 May 1998.
Across 156 earlier years (1793 to 2026) the same calendar date averaged 456 records.

Record Map

1,200 stations

1,200 station records on 21 May 1998 are marked on the map, coloured by record type. Dot size shows the significance score. Made with Natural Earth.

Weather records on 21 May 1998: highest significance records shown on the map
Station	Country	Type	Value	Significance
Youyang	China	Record daily precipitation	154.4 mm (6.1 in)	66 of 100 (Major)
Jindivick	Australia	Record daily precipitation	44.0 mm (1.7 in)	58 of 100 (Notable)
Xilin Hot	China	Record daily precipitation	28.2 mm (1.1 in)	57 of 100 (Notable)
Riddle	United States	Record daily precipitation	31.0 mm (1.2 in)	57 of 100 (Notable)
Waterloo	United States	Record daily precipitation	37.1 mm (1.5 in)	57 of 100 (Notable)
Montrose	Australia	Record daily precipitation	80.6 mm (3.2 in)	56 of 100 (Notable)
Zonguldak	Turkey	Record daily precipitation	108.0 mm (4.3 in)	54 of 100 (Notable)
Datong	China	Record daily precipitation	26.5 mm (1.0 in)	53 of 100 (Notable)
Garden Valley	United States	Record daily precipitation	29.7 mm (1.2 in)	51 of 100 (Notable)
Taksimo	Russia	Record daily precipitation	34.6 mm (1.4 in)	49 of 100 (Notable)
Moorarie	Australia	Record daily precipitation	38.0 mm (1.5 in)	48 of 100 (Notable)
Chiricahua Nm	United States	Record high minimum temperature	20.6 C (69.1 F)	46 of 100 (Notable)
Stayton	United States	Record daily precipitation	32.3 mm (1.3 in)	44 of 100 (Notable)
Crosbyton	United States	Record high minimum temperature	21.7 C (71.1 F)	44 of 100 (Notable)
Jayuya	Puerto Rico [United States]	Record daily precipitation	60.7 mm (2.4 in)	43 of 100 (Notable)
Fayetteville Exp STN	United States	Record high maximum temperature	32.2 C (90.0 F)	43 of 100 (Notable)
Munarra	Australia	Record daily precipitation	31.8 mm (1.3 in)	41 of 100 (Notable)
Toolangi (Mount St Leonard Dpi	Australia	Record daily precipitation	43.6 mm (1.7 in)	41 of 100 (Notable)
Anyang	China	Record daily precipitation	38.8 mm (1.5 in)	41 of 100 (Notable)
San Jeronimo	Mexico	Record low minimum temperature	10.0 C (50.0 F)	41 of 100 (Notable)
Adjuntas 2 NW	Puerto Rico [United States]	Record daily precipitation	101.6 mm (4.0 in)	41 of 100 (Notable)
Timiryazevskij	Russia	Record high maximum temperature	29.5 C (85.1 F)	41 of 100 (Notable)
Greer	United States	Record high minimum temperature	10.0 C (50.0 F)	40 of 100 (Notable)
Corning	United States	Record high minimum temperature	22.8 C (73.0 F)	40 of 100 (Notable)
Silverton	United States	Record high minimum temperature	4.4 C (39.9 F)	40 of 100 (Notable)
Marion	United States	Record high maximum temperature	33.3 C (91.9 F)	40 of 100 (Notable)
Forest Grove	United States	Record low maximum temperature	11.1 C (52.0 F)	40 of 100 (Notable)
Belele	Australia	Record daily precipitation	25.2 mm (1.0 in)	39 of 100 (Notable)
