Drought, New Castle
- When
- October 31, 11:59 PM EST
- Where
- New Castle forecast zone
- Coordinates
- 39.578, -75.639 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Drought in Delaware, October 31, 1997
Unseasonably dry weather and below normal rainfall, which became worse during the summer months, forced the Delaware River Basin Commission to declare a drought warning on October 27th. The commission urged the 7 million residents within the basin's 13,539 square mile area to voluntarily conserve water.
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.
Unseasonably dry weather and below normal rainfall, which became worse during the summer months, forced the Delaware River Basin Commission to declare a drought warning on October 27th. The commission urged the 7 million residents within the basin's 13,539 square mile area to voluntarily conserve water. While the yearly precipitation total for Kent and Sussex Counties were above average, on a county weighted average, yearly precipitation through October 31st within New Castle County was 5.5 inches, or about 15 percent, below normal.
The radar
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
Event by event
1 drought. Local standard time, as filed.
What these are
- Drought
- A drought reaching severe (D2) or worse on the US Drought Monitor, or with notable impacts.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
The same day elsewhere
- Dense Fog in Maryland, October 31, 1997
- Flooding in Florida, October 31, 1997
- Tornado in Florida, October 31, 1997
- Tornado in Florida, October 31, 1997
- High Wind in Colorado, October 31, 1997
- Tornado in Florida, October 31, 1997
- Drought in Pennsylvania, October 31, 1997
- Flooding in Florida, October 31, 1997
- Drought in New Jersey, October 31, 1997
- Drought in Pennsylvania, October 31, 1997
- Damaging Wind in Florida, October 31, 1997
- Lightning Strike in Florida, October 31, 1997
More
Every storm in Delaware in 1997Every state in 1997This day in weather historyWarnings in Delaware, October 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: 5619754.