Main page http://i4weather.net Station: Hagerstown 1E Md Observer: Gregory L Keefer Observation time: Midnight DECEMBER 1998 Temperature F. Precipitation Wind(Mph) Max Occuring events 12am Snow On Average Sun (Fog,thun,hail Day Max Min Obsn. Liquid Ice Gnd. Dir Speed Gust % Sleet,etc) 1 62 37 37 0 0 0 NW 7 42 nw 95 2 66 30 49 0 0 0 SW 3 15 sw 80 3 73 42 61 0 0 0 SW 7 35 w 80 4 72 58 60 0 0 0 W 5 20 w 15 5 76 52 54 0 0 0 SW 2 14 sw 75 6 77 51 60 0 0 0 SW 3 20 sw 65 7 74 55 55 .01 0 0 SW 5 26 sw 20 8 55 46 46 .35 0 0 NNW 3 14 n 0 Fog 9 51 30 30 0 0 0 NNW 5 20 nw 100 10 50 26 44 0 0 0 SW 2 16 sw 40 11 50 30 30 0 0 0 NNW 5 18 n 80 12 47 27 42 0 0 0 SSE 2 15 se 0 13 48 37 37 T T 0 N 2 12 n 0 Sleet 14 48 24 24 0 0 0 N 4 20 n 95 15 51 19 30 0 0 0 SW 2 11 sw 95 16 53 27 43 0 0 0 W 3 15 w 80 17 45 33 34 T T 0 NW 7 27 nw 30 18 43 29 38 0 0 0 NW 6 26 nw 85 19 50 37 42 0 0 0 SSW 4 14 sw 10 20 51 41 48 0 0 0 NNE 1 7 n 0 21 61 39 56 0 0 0 S 5 21 s 60 22 60 18 18 .04 0 0 NW 13 47 nw 40 23 23 16 22 T T T NNW 3 15 nw 5 24 33 21 25 .03 0.2 T NW 2 13 nw 10 25 35 12 14 0 0 T SW 2 17 sw 85 26 36 12 24 0 0 T SW 2 11 sw 50 27 41 14 35 0 0 0 SSE 4 22 se 50 28 39 31 34 .02 T 0 N 1 8 n 0 Fog 29 36 33 36 .01 T 0 SW 1 7 sw 0 Fog 30 36 18 18 0 0 0 NW 12 37 nw 70 31 27 14 16 .03 0.5 0.5 SW 3 14 sw 25 1568 958 DECEMBER STATS Average Temperature 40.7 F. (normal 34.3) +6.4 Average Maximum 50.6 F. (normal 42.4) +8.2 Average Minimum 30.9 F. (normal 26.2) +4.7 Maximum Temp 77 F. on 6th Minimum Temp 12 F. 25th & 26th Total Precip .49 (normal 2.84) Total year to date (normal 37.96) SnowFall Total 0.7" (normal 5.2) Season Total 0.7" (normal 6.9) Max Barometer 30.65" on 23rd Min Barometer 29.45" on 30th Wind Average SW at 4.1mph Peak Gust 47mph(nw) on 22nd Average Sunshine 46.5% DECEMBER 1998 WEATHER REMARKS HAGERSTOWN 1E MARYLAND DAY WARM / WIND / RECORDS SET 1st: A very Warm Windy morning to start off December 61 F. at 6am with Strong winds from the NW gusting to 42 mph. Sunny and windy today. 2nd: RECORD HIGH of 66 F. Beat the old record of 65 in 1901. 3rd: RECORD HIGH of 73 F. Old record 67 in 1932. Also some strong winds today from the WSW gusting to 35 mph. 4th: Another very warm day even with cloud cover the temp reached 72 F. But Not a record. On this date in 1982 the higest temperature ever for the month of December 79 F. 5th: RECORD HIGH 76 F. Unreal Weather continues with another record high temperature of 76 F. That breaks the record for this date of 74 in 1982. UNREAL HEAT WAVE CONTINUES 6th: RECORD HIGH of 77 F. Shatterd the old record of 69 on 1982. 7th: RECORD HIGH of 74 F. Beat the old record of 73 in 1953. A few light showers and drizzle this evening .01" This is 7 days in a row of 60 degrees or higher for December and that breaks the old record 5 in a row in 1982. We have had 10 in a row since November 28th and that is a record. This is also a record for the most 70 degree days in a row in December. Today makes 5 in a row. The old record was 2 in a row in 1982 & 1984. The Temperature has hit 60 degrees or higher 13 times since November 23rd and 9 of those have been 70 F. or Higher. There has not been a prolonged warm spell at this time of year that has even come close to this in the last 100 years. HEAT WAVE ENDS / COOLER / RAIN 8th: Some light rain and drizzle overnight and a steadier rain throughout the day .35" fell. High only 55 F. today. 9th: Sunny and colder today high of 51 but still above normal. A BIT OF SNOW AND SLEET 13th: A few spits of snow this afternoon and some very light rain mixed with sleet early this evening but only a trace. 17th: Windy and cold today. A few evening snow flurries. RECORD HIGH TEMP 21st: Another RECORD HIGH today as temperature shot up to 61 F. That beat the old record of 60 in 1957. Breezy and mild this evening. BIG CHANGE 22nd: Very warm early this morning it was 60 F. around 4am that was near the record of 65 in 1990. Light showers 4am - 5:30am .04" fell. Became very windy today and sharply colder. Strong NW winds all day with many gusts near 40 mph and a peak gust of 47 mph at 3:05pm the temperature fell rapidly into the 20's by sundown and teens by midnight. Wind chills were well below zero. A LITTLE SNOW 23rd: Cloudy and very cold today high was only 23 F. A few snow flurries around noon today. Some light intermittent snow between 9pm and midnight a trace on the ground. 24th: A dusting of snow fell between midnight and 3am just enough to measure only 0.2" accumulated. 25th: Cold start low of 12 F. Sunny and cold today high of 35 F. 26th: Another cold morning low of 12 F. 27th: Cold low of 14 F. 28th: Cloudy today some very light rain and drizzle this afternoon and evening with a few wet snowflakes mixed in .02" rain fell. 29th: Cloudy with a period of light wet snow 8:30am - 10am (No Accum.) Drizzle and fog the remainder of the day only .01" fell. 30th: Strong arctic front came through this morning at 3:30am with strong winds gusting to 37 mph and rapidly falling temperatures into the low 20's. Windy and cold all day temps remained in the 20's. 31st: Light snow began falling at 6:30am snow accumulated to 0.5" on the ground before becoming just flurries by noon. December was the 5th Warmest on record with an average of 40.7 F. The warmest ever was in 1956 with a 42.2 average. Decembers was the 4th Driest on record with only .49" of precip and only 0.7" of snow. The driest on record was .13" in 1955. In contrast to the wettest first 4 months ever we have now set a record for the driest last 4 months on record. September through December saw only 4.01" of precipitation and that breaks the old record of 5.79" in 1925. Normal precip in tha t period is 12.39". 1998 was the WARMEST YEAR on RECORD with an average temperature of 56.8 F. Shattering the old record of 55.9 in 1991