Weather Records on 20 May 2003

1,201 weather records were set or tied worldwide on 20 May 2003. Highest significance: Kurgan, RU.

Key Facts for 20 May 2003

On 20 May 2003, 1,201 weather records were set or tied at long-record stations worldwide.
508 were record highs and 371 were record lows, counting maximum and minimum temperature.
By timescale, 6 were all-time records, 23 monthly and 1,172 daily.
Kurgan set a daily record precipitation of 28.2 mm (1.1 in) on 20 May 2003.
Across 162 earlier years (1802 to 2026) the same calendar date averaged 451 records.

Record Map

1,201 stations

1,201 station records on 20 May 2003 are marked on the map, coloured by record type. Dot size shows the significance score. Made with Natural Earth.

Weather records on 20 May 2003: highest significance records shown on the map
Station	Country	Type	Value	Significance
Kurgan	Russia	Record daily precipitation	28.2 mm (1.1 in)	80 of 100 (Exceptional)
Georgetown	Australia	Record daily precipitation	60.8 mm (2.4 in)	74 of 100 (Major)
Wirrabara Forest	Australia	Record daily precipitation	66.4 mm (2.6 in)	73 of 100 (Major)
Terowie	Australia	Record daily precipitation	33.0 mm (1.3 in)	70 of 100 (Major)
Tumby Bay (Yadnarie)	Australia	Record daily precipitation	63.0 mm (2.5 in)	61 of 100 (Major)
Crystal Brook	Australia	Record daily precipitation	49.0 mm (1.9 in)	60 of 100 (Major)
Downing	United States	Record daily precipitation	35.8 mm (1.4 in)	58 of 100 (Notable)
Melrose (Para Gums)	Australia	Record daily precipitation	29.0 mm (1.1 in)	57 of 100 (Notable)
Lochem	Netherlands	Record daily precipitation	35.6 mm (1.4 in)	57 of 100 (Notable)
Macclesfield	Australia	Record daily precipitation	46.0 mm (1.8 in)	56 of 100 (Notable)
Wirrabara	Australia	Record daily precipitation	45.8 mm (1.8 in)	54 of 100 (Notable)
Lunteren	Netherlands	Record daily precipitation	32.9 mm (1.3 in)	54 of 100 (Notable)
Port Lincoln (Big Swamp)	Australia	Record daily precipitation	36.0 mm (1.4 in)	53 of 100 (Notable)
Laura	Australia	Record daily precipitation	61.4 mm (2.4 in)	51 of 100 (Notable)
Whyte Yarcowie	Australia	Record daily precipitation	33.8 mm (1.3 in)	51 of 100 (Notable)
Eerbeek	Netherlands	Record daily precipitation	29.8 mm (1.2 in)	51 of 100 (Notable)
Kimba	Australia	Record daily precipitation	30.4 mm (1.2 in)	50 of 100 (Notable)
Whyte-Yarcowie (Gum Park)	Australia	Record daily precipitation	43.8 mm (1.7 in)	50 of 100 (Notable)
Marathon	United States	Record low maximum temperature	15.6 C (60.1 F)	49 of 100 (Notable)
Darke Peak	Australia	Record daily precipitation	26.8 mm (1.1 in)	48 of 100 (Notable)
Huddleston (Willow Ponds)	Australia	Record daily precipitation	49.6 mm (2.0 in)	48 of 100 (Notable)
Waurika	United States	Record daily precipitation	89.7 mm (3.5 in)	48 of 100 (Notable)
Polda (Gum View)	Australia	Record daily precipitation	50.4 mm (2.0 in)	47 of 100 (Notable)
Clarendon	Australia	Record daily precipitation	42.0 mm (1.7 in)	47 of 100 (Notable)
Mount Barker	Australia	Record daily precipitation	40.0 mm (1.6 in)	47 of 100 (Notable)
Lijing	China	Record daily precipitation	53.8 mm (2.1 in)	47 of 100 (Notable)
Meadows	Australia	Record daily precipitation	46.4 mm (1.8 in)	46 of 100 (Notable)
