Name: Heat in Delaware, December 1 to 7, 1998
Start: 1998-12-01T00:00
End: 1998-12-07T18:00
Location: Delaware

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 4 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: 4

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.

A very strong and persistent ridge of high pressure at all levels of the atmosphere remained anchored across the western Atlantic Ocean and the Middle and South Atlantic States from November 28th through December 7th. The result was 10 consecutive days of record breaking, unseasonably warm weather across the state of Delaware. Many locations set new all-time monthly record high temperