December 31, 1998 transcript # 266-4
Subject(s): record -breaking temperatures
Title: 1998 Global Temperatures

When it comes to global temperatures, 1998 sizzled just like the home run race. And like Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa, the planet didn't just break records, it smashed them to pieces. Hi, I'm Dave Thurlow from the Mount Washington Observatory and this is The Weather Notebook.

Every month from January through September, at least, ranked as the warmest ever measured for that month. These are from global averages that include both air temperatures over land and water temperatures at sea. Each month of the year brought startling new statistics. The broken records became so frequent, they began to sound like-well, a broken record.

The Midwest had an extremely mild winter, and the Southern Plains blistered during the summer. San Antonio and Del Rio, Texas broke the hundred-degree mark more times than they ever had, and for almost half of its summer nights, Dallas never fell below 80. Overall, the US had its ninth-warmest summer on record, well behind the duxt bowl days scorcher of 1936.

The planet's fever can be blamed in part on our old friend, El Nino. The planet's temperature dropped just a tad near the end of the year, thanks in part to the cool ocean temperatures brought by La Nina, a cooling of the Pacific Ocean waters. Even so, 1998 will be far and away the warmest year of the century, if not the millennium. And what about 1999? Scientists are predicting that although La Nina should keep the early part of the year cooler than early 98, global temperatures will still continue to climb.

Thanks to contributing writer Bob Henson. Our series senior producer is Jay Allison underwritten by Subaru, with major support provided by the National Science Foundation.