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THE WEATHER OF 1998
S. J. Harrison
Forth Naturalist and Historian, volume 22 3
Although very few weather records were broken during 1998, it was far
from being an unexceptional year. The sequence of mild winter and early
spring months continued, with the temperature in February reaching a
remarkable 4°C above the long-term average. However, having encouraged the
early emergence of buds and shoots, the weather then played the unpleasant
trick of bringing a combination of killing frosts, heavy rain and snow in April.
May promised a good summer ahead but this was not to be the case. The
months June to August were cold and wet, and it was not until September that
the weather eventually improved a little. A deluge then followed in October
and November and there were widespread floods. On the whole 1998 was a
cloudy, mild and rather wet year.
Temperature and rainfall values in the following refer to Parkhead II although
reference is also made to the records from Bridge of Allan and Flanders Moss.
January Mild and very windy at first, becoming colder later
Scotland was almost obliterated by isobars on the weather map over the first
four days and driving rain fell in strong to gale-force south-westerly winds.
The 5th and 6th offered a respite from the wind and rain but the night-time
temperature fell to –1.1°C (–2.3°C Bridge of Allan) by the morning of the 6th.
There was another spell of wet and generally windy weather until the 12th but
the wind was from the south, which resulted in high temperatures being
registered over this period. The maximum temperature exceeded 13.0°C
between the 9th and 11th. The wind slackened on the 13th but the weather was
generally unsettled with spells of exceptionally dull and wet weather. The 17th
was the wettest day of the month, registering a rainfall of 17.7 mm (19.8 mm
Bridge of Allan). Cold Arctic air came to Scotland late on the 18th and light
snow began to fall. The north of Scotland was affected by very heavy snow but
in the Stirling area there was only a light dusting down to 150 m. Dull and
much milder weather returned on the 21st but after the 23rd the weather
became calm and clear with night frosts for much of the remainder of the
month.
February Exceptionally mild but very wet at times
Winds remained relatively light and the skies relatively clear for the first two
days. The grass minimum in Bridge of Allan fell to –5.7°C by the morning of
the 3rd, but later in the day the wind began to freshen from the west, heralding
a spell of wet and windy weather which persisted until the 16th. Winds were
south to south-westerly and daytime temperatures exceeded 14.0°C on the 13th
and 14th. Night-time temperatures were more than 10°C higher than the longterm
average. Between the 12th and 16th the air temperature never fell below