Delaware, 1997

Cold in Delaware, May 31, 1997

May 31, 1997 · NWS PHI · 3 events in 3 counties and zones

May 1997 was an unseasonably cool month. For most locations, it was the coolest May since 1967 with monthly departures that averaged 3 to 4 degrees below normal.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 3 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

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
None recorded
Crop damage
None recorded
Events
3

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.

May 1997 was an unseasonably cool month. For most locations, it was the coolest May since 1967 with monthly departures that averaged 3 to 4 degrees below normal. At the New Castle County Airport, the monthly mean temperature of 58.6 degrees was 3.9 degrees below normal and the 6th coolest May of this century.

The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

3 cold/wind chill. Local standard time, as filed.

Cold/Wind Chill, Inland Sussex

When
May 31, 11:59 PM EST
Where
Inland Sussex forecast zone
Coordinates
38.683, -75.339 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Cold/Wind Chill, Kent

When
May 31, 11:59 PM EST
Where
Kent forecast zone
Coordinates
39.096, -75.505 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Cold/Wind Chill, New Castle

When
May 31, 11:59 PM EST
Where
New Castle forecast zone
Coordinates
39.578, -75.639 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

What these are

Cold/Wind Chill
Cold or wind chill below warning criteria that caused deaths, injuries or damage.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in Delaware in 1997Every state in 1997This day in weather historyWarnings in Delaware, May 1997

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: 5609191, 5609192, 5609193.