January - Quite wet (Dry last 10 days). Stormy start. The sunniest January since 1994. Quite mild.
February - Exceptionally dry (The driest recorded since 1959). The driest month of the year. Abnormally mild (The mildest of the 20th Century and the mildest recorded since 1869) and very sunny (The sunniest February recorded since 1988). It was warmer than an average April. The temperature reached 63F on the 13th and didn't fall below 54F on the night of the 11th/12th.
March - The wettest since March 1988. Cold and very wet first week. Mild after the 11th and a very mild month overall. Anticyclonic between the 13th and the 23rd with no rain recorded. The temperature didn't fall below 54F on the night of the 29th-30th. Duller than average.
April - The wettest April recorded since 1920. Extremely wet. A very thundery month with heavy snowfall on the 14th. Sunshine totals around average mainly due to sunny spell between the 25th and the 29th. Around average temperatures overall.
May - Quite dry - The driest and warmest May recorded since May 1992. Very warm and sunny between the 14th and the 20th. No rain fell between the 12th and the 23rd May. Sunnier than average but not as sunny as May 1997. More unsettled in final few days.
June - Extremely wet - the 4th wettest of the Century. Very cold and exceptionally wet day on the 2nd. The wettest day of 1998. Fine spell between the 19th and the 25th. Cooler than average (Daytime temperatures well below average - night-time above) and dull though not quite as wet as June 1997.
July - Quite dry. Duller than average with average temperature.
August - Quite dry. A sunny month with average temperature.
September - Average rainfall and average sunshine. Very warm, the warmest September for nine years, since 1989.
October - The wettest October since 1987. Extremely wet. Stormy last 10 days with strong winds and thunderstorms. Month was reasonably dry up to the 16th. Sunnier than average. Temperatures around normal.
November - Quite dry and very sunny but cooler than average.
December - Quite dry with average sunshine and slightly milder than average temperature.
The highest temperature of the year was 83F on the 9th August.
The lowest daytime temperature of the year was 36F on 23rd January.
The highest night-time minima was 64F on the 21st June.
The lowest temperature of the year was 24F, which was recorded on the 6th December.
Other low night-time temperatures during 1998 were 26F on the night of 8th/9th March and also on the night of 27th/28th January.
The Lowest air pressure was 975MB on 3rd January. 986MB was recorded on 3rd November. 989MB was recorded on 3rd April and 990MB on 9th September and 25th October.
The windiest month of the year was October. The beginning of the year was a stormy time as well. November was the calmest month of the year.
There were five thunderstorms in April 1998. There was one in May, one in September and two in October. The worst thunderstorm of the year was that of April 3rd. April was the most thundery month of the year.
The driest spells of 1998 were between May 12th and May 24th when no rain fell at all. There was no rain between March 13th and March 23rd. One mm of rain fell between July 1 and July 11. Only 2.8mm fell between January 23rd and February 20th and only 2.5mm was recorded between September 16th and September 29th.
Kevin Phillips - 7.10pm - Monday 4th January 1999.
The Highest air pressure attained in 1998 was 1044MB on the 19th March. 1040MB was recorded on 24th January and 1st December. 1033MB was recorded on 19th September.
The sunniest day of 1998 was the 17th May when 15 hours of sunshine was recorded. The period between the 15th and the 20th May was the sunniest spell of the year. There was also a sunny spell between August 4th and August 11th. No sunshine was recorded between March 23rd and March 26th. The highest recorded wind speed of 1998 was a gust of 68mph on the evening of the 4th January.
The wettest day of 1998 was June 2nd, when 47mm of rain fell. The second wettest was October 24th with 23.9mm, then October 23rd with 21.8mm. 46.7 millimetres of rain fell between October 23rd and October 24th. Then it was March 6th with 20.8mm. September 30th 1998 with 16.2mm was the 5th wettest.
In 1998 snow fell on the 19th January in showers, the 28th February, 4th March, 6th March, 14th April (The heaviest fall of the year), 5th December and 6th December in showers.
Fog was recorded on the 18th September, 19th September, 20th September, 21st September and 22nd September.
The year 1998 was very mild overall. The total sunshine of the year was 1543.7 hours. The total rainfall was 915.7 millimetres. 1998 was the wettest year recorded since 1966 and will be remembered for the exceptionally wet April, June and October, which caused severe flooding. However it will also be remembered for the exceptionally mild and sunny February.
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