Ice storms in February caused significant crown damage in chestnut-oak forests, and crown damage from the woolly adelgid continued to increase in eastern hemlocks. Shrub cover increased in Big Meadows, a native opening with rare plant populations and the only large non-forested area in the park. Sword-leaved phlox, a rare perennial endemic to mountainous areas of West Virginia and Virginia, continued to recover from earlier declines. Amphibians seemed to maintain breeding populations. Fish abundance was lower in 1998 than in previous years because of a small yearling class.
Exotic trout continue to perpetuate themselves despite annual removals.
The abundance of many adult land birds in the park decreased, but their productivity increased. In Buck Island Reef National Monument in the Virgin Islands-Southern Florida cluster, coral reefs sustained damage from Hurricane George. However, species richness and cover increased in open spaces that previous hurricanes created. Coral bleaching from warm water temperatures during September-November was significant. In sea turtles, the number of recruit and returning migrant breeding females did not change significantly.