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Northeast Regional Climate Center |
Perhaps the most costly weather event of 1999 was not a devastating storm, but the drought that climaxed during the summer months. The dry conditions that prevailed during the second half of 1998 were the prelude to this year's drought. Between the months of July and December 1998 the Northeast received only 71% of the normal precipitation, for their 3rd driest such period on record. After a wet January, the months of February through August 1999 followed a similar pattern, accumulating only 76% of the normal precipitation for, again, the 3rd driest such period in 105 years of record. Precipitation deficits for the fourteen months ending in August 1999 ranged from 6 to over 14 inches across the region.
Severe drought (according to the Palmer Drought Severity Index) was reported in eastern Maryland in May and spread into parts of West Virginia during June. Drought conditions in these states intensified to "extreme" (the worst drought category) by July and continued into September. By mid-July, severe drought was reported in parts of every state in the Northeast Region. Extreme drought was noted in parts of Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and New York between late July and early September. Drought emergencies with mandatory water restrictions were declared in Maryland, Delaware, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. The Clinton Administration declared counties in nine states (Connecticut, Kentucky, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia and West Virginia) agricultural drought disaster areas. Monetary losses to farmers in West Virginia alone were expected to exceed $80 million. Abundant rainfall during September (twice normal and the wettest on record) brought an end to drought concerns.
Hurricane Floyd was a record-breaker and a drought-breaker in the Northeast. The hurricane made landfall in North Carolina during the early morning hours of September 16th. Tropical Storm Floyd moved up the eastern seaboard on the 16th and during the early hours of the 17th. The storm brought both high winds and exceptionally heavy rainfall resulting in flooding up and down the northeast coast. Rainfall associated with the storm (September 15-18) totalled over 8 inches in a corridor running from western Connecticut through the lower Hudson Valley and northern New Jersey, and into northern Delaware. Some places within this area recorded over 12 inches of rain. Philadelphia, PA with 6.63 inches, and Albany, NY with 6.05 inches, were among the locations that set all-time 24-hour precipitation records. The storm was also a major contributor to the all-time wettest month on record in Philadelphia with 13.07 inches.
Ten states were declared major disaster areas as a result of Floyd, including Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania in the Northeast, and Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia to the south. Total damage estimates exceed $6 billion (not just the Northeast). A total of 75 people lost their lives in the storm, including 21 in the northeast states. Over 1.5 million northeast electric customers lost their power at some point during the storm.
An oppressive heat wave hit the Northeast over the Independence Day weekend as the Bermuda High established itself off the Mid-Atlantic Coast and pumped hot, humid air across the region. The heat wave, which peaked between July 4th and 6th, saw temperatures top 90 degrees F over all but the northern portions of the region and hit triple-digits from Long Island through Maryland. Over 150 heat-related deaths were reported around the region and hundreds more people were hospitalized as the heat index climbed to around 115 degreesF in some locations. Energy demand was enormous, in many cases exceeding available resources. Several utilities reported all-time peak electric consumption during this period and some were forced in implement "rolling blackouts". Thousands of chickens succumbed to the heat and some areas reported fish dying as the temperatures of streams reached unprecedented levels. Some roads were forced to be closed when the intense heat caused the pavement to buckle.
Dozens of daily record temperatures were broken, including 103 degrees in Newark, NJ on the 5th. Islip (Long Island), NY, reported their all-time record high temperature of 102 degrees on the 5th. New York City reported highs of 101 degrees on the 5th and 6th, marking only the 49th and 50th triple-digit temperatures in its 130 years of weather record-keeping. Harrisburg, PA, Atlantic City, NJ and New York City reported their warmest Julys on record. It was the 7th warmest July on record for the twelve-state northeast region.
Deep low pressure moved north from West Virginia across New York to Quebec between March 3rd and March 4th. Heavy snow fell at the rate of up to two to three inches per hour in places. Across Monroe and Wayne Counties in New York, snowfall amounts were the greatest with over two feet reported. Some higher-elevation locations in Maryland, West Virginia and western Pennsylvania reported 12 to 16 inches of snow. High winds associated with the storm resulted in blizzard or near-blizzard conditions and drifts reached four to five feet in places. A portion of the New York State Thruway was closed, stranding several hundred cars. Six western New York counties were declared Federal Disaster Areas and several were declared State Disaster Areas. The National Guard was called in to help remove cars, rescue stranded motorists and deliver food and medical supplies.
Two days later (March 6), Rochester, NY received another 18.4 inches of snow, bringing the three-day total to 40.7 inches. This established several new snowfall records for that city, including a record snow depth of 36 inches.