Tombstone	United States	Record high minimum temperature	20.6 C (69.1 F)	39 of 100 (Notable)
Hemingford	United States	Record daily precipitation	48.3 mm (1.9 in)	39 of 100 (Notable)
Clemson UNIV	United States	Record high minimum temperature	20.6 C (69.1 F)	39 of 100 (Notable)
Corvallis State UNIV	United States	Record daily precipitation	25.4 mm (1.0 in)	38 of 100 (Notable)
Colorado City	United States	Record high minimum temperature	22.8 C (73.0 F)	38 of 100 (Notable)
Tecolutla	Mexico	Record high maximum temperature	42.2 C (108.0 F)	37 of 100 (Notable)
Nizhyn	Ukraine	Record daily precipitation	27.9 mm (1.1 in)	37 of 100 (Notable)
Steelville 2 N	United States	Record high minimum temperature	18.9 C (66.0 F)	37 of 100 (Notable)
Marble Bar Comparison	Australia	Record high maximum temperature	36.2 C (97.2 F)	36 of 100 (Notable)
Croydon (Samuel Street)	Australia	Record daily precipitation	37.2 mm (1.5 in)	36 of 100 (Notable)
Lymington (Fattys Lane)	Australia	Record daily precipitation	33.0 mm (1.3 in)	36 of 100 (Notable)
Lushi	China	Record daily precipitation	36.8 mm (1.4 in)	36 of 100 (Notable)
Nampula	Mozambique	Record low minimum temperature	10.9 C (51.6 F)	36 of 100 (Notable)
Kalakan	Russia	Record daily precipitation	33.4 mm (1.3 in)	36 of 100 (Notable)
Helena 1 SSE	United States	Record high maximum temperature	33.3 C (91.9 F)	36 of 100 (Notable)
Ft Myers Page Fld AP	United States	Record high maximum temperature	35.6 C (96.1 F)	36 of 100 (Notable)
Shijiazhuang	China	Record daily precipitation	35.6 mm (1.4 in)	35 of 100 (Notable)
Huixtla	Mexico	Record low minimum temperature	17.8 C (64.0 F)	35 of 100 (Notable)
San Diego de Alejandria	Mexico	Record low minimum temperature	3.3 C (37.9 F)	35 of 100 (Notable)
Williambury	Australia	Record daily precipitation	28.0 mm (1.1 in)	34 of 100 (Routine)
Lilydale	Australia	Record daily precipitation	38.4 mm (1.5 in)	34 of 100 (Routine)
Taroona (Taroona Crescent)	Australia	Record daily precipitation	26.0 mm (1.0 in)	34 of 100 (Routine)
Frederick	United States	Record high minimum temperature	22.2 C (72.0 F)	34 of 100 (Routine)
Holley	United States	Record daily precipitation	27.9 mm (1.1 in)	34 of 100 (Routine)
Memphis	United States	Record high minimum temperature	22.8 C (73.0 F)	34 of 100 (Routine)
Dover	Australia	Record daily precipitation	32.0 mm (1.3 in)	33 of 100 (Routine)
San Miguel Ejutla	Mexico	Record high maximum temperature	36.7 C (98.1 F)	33 of 100 (Routine)
Ft Hall 1 NNE	United States	Record low maximum temperature	10.6 C (51.1 F)	33 of 100 (Routine)
Quanah 2 SW	United States	Record high minimum temperature	23.9 C (75.0 F)	33 of 100 (Routine)
Snyder	United States	Record high minimum temperature	22.2 C (72.0 F)	33 of 100 (Routine)
Natchitoches	United States	Record high maximum temperature	34.4 C (93.9 F)	32 of 100 (Routine)
Plainview	United States	Record high minimum temperature	20.0 C (68.0 F)	32 of 100 (Routine)

