1999

• The Asociated Press reported on March 9, 1999 that Seattle suffered 90 days of rain in the four months leading up to March, “a record for soggy gloom in a region usually boastful about its wet climate.”
• Discovery Communications reported on March 16, 1999 that floods sweeping through villages in Ecuador were caused by an unusually web season, with rainfall 50% above normal, per the country's Institute of Meteorology and Hydrology.
• The Kuensel, the newspaper of Bhutan in the Himalayas, reported on March 29, 1999 that 30,000 acres of forest have been destroyed in Bhutan by wildfires, caused by an unusually dry season.
• A severe drought in China, where 19 million residents lack drinking water and more than 21.5 million acres (8.7 million hectares) of farmland are parched, is following some of the worst flooding on record, per Discovery Communications reported on March 31, 1999.
• On April 2, 1999, the Great Plains in the US experienced a blizzard with thunder, lightning, and hail, and dropping up to 18 inches of snow just a week after temperatures had soared into the 70's, per Discovery Communications.
• Associated Press noted on April 13, 1999 that Florida was again experiencing brush fires, with 1,400 acres recently destroyed and fire near the Okefenokee Swamp.
• Hail the size of cantaloupes dropped on Sydney on April 14, 1999, per the Associated Press. 20,000 homes and 60,000 cars were damaged. Some homes had interior damage when hail smashed through roof tiles and ceiling plaster. Lightning sparked 25 electrical fires, and 15,000 homes lost power during the storms, which came without warning.
• Associated Press reported on April 18, 1999 that drought has become widespread in the Sunbelt, with wildlife drinking from chlorinated swimming pools and retirees watering their cacti. 1,650 wildfires have burned more than 35,000 acres in Florida, 4,000 acre's in Tennessee and North Carolina, and 78,000 acre's in Nebraska in that states second largest wildfire.
• MSNBC reported on May 4, 1999 that the tornadoes, almost a mile wide, that tore through Oklahoma and Kansas on May 3, 1999 were of historic proportions, per Joseph Golden, senior meteorologist at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, due to the number, size, and ferocity - all of which occurred at once. 76 tornadoes were recorded.
• NBC reported on May 4, 1999 that the US is experiencing 5 times more major weather disasters a year than in the early 1980's.
• The Media Advisory reported on May 10, 1999 that disasters are costing the US an average of $1 billion per week since 1989, per a study by the National Science Foundation.
• USA Today reported on May 11, 1999 that the fastest wind speed ever recorded, 318 mph, was recorded during a tornado May 3 in the suburbs of Oklahoma City.
• NBC reported on May 14, 1999 that a record snowfall of 1,124 inches, almost 94 feet, occurred on Mount Baker in Washington.
• Earth Changes TV reported on May 17, 1999 an all-time record number of tornadoes in January in the US - 169 - and that Chicago had more snow in a single day - 18 inches - than ever before, and that the lower 48 states in the US had the warmest winter ever.
• On May 4, 1999, NBC News reported that Mount Baker in Washington state recorded a record snowfall in a single season - 1,124 inchs or almost 94 feet since November 1, 1998. If the snow had not compacted, it would cover a 10-story building.
• An all-time record number of tornadoes - 169 in January - were recorded in the United States, per NBC News on May 4, 1999.
• NBC News reported on May 4, 1999 that on January 4, 1999, Chicago received more snow on a single day than ever before, an all-time record for the city - at 18 inches.
• Alaska received its longest and most widespread cold wave during the winter of 1998-99, per NBC News on May 4, 1999.
• Associated Press reported on May 18, 1999 that Independence, Iowa, experienced a record 10 feet above flood stated on the Wapsipinicon River, where only the tops of street signs remained visible.
• On May 19, 1999, the Associated Press reported that disasters cost the United States more than $500 billion in the past 20 years, and rising, a record cost.
• Tel Aviv, Israel experienced the highest temperature recorded during a day at 113 degrees Fahrenheit in the shade at the Allenby Bridge leading from the West Bank to Jordan, per Earth Alert on May 25, 1999. Schools were instructed to cancel field trips.
• ABC News reported on May 26, 1999 that flooding near the hundred-year high occurred simultaneously in Germany, Swizerland, and Austria occurred.
• The American Institute of Physics reported on May 26, 1999 that since 1861 the average global temperature rose 0.57 C and the warmest years of the century have all occurred in the 1990’s - 1990, 1995, and 1997.
• On June 2, 1999 the Associated Press reported simultaneous fires burning in the Southeast and Southwest United States, in Florida, Georgia, Arizona, Utah, Nevada, and California.
• New highs up and down the East Coast of the United States were reported on June 8, 1999 by the Associated Press, with record breaking humid heat across several states. Schools closed and brownouts occurred.
• The BBC reported on June 14, 1999 that two South Pacific islands had disappeared beneath the waves as climate change raised the sea levels to new heights.