A low pressure system developed along the Gulf Coast on the morning of the 13th. During the morning of the 14th, it moved into Alabama and was located just east of the Delmarva Peninsula around daybreak of the 15th. The storm intensified and moved rapidly offshore on the 15th and reached Nova Scotia the morning of the 16th. Some areas reported snowfall rates of 1-2 inches per hour at the height of the storm. The heavy snow caused many travel problems throughout the region. The heavy, wet snow also took down trees and power lines in several areas. In eastern Pennsylvania, about 189,000 PECO customers lost power, which ranked as one of the utility's ten worst outages on record.
The rain/snow line moved back and forth across southern New Jersey, Delaware and eastern Maryland, limiting snowfall totals to anywhere from less than 2 to over 5 inches. In West Virginia and the Maryland panhandle, snow totals ranged between 5 and 15 inches. Six to twelve inches was reported across much of Pennsylvania, northern New Jersey, eastern New York and southern New England. Northern Maine had 4 to 8 inches, while the southern portion of that state reported 12 to 17 inches. Northwestern Pennsylvania, western, central and northern New York and Vermont avoided this storm, with little of no snow reported.
An extremely cold arctic air mass moved slowly across the Northeast on January 13 and January 14. A low pressure system developed on the 13th over the Tennessee Valley, and moved into the Mid Atlantic region and finally up New York's Hudson River over the next few days, spreading precipitation region wide from early on the 13th through midday on the 15th. The precipitation began as snow in most places, but as warmer air was pulled into the storm later in the period, many places saw the snow change to freezing rain. Total liquid equivalent was on the order of 2 inches across much of the region.
Ice accumulations from one quarter to nearly one inch occurred across much of Delaware, West Virginia, Maryland and the District of Columbia. The ice this storm left behind had a large impact on the region. Hundreds of car accidents, slip and fall injuries, downed trees, and power outages were reported.
New Jersey, southeastern New York and southern New England averaged around 2 inches of snow. Elsewhere, the precipitation remained in the form of snow through most of the storm, resulting in more significant accumulations. Six to ten inch snowfall totals were quite common across western Pennsylvania, New York, Massachusetts and Vermont. Two to six inches was reported across New Hampshire and Maine. Northeast winds off the warmer waters of the Atlantic Ocean produced "ocean effect" snow squalls along the eastern coast of Massachusetts. Total snowfall in this area ranged from 10 to 16 inches.
A line of thunderstorms affected southern portions of the region on the evening of August 25th. Washington, DC received over 2 inches of rain and some places in Maryland reported 2 to 6 inches of rain. Several creeks and small streams were out of their banks and roads in low lying areas were covered by water.
Another round of strong thunderstorms on the 26th produced torrential rain that caused serious urban and small stream flash flooding over a much larger portion of the region. Four inches of rain fell in Annapolis, MD in only 90 minutes. Rainfall amounts 3 to 7 inches were not uncommon along coastal areas. In New York City, over 3 inches of rain fell and subway service was severely disrupted as 3 to 5 feet of water collected at subway station locations. Most of the reports of serious flooding were received from Rhode Island, Connecticut, eastern Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland and Delaware. The storms and associated flooding also resulted in numerous power outages and the closure of many roads around the area.
After meandering off the North Carolina coast for nearly a week, the remnants of Hurricane Dennis affected the Northeast on September 4th through 7th. Its legacy included heavy rain and power outages from fallen tree limbs, both of which were mainly confined to the southern portion of the region. Tidal flooding occurred along the western shoreline of the Chesapeake Bay, with tides were 2 to 3 feet above normal at some locations. Up to 5 inches of rain fell over portions of Maryland and eastern West Virginia. Sugar Grove, WV reported over 7 inches of rain from the storm and Williamsport, PA measured 6.29 inches on the 7th-their second greatest 24-hour amount on record. Some other portions of central Pennsylvania received 3 to 5 inches of rain. Most of the rest of the Northeast averaged 1 to 2 inches, with around an inch or less in New England.
The western and northern New York lake-effect snow belts were repeatedly pounded by lake-effect storms during the first half of January 1999. Record or near-record snowfall accumulations of 4 to 6 feet were recorded across this area. Buffalo, NY reported over 60 inches of snow between January 1 and 15. Numerous structural failures and roof collapses were noted around the area. The western New York counties of Chautauqua, Cattaraugus, Erie, Niagara, Orleans, Genesee and Wyoming, as well as the northern New York counties of St. Lawrence, Lewis and Jefferson were declared Federal Disaster Areas.