Counts by Type and Timescale

1,200 records

Records set or tied on 21 May 1998 by type: Highest daily maximum 388, Lowest daily maximum 66, Highest daily minimum 363, Lowest daily minimum 150, Heaviest daily rainfall 230, Deepest snow cover 3.

Records on 21 May 1998 by type
Record type	Records
Highest daily maximum	388
Lowest daily maximum	66
Highest daily minimum	363
Lowest daily minimum	150
Heaviest daily rainfall	230
Heaviest daily snowfall	0
Deepest snow cover	3

Records on 21 May 1998 by timescale: all-time 3, monthly 42, daily 1,155.

How Much Records Were Beaten By

857 broken records

Margins by which the 857 broken records beat the old ones, in degrees Celsius for temperature and millimetres for precipitation and snow; the largest margin was 63.5. Ties are not counted.

Top 20 by Significance

21 May 1998

Top 20 records on 21 May 1998 by significance
Date	Station	Record	Value	Beat old record by	Old record stood	Significance
21 May 1998	Youyang, CN	monthly rain	154.4 mm (6.1 in)	56.7 mm (2.2 in)	43 years	66 of 100 (Major)
21 May 1998	Jindivick, AU	daily rain	44.0 mm (1.7 in)	20.1 mm (0.8 in)	80 years	58 of 100 (Notable)
21 May 1998	Xilin Hot, CN	daily rain	28.2 mm (1.1 in)	23.7 mm (0.9 in)	44 years	57 of 100 (Notable)
21 May 1998	Riddle, US	daily rain	31.0 mm (1.2 in)	17.0 mm (0.7 in)	44 years	57 of 100 (Notable)
21 May 1998	Waterloo, US	daily rain	37.1 mm (1.5 in)	21.1 mm (0.8 in)	59 years	57 of 100 (Notable)
21 May 1998	Montrose, AU	daily rain	80.6 mm (3.2 in)	49.1 mm (1.9 in)	28 years	56 of 100 (Notable)
21 May 1998	Zonguldak, TR	monthly rain	108.0 mm (4.3 in)	43.0 mm (1.7 in)	0 years	54 of 100 (Notable)
21 May 1998	Datong, CN	daily rain	26.5 mm (1.0 in)	21.2 mm (0.8 in)	40 years	53 of 100 (Notable)
21 May 1998	Garden Valley, US	daily rain	29.7 mm (1.2 in)	11.9 mm (0.5 in)	65 years	51 of 100 (Notable)
21 May 1998	Taksimo, RU	daily rain	34.6 mm (1.4 in)	22.7 mm (0.9 in)	20 years	49 of 100 (Notable)
21 May 1998	Moorarie, AU	daily rain	38.0 mm (1.5 in)	30.9 mm (1.2 in)	28 years	48 of 100 (Notable)
21 May 1998	Chiricahua Nm, US	monthly high min	20.6 C (69.1 F)	0.6 C (1.1 F)	87 years	46 of 100 (Notable)
21 May 1998	Stayton, US	daily rain	32.3 mm (1.3 in)	17.6 mm (0.7 in)	44 years	44 of 100 (Notable)
21 May 1998	Crosbyton, US	daily high min	21.7 C (71.1 F)	1.7 C (3.1 F)	101 years	44 of 100 (Notable)
21 May 1998	Jayuya, PR	daily rain	60.7 mm (2.4 in)	21.3 mm (0.8 in)	87 years	43 of 100 (Notable)
21 May 1998	Fayetteville Exp STN, US	daily high max	32.2 C (90.0 F)	1.6 C (2.9 F)	100 years	43 of 100 (Notable)
21 May 1998	Munarra, AU	daily rain	31.8 mm (1.3 in)	25.2 mm (1.0 in)	44 years	41 of 100 (Notable)
21 May 1998	Toolangi (Mount St Leonard Dpi, AU	daily rain	43.6 mm (1.7 in)	24.8 mm (1.0 in)	40 years	41 of 100 (Notable)
21 May 1998	Anyang, CN	daily rain	38.8 mm (1.5 in)	27.7 mm (1.1 in)	39 years	41 of 100 (Notable)
21 May 1998	San Jeronimo, MX	daily low min	10.0 C (50.0 F)	5.0 C (9.0 F)	27 years	41 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

1793 to 1998

Records set or tied on this calendar date in each year from 1793 to 1998. 1998 had 1,200 records.

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

Records on 05-21 in each year
Year	Records
1793	1
1795	1
1811	1
1837	2
1842	1
1847	2
1854	1
1857	1
1858	1
1865	1
1866	1
1870	2
1875	1
1876	1
1880	2
1882	1
1885	1
1886	2
1887	3
1889	5
1890	3
1891	6
1892	1
1893	1
1894	4
1895	4
1896	5
1897	2
1898	1
1899	5
1900	1
1901	3
1902	4
1903	26
1904	8
1905	7
1906	12
1907	36
1908	13
1909	13
1910	14
1911	87
1912	24
1913	13
1914	26
1915	24
1916	13
1917	76
1918	51
1919	170
1920	39
1921	158
1922	39
1923	125
1924	148
1925	250
1926	221
1927	207
1928	173
1929	247
1930	133
1931	488
1932	343
1933	290
1934	590
1935	190
1936	328
1937	227
1938	348
1939	355
1940	456
1941	525
1942	482
1943	463
1944	310
1945	515
1946	324
1947	485
1948	312
1949	593
1950	403
1951	271
1952	385
1953	501
1954	961
1955	507
1956	409
1957	709
1958	511
1959	684
1960	615
1961	306
1962	553
1963	598
1964	788
1965	238
1966	296
1967	1,022
1968	549
1969	832
1970	449
1971	536
1972	557
1973	493
1974	847
1975	1,160
1976	393
1977	756
1978	575
1979	787
1980	857
1981	1,550
1982	599
1983	1,106
1984	950
1985	610
1986	908
1987	1,242
1988	819
1989	671
1990	947
1991	1,065
1992	1,143
1993	1,197
1994	656
1995	749
1996	1,461
1997	953
1998	1,200
1999	544
2000	897
2001	1,187
2002	2,048
2003	807
2004	898
2005	1,020
2006	810
2007	894
2008	740
2009	1,315
2010	962
2011	959
2012	848
2013	884
2014	522
2015	956
2016	567
2017	780
2018	525
2019	1,668
2020	707
2021	1,131
2022	1,512
2023	794
2024	751
2025	776
2026	356

Download the Data

Data for records on 1998-05-21: 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 2026-10-13 (13 October 2026). Records are computed by this site and are not official.

Data as of 2026-10-12. Last revised 12 October 2026 (2026-10-12).

Margin	Records
0 to 10	792
10 to 20	45
20 to 30	12
30 to 40	4
40 to 50	2
50 to 60	1
60 to 70	1