Woudenberg	Netherlands	Record daily precipitation	31.7 mm (1.2 in)	46 of 100 (Notable)
Snyder	United States	Record low maximum temperature	14.4 C (57.9 F)	46 of 100 (Notable)
Abilene	United States	Record daily precipitation	34.5 mm (1.4 in)	44 of 100 (Notable)
Hallett (Old Canowie)	Australia	Record daily precipitation	51.0 mm (2.0 in)	43 of 100 (Notable)
San Juan Yaee	Mexico	Record daily precipitation	71.1 mm (2.8 in)	43 of 100 (Notable)
Emblem	United States	Record low minimum temperature	-3.3 C (26.1 F)	43 of 100 (Notable)
Kosrae	Federated States of Micronesia	Record daily precipitation	150.9 mm (5.9 in)	42 of 100 (Notable)
Ardrossan (Winulta)	Australia	Record daily precipitation	29.6 mm (1.2 in)	41 of 100 (Notable)
Vale	United States	Record low minimum temperature	-2.2 C (28.0 F)	41 of 100 (Notable)
Midland	United States	Record low minimum temperature	-1.7 C (28.9 F)	41 of 100 (Notable)
Gatesville	United States	Record low maximum temperature	21.7 C (71.1 F)	41 of 100 (Notable)
Budennovsk	Russia	Record daily precipitation	34.6 mm (1.4 in)	40 of 100 (Notable)
Sundance	United States	Record low minimum temperature	-6.1 C (21.0 F)	40 of 100 (Notable)
Petersville	Australia	Record daily precipitation	25.6 mm (1.0 in)	39 of 100 (Notable)
Gayndah Post Office	Australia	Record high maximum temperature	31.4 C (88.5 F)	39 of 100 (Notable)
Maatsuyker Island Lighthouse	Australia	Record daily precipitation	27.4 mm (1.1 in)	39 of 100 (Notable)
Beekbergen	Netherlands	Record daily precipitation	25.9 mm (1.0 in)	39 of 100 (Notable)
Zwolle	Netherlands	Record daily precipitation	35.4 mm (1.4 in)	39 of 100 (Notable)
Pismo Beach	United States	Record high maximum temperature	35.6 C (96.1 F)	39 of 100 (Notable)
Koppio	Australia	Record daily precipitation	58.0 mm (2.3 in)	38 of 100 (Notable)
St James Wwtp	United States	Record daily precipitation	36.3 mm (1.4 in)	38 of 100 (Notable)
Zapata 1 S	United States	Record high maximum temperature	41.1 C (106.0 F)	38 of 100 (Notable)
Wilmington	Australia	Record daily precipitation	26.6 mm (1.0 in)	37 of 100 (Notable)
Ringarooma (Charles Street)	Australia	Record daily precipitation	28.4 mm (1.1 in)	37 of 100 (Notable)
Chuuk WSO AP	Federated States of Micronesia	Record low minimum temperature	21.1 C (70.0 F)	37 of 100 (Notable)
Orono	United States	Record high maximum temperature	32.2 C (90.0 F)	37 of 100 (Notable)
Kershaw 1SW	United States	Record low maximum temperature	16.1 C (61.0 F)	37 of 100 (Notable)
Lead	United States	Record low minimum temperature	-5.6 C (21.9 F)	37 of 100 (Notable)
Glenburn	Australia	Record daily precipitation	36.0 mm (1.4 in)	36 of 100 (Notable)
Buxton	Australia	Record daily precipitation	40.0 mm (1.6 in)	36 of 100 (Notable)
Gainesville	United States	Record low maximum temperature	14.4 C (57.9 F)	36 of 100 (Notable)
Enterprise	United States	Record daily precipitation	38.6 mm (1.5 in)	36 of 100 (Notable)
Augusta	United States	Record low minimum temperature	-5.0 C (23.0 F)	36 of 100 (Notable)

Counts by Type and Timescale

1,201 records

Records set or tied on 20 May 2003 by type: Highest daily maximum 316, Lowest daily maximum 119, Highest daily minimum 192, Lowest daily minimum 252, Heaviest daily rainfall 322.

Records on 20 May 2003 by type
Record type	Records
Highest daily maximum	316
Lowest daily maximum	119
Highest daily minimum	192
Lowest daily minimum	252
Heaviest daily rainfall	322
Heaviest daily snowfall	0
Deepest snow cover	0

Records on 20 May 2003 by timescale: all-time 6, monthly 23, daily 1,172.

How Much Records Were Beaten By

890 broken records

Margins by which the 890 broken records beat the old ones, in degrees Celsius for temperature and millimetres for precipitation and snow; the largest margin was 82.6. Ties are not counted.

Top 20 by Significance

20 May 2003

Top 20 records on 20 May 2003 by significance
Date	Station	Record	Value	Beat old record by	Old record stood	Significance
20 May 2003	Kurgan, RU	daily rain	28.2 mm (1.1 in)	18.5 mm (0.7 in)	100 years	80 of 100 (Exceptional)
20 May 2003	Georgetown, AU	daily rain	60.8 mm (2.4 in)	38.7 mm (1.5 in)	81 years	74 of 100 (Major)
20 May 2003	Wirrabara Forest, AU	daily rain	66.4 mm (2.6 in)	38.0 mm (1.5 in)	92 years	73 of 100 (Major)
20 May 2003	Terowie, AU	daily rain	33.0 mm (1.3 in)	14.2 mm (0.6 in)	100 years	70 of 100 (Major)
20 May 2003	Tumby Bay (Yadnarie), AU	monthly rain	63.0 mm (2.5 in)	26.0 mm (1.0 in)	23 years	61 of 100 (Major)
20 May 2003	Crystal Brook, AU	daily rain	49.0 mm (1.9 in)	16.7 mm (0.7 in)	81 years	60 of 100 (Major)
20 May 2003	Downing, US	daily rain	35.8 mm (1.4 in)	23.6 mm (0.9 in)	106 years	58 of 100 (Notable)
20 May 2003	Melrose (Para Gums), AU	daily rain	29.0 mm (1.1 in)	13.5 mm (0.5 in)	100 years	57 of 100 (Notable)
20 May 2003	Lochem, NL	daily rain	35.6 mm (1.4 in)	24.6 mm (1.0 in)	41 years	57 of 100 (Notable)
20 May 2003	Macclesfield, AU	daily rain	46.0 mm (1.8 in)	17.8 mm (0.7 in)	78 years	56 of 100 (Notable)
20 May 2003	Wirrabara, AU	daily rain	45.8 mm (1.8 in)	28.7 mm (1.1 in)	14 years	54 of 100 (Notable)
20 May 2003	Lunteren, NL	daily rain	32.9 mm (1.3 in)	17.9 mm (0.7 in)	52 years	54 of 100 (Notable)
20 May 2003	Port Lincoln (Big Swamp), AU	daily rain	36.0 mm (1.4 in)	23.2 mm (0.9 in)	14 years	53 of 100 (Notable)
20 May 2003	Laura, AU	monthly rain	61.4 mm (2.4 in)	15.8 mm (0.6 in)	20 years	51 of 100 (Notable)
20 May 2003	Whyte Yarcowie, AU	daily rain	33.8 mm (1.3 in)	19.8 mm (0.8 in)	14 years	51 of 100 (Notable)
20 May 2003	Eerbeek, NL	daily rain	29.8 mm (1.2 in)	20.7 mm (0.8 in)	20 years	51 of 100 (Notable)
20 May 2003	Kimba, AU	daily rain	30.4 mm (1.2 in)	16.9 mm (0.7 in)	33 years	50 of 100 (Notable)
20 May 2003	Whyte-Yarcowie (Gum Park), AU	daily rain	43.8 mm (1.7 in)	24.8 mm (1.0 in)	14 years	50 of 100 (Notable)
20 May 2003	Marathon, US	daily low max	15.6 C (60.1 F)	5.5 C (9.9 F)	88 years	49 of 100 (Notable)
20 May 2003	Darke Peak, AU	daily rain	26.8 mm (1.1 in)	19.8 mm (0.8 in)	14 years	48 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 2003

Records set or tied on this calendar date in each year from 1802 to 2003. 2003 had 1,201 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 2003-05-20: 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	865
20 to 40	22
40 to 60	2
60 to 80	0
80 to 100	1