Flash Flood, Kent
- When
- August 10, 4:30 PM EST to 7:30 PM EST
- Where
- Kent County, Northwest Portion
- Reported by
- EMERGENCY MANAGER
- Coordinates
- 39.096, -75.505 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Flash Flood in Delaware, August 10, 1998
Slow moving thunderstorms brought torrential downpours and flash flooding of streams in the northern half of Kent County and affected the northwestern part of the county the hardest. 4 inches between Kenton and Hartly.
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.
Slow moving thunderstorms brought torrential downpours and flash flooding of streams in the northern half of Kent County and affected the northwestern part of the county the hardest. Doppler Radar storm total estimates reached 11.4 inches between Kenton and Hartly. This appears in line with rainfall reports received around this maximum. Streams flooded in Cheswold and threatened, but did not reach several homes. A small foot bridge was feared to be undermined or washed away, but was not damaged. Firefighters had to pump water from a few basements in Smyrna. Stream flooding forced the closure of several roads in the county, but no washouts or damage occurred. There was a foot of water on U.S. Route 13 near Smyrna. Storm totals included 8.80 inches at 2.5 miles west of Cheswold, 7.93 inches in Smyrna, 3.44 inches in Dover, 2.83 inches at the Dover Air Force Base and 2.34 inches in Greenwood (Sussex County).
The radar
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
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
- Lightning Strike in Wyoming, August 10, 1998
- Damaging Wind in Pennsylvania, August 10, 1998
- Damaging Winds and Lightning Strike in Michigan, August 10, 1998
- Flash Flood in Ohio, August 10, 1998
- Lightning Strike in Virginia, August 10, 1998
- Damaging Wind in Iowa, August 10, 1998
- Lightning Strike in Ohio, August 10, 1998
- Lightning Strikes in Maryland, August 10, 1998
- Flash Flood in Ohio, August 10, 1998
- Tornado and Hail in Oklahoma, August 10, 1998
- Damaging Wind in Texas, August 10, 1998
- Flash Flood in Missouri, August 10, 1998
More
Every storm in Delaware in 1998Every state in 1998This day in weather historyWarnings in Delaware, August 1998
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: 5668007.