• Weer News quoted meteorologist Szilard Aigner of Hungary on June 20, 1999 reporting that a single day's rainfall equalled the usual amount over a month.
• Discovery News reported on June 21, 1999 that torrential rainfall in China’s eastern province of Zhejiang forced the power station on the Qiangtang river to suspect operations and halted shipping on the river.
• Associated Press reported on June 22, 1999 that the annual rainfall in West Texas had already doubled that the of the year before, and is carrying off top soil and crops.
• Discovery News reported on June 29, 1999 that baseball sized hail fell in Nebraska and Kansas, shattering windows and battering cars.
• Discovery News reported on July 1, 1999 that record rains were recorded in Kathmandu during nine days of the worst storms to pound the city in 30 years. Meteorologists reported that a record four inches of rain fell during one 24-hour period. The city of Siddharthanagar in west Nepal received a record nine inches of rain during a 24-hour period on June 13, 1999.
• Rainfall in Japan turned deadly, per Discovery News on June 30, 1999, 6,000 people were evacuated from their homes in Kobe, 1.600 homes were destroyed as 12 inches of rain fell on Nagasaki in days, 106 landslides occurred on the island of Kyushu which received 24 inches of rain during the storm. In Hiroshima 854 landslides and almost 8,000 flooded homes occurred, with roads cutting off access to 100 locations.
• Weer News reported on July 3, 1999 that Forest fires raged on the outskirts of Moscow and in several other regions as the death toll from Russia's biggest heatwave of the century rose to more than 140. In the Moscow region, some 126 fires engulfed 145 hectares (362 acres) of forest and bush while 200 hectares (500 acres) were burning near Saint Petersburg, the ministry of emergency situations said.
• On July 7, 1999, the Heat Is Online site reported that most of earth's glaciers are retreating at accelerating rates. The biggest glacier in the Peruvian Andes 20 years ago was retreating by 14 feet a year, but today is retreating by 99 feet a year. Surface waters of the eastern Pacific have also warmed, by 2 degrees in the last 20 years, independent of El Nino events.
  
  The Associated Press reported on July 7, 1999 that the mercury hit record highs of 100 at Newark, N.J., and Harrisburg, Pa., 101 in New York City, 102 in Raleigh-Durham, N.C., and 103 at Washington's Reagan National Airport.
• Discovery Online reported on July 9, 1999 that hailstones the size of small eggs pounded Moscow during a violent storm.
• Flash Floods hit Las Vegas in the worst flooding in 15 years, triggered by an unexpected storm which dumped four to six inches of rain an hour on the city, per Discovery Online on July 9, 1999. The floodwaters swamped the floors of buildings, including the Las Vegas Convention Center. Las Vegas usually receives only 4.1 inches (104 mm) of rainfall annually.
• Reuters reported on July 9, 1999 that a heat wave was gripping much of Eastern Europe and was well into its second month, spawning forest fires and parching crops. Officials in the Ukraine reported that the temperatures were the highest since records began in 1882, and these high readings prevailed for 35 days.
• Discovery Online reported on August 2, 1999 that Beijing was experiencing the city's worst heat wave of the century. Temperatures reached 108 degrees Fahrenheit.
• On August 3, 1999 the Associated Press reported that Mount Baker in the state of Washington had a record snowfall of 95 feet last winter, setting a seasonal snowfall record for the United States and the world, per the National Climatic Data Center. The previous record was set at Mount Rainier, Washington., in the winter of 1971-1972.
• The Sudan experienced the seasonal rains a month earlier than usual, according to Discovery Online on August 4, 1999, with flash flooding already experienced in Khartoum and the Nile spilling its banks.
• Discovery Online reported on August 5, 1999 that Cambodia has received 30 percent more rainfall than normal.
• On the other side of the world, the drought affecting the eastern half of the US has created crop shortages from Virginia to New England, with some states experiencing the driest 12-month period ever recorded, per Discovery Online on August 5, 1999.
• CNN reported on August 5, 1999 that New York City suffered its hottest July on record.
• On August 6, 1999 CNN also reported that the drought affecting the northeast US is now the worst on record for farmers in some northeast states, and one of the worst in other parts of the country. President Clinton stated at a news conference, “In Maryland, Delaware, New Jersey and Rhode Island, this is the worst drought for farmers ever recorded."
• Sweden was fighting forest fires south of Stockholm, during an unusually hot and dry summer, according to Discovery Online on August 6, 1999.
• Discovery Online reported that 80 wildfires ignited by lightning were burning in the state of Nevada and east of Reno on August 6, 1999.
• On August 7, 1999 the USGS reported that the drought affecting the east coast of the US had moved inland to the states of Indiana and Ohio, under the effects of a heat wave and low precipitation.
