Flash Flood, New Castle
- When
- January 19, 9:00 AM EST to 7:00 PM EST
- Where
- New Castle County, Northern
- Coordinates
- 39.578, -75.639 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Flash Flood in Delaware, January 19, 1996
The combination of snowmelt from the previous week's two snowstorms, the unseasonably warm temperatures and one to two inches of additional rain all combined to produce flash flooding of roads and streams in the northern half of the county. m.
Where it happened
Every event with a place to put it; 1 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.
- Tornadoes
- Tropical storms and surge
- Floods
- Wind
- Hail
- Winter weather
- Heat and drought
- Cold
- Fire, smoke and dust
- Marine and coastal
- Other
The toll
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- None recorded
- Crop damage
- None recorded
- Events
- 1
Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.
What happened
The episode as NWS PHI wrote it up.
The combination of snowmelt from the previous week's two snowstorms, the unseasonably warm temperatures and one to two inches of additional rain all combined to produce flash flooding of roads and streams in the northern half of the county. The Christina River reached flood stage at 9 a.m. on the 19th. After a squall line moved through the region around noon, a steady stream of cars stuck in high water began. One of the more dramatic rescues occurred at 4 p.m. when a Hickory Hill woman and her two children were rescued near the flooded Red Clay Creek near the NVF plant. Numerous roads were closed including Delaware State Route 82 and Delaware State Route 273 in Christina. Ice jams compounded the flooding along the Brandywine Creek. Thirteen Wilmington persons were made temporarily homeless by the flooding.
The radar
The Dover AFB radar (KDOX), 85 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 13:59 UTC.
Event by event
1 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.
What these are
- Flash Flood
- Flooding that begins within six hours of the rain that causes it, or of a dam or levee failure or ice jam release, often with deadly speed.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
The same day elsewhere
- Flash Flood in New York, January 19 to 20, 1996
- Flash Flood in Pennsylvania, January 19, 1996
- Flooding in Virginia, January 19 to 22, 1996
- Flooding in Pennsylvania, January 19 to 21, 1996
- Flash Flood in Pennsylvania, January 19, 1996
- Flood in New York, January 19 to 20, 1996
- Flooding in Vermont, January 19 to 20, 1996
- Flooding in New York, January 19 to 20, 1996
- Flash Flood in New York, January 19 to 20, 1996
- Flash Flood in West Virginia, January 19, 1996
- Flooding in Maryland, January 19 to 22, 1996
- Flooding in West Virginia, January 19 to 21, 1996
More
Every storm in Delaware in 1996Every state in 1996This day in weather historyWarnings in Delaware, January 1996
Sources
NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5543067.