Last Year of Millennium Featured Jekyll and Hyde Weather Conditions

by Evan Heller and Hugh Johnson

The year began on a bitterly cold note. In fact, the coldest day of the year was January 2^nd, with a low temperature of 10 degrees below zero at Albany. Then, a nasty ice storm on the 3^rd turned sidewalks, driveways and some roadways into skating rinks. More ice and only a little snow came during the following week.

On January 14^th, the first real snowstorm of the year blanketed the region with 6 to 12 inches of snow. That was followed by more sleet, freezing and liquid rain. The most noteworthy aspect of this storm was that temperatures remained well below zero during much of the storm. Initially, wind chills were as low as 50 degrees below zero!

An ugly January thaw followed the snowstorm, resulting in the usual problems of ice jams and swollen creeks. The most paralyzing winter storm (in terms of travel) was on Martin Luther King Day. It was another ice storm that coated over sixty miles of the Northway with glare ice, forcing its closure for the first time since the Blizzard of '93.

High temperatures during the last three days of January were only 20 degrees, with a low of minus 4 on the 31^st. The January thaw before the ice storm was strong enough to offset the bitter cold of both the beginning and end of the month, so that January ended up milder than normal.

February was a kinder, gentler month. There was a little ice around on Ground Hog Day, but in no way comparable to the January ice storm. Snowfall during the month was slight, and precipitation as a whole was less than normal. Again, temperatures averaged above normal, by more than four degrees.

Then in March, the "purest" snowstorm took place, on the 6^th. Eight to 14 inches of snow fell in the central and northern parts of our forecast area. This storm's sleet and rain stayed south of Albany.

Another snowstorm came on the 14^th, with locally up to a foot of wet snow across Litchfield County Connecticut. Much lighter amounts fell further north. The nastiest storm of the month was on the 22^nd. A potpourri of precipitation included over a foot of heavy snow in the Adirondacks, drenching rains with flooding in the Catskills, and a wintry mix in the Capital Region, creating treacherous travel conditions. That was Albany's last measurable snowfall of the season.

March turned out snowier and wetter than normal. Despite being an otherwise colder than normal month, the last week of March was about 5 degrees above normal. The mercury topped out at 72 degrees on the 31^st. So the average temperature for March wound up very slightly above normal.

April showers bring May flowers? Not this April. A drought slowly evolved, beginning this month, that would become severe by the early summer, and continue until the early fall. Along with the lack of rain, came lots of wind and plenty of sunshine, resulting in the most active month for brush fires in the region in many years.

Temperatures averaged about normal. But the sixth tenths of an inch of rainfall for the month recorded at Albany made it the second driest April on record, and the driest April of this century! It was also the first time on record that Albany received virtually no snow for two consecutive Aprils.

Some showers and, surprisingly, flowers came in May, despite April's dryness. Not enough, however, to reverse the trend toward worsening drought. May was a pleasant month with plenty of sunshine, warmer than normal temperatures without any stifling heat waves, and no severe weather.

Hot weather did arrive with a vengeance during June, however. On the 7^th, the temperature climbed into the 90s for the first time in nearly two years, topping out at 95 degrees, and tying a pre-depression era record.

The sultry combination triggered the season's first severe thunderstorm outbreak later that evening. The storms dropped large hail in Litchfield County. And, a damaging downburst hit Winchester Center. Virtually all the rain that fell during June was associated with thunderstorms, and most of it was scant. As a result, by the end of the month, many communities had placed either voluntary or mandatory restrictions on water usage.

July of '99 sizzled, with temperatures averaging well above normal. The year's worst heat wave was at the end of the Independence Day Weekend. Temperatures again peaked at 95 degrees, on the 6^th, with lots of humidity to boot. There were twelve days in July with a high of 90 degrees or more, the most during any July in the past eleven years. The most widespread severe thunderstorm outbreak of the year took place on the 6^th, temporarily breaking the heat wave. A couple of squall lines brought wind damage or large hail to almost every county of our forecast area. One of the storms disrupted the National Weather Service's annual picnic at Lake George. While scattered thunderstorms brought locally heavy rains to some places during the month, most of the area remained drier than normal, further exacerbating the drought. The 90 degree heat soon returned, and the last half of July wound up being the hottest period of the year, with nine days topping out at 90 degrees or more.

August was a more docile month, with one exception. On Friday the 13^th, a supercell thunderstorm developed over the Mohawk Valley, bringing damaging winds and large hail to portions of the Greater Capital region and southern Vermont. August opened with the last 90 degree day of the year, but temperatures, as well as rainfall, averaged near normal. The water shortages continued, however, and much of the region was placed under a drought emergency.

September opened with the summer theme; warm and dry. Then, during the second week, the remnants of Hurricane Dennis brought tropical rains, especially to Litchfield County Connecticut. For most of the region Dennis only dampened the dust.

On the 16^th, a much more powerful hurricane, Floyd, brought exceptionally heavy rains and high winds to our region. Albany recorded its all-time greatest one-day rainfall, 5.60 inches, on the 16^th. By the time the rain had ended the evening of the 17^th, the storm total was 6.12 inches. Even higher amounts of rainfall inundated the Catskills, with Cairo receiving over a foot!

The drought was broken and was replaced by flooding. The Normanskill rose to its second highest flood on record. Many tributaries, which had lain dormant for months, became raging torrents. Wind gusts ranging from 45 to over 65 mph toppled trees throughout the region. Power outages were common and some roads were washed away. This storm was the most noteworthy and costliest of the year.

The weather settled down for the rest of September, but several more rainy days pushed the monthly rainfall total at Albany International Airport to 11.06 inches, easily smashing the previous September record of 8.90 inches, set over a century ago. In fact, it was the greatest monthly precipitation on record at Albany!

On October 4^th an unseasonably early snowstorm surprised the folks in the Western Adirondacks, depositing 3 to 6 slushy inches. Otherwise, the weather during October was uneventful. October was the first month in 1999 to finish with below normal temperatures; about a degree cooler than normal. The total rainfall for the month was very close to normal.

After a gorgeous start to November, a rain and wind storm harassed poll-goers on Election Day. Though minor compared with Floyd, there were scattered power outages and downed trees across higher portions of the region.

Two moderate but prolonged Indian summers, interrupted only by a brief cold snap in the middle of the month, yielded the mildest November of the 90s in the Albany area. The average temperature was more than four degrees above normal. Rainfall was once again scarce, until the last week of the month. Some rain fell, but the total for the month was still more than an inch shy of normal. The season's first measurable snow in the Capital Region, one tenth of an inch, fell on the 29^th, with another three tenths of an inch closing out the month.

December started out sunny but cold, but the cold did not last long. In fact, by the 6^th, the mercury soared all the way to 61 degrees, for our second record-tying high temperature of the year. A little snow and sleet fell on the 14^th, but melted away by evening. Clouds and damp weather persisted for much of the month. Once again, temperatures averaged above normal - a common theme for winter months in the 90s. Every winter month since December 1995 has been milder than normal at Albany. In fact, during the entire decade, all but six of the 30 winter months have been warmer than normal!

To sum it up, 1999 was warmer and a little wetter than normal, and snowfall was less than normal. We endured one of the most intense droughts followed by the heaviest monthly rainfall on record. What will the next Millennium bring? Only time will tell!

National Weather Service Special Event Rally