• While many parts of Iran are suffering from a near-record drought, flash floods tore through the capital of Azerbaijan, per Discovery Online on August 10, 1999.
• On August 13, 1999 Discovery Online reported that two weeks of torrential rains in Africa's southern Chad have destroyed 5,000 homes, displaced 130,000 residents, inundated 400,000 acres (162,000 hectares) of farmland, and drowned 1,257 head of livestock. The rains are expected to continue throughout August.
• Incessant torrential rains in the Sudan caused flooding that left 50,000 homeless, destroyed more than 10,000 homes, and drowned 1,000 head of livestock, per Discovery Online on August 16, 1999. Many Sudanese states along the Nile have been affected by the floods.
• Discovery Online reported on August 16, 1999 that more than 100 people were killed and 120,000 others left stranded when flash floods triggered by pounding rains battered Hunan Province in central China. Officials said that the torrential rain destroyed at least 30,000 homes. About 44,000 people were relocated to shelters over the weekend. China has experienced devastating flooding throughout the monsoon season this year and 5.5 million people have been left homeless by the disasters.
• On August 16, 1999 Discovery Online reported that 13 campers were swept away when the Kurokura River in Japan's Kanagawa Prefecture burst its banks. Recent violent downpours have swelled numerous rivers in the Tokyo, Kanagawa and Saitama prefectures causing similar accidents.
• Southern Brazil experienced one of the worst cold waves in recent history, per Discovery Online on August 17, 1999, with temperatures in several communities of the southern state of Rio Grande do Sul dropped to 14 degrees Fahrenheit and the region experienced snowfall for the first time since 1994.
• The Associated Press reported on August 17, 1999 that while much of the nation has been suffering through unusually hot weather, the Puget Sound area has been having its coolest summer since 1956, the National Weather Service reported.
• China's Shanxi province has been struck by a severe drought for the third year in a row, says its state media. Nearly 4 million acres of crops have been affected, with a half million acres destroyed per Discovery Online on August 19, 1999. More than 3 million people and 460,000 livestock animals are experiencing a shortage of drinking water, the Xinhua News Agency reports.
• NBC News reported on Sept 16, 1999 that Hurricane Floyd evacuations became the largest peacetime evaluation in history.
• NBC News reported on Sept 17, 1999 that the average number of hurricanes per year has increased from 5 to 7 and storms have become larger and more powerful. The enormously powerful Hurricane Floyd, the size of Texas and one of the biggest storms to hit the US coastline, is 4 times as large as Andrew which devastated Florida in 1992.
• Weather.COM reported on Sept 17, 1999 that Hurricane Floyd dropped record amounts of rain from North Carolina to Massachusetts, and that Hurricane Gert was the 4th Category 4 hurricane of the season.
• NASA and JPL reported on Sept 22, 1999 that unusually hot and cold oceans have created the corridors for more storms. Satellites showed tropical storms Harvey in the Gulf of Mexico and Hillary in the Pacific, along with Hurricane Gert near Bermuda, as they spun over the ocean on September 20.
• Cyclone 05B, which devastated the Indian province of Orissa, is being termed a supercyclone, with winds up to 250 km/h, one of the strongest for the region within the century and causing the worst flooding in the region for the century, per News World on Nov 2, 1999. Discovery News reported on Nov 8, 1999 that Cyclone 05B caused more than 275,000 homes to be blown away, leaving 1.5 million people homeless.
• The Weather Channel reported on Nov 16, 1999 that Hurricane Lenny's west to east path through the Caribbean and late date in the season were unprecedented. Hurricane Lenny was termed a Category 4 hurricane, packing winds of 110 mph, per Discovery News on Nov 18, 1999.
• A rare snowfall blanketed Spain, blocking dozens of mountain passes, per Discovery News on Nov 23, 1999.
• Flooding in the Congo is now being considered the flood of the century, per Discovery News on Dec 1, 1999. Seasonal rains began earlier than usual.
• Kuwait experienced a 35-year low, per Discovery News on Dec 2, 1999, with temperatures threatening to drop below zero. Kuwait's winter temperatures usually average 64 degrees Fahrenheit.
• The BBC reported on Dec 8, 1999 that 1999 will be the warmest year ever recorded in the UK.
• Space.COM reported on Dec 2, 1999 that satellite data shows the Arctic icecap is dramatically shrinking.
• Fairbanks set a record on Dec 22, 1999 with a temperature of 46 degrees Fahrenheit, some 40 degrees above normal.
• CNN reported on Dec 17, 1999 that the polar wind appears to have shifted its course.
• CNN reported on Dec 28, 1999 that a second wave of storms swept through Europe with high winds, affecting Germany, Switzerland, Spain, Belgium and France and causing flooding in many rivers such as the Seine. Dubbed Hurricane Lothar, the storm was considered unprecedented.

Below is the Weather Watch extreme weather map as 1999 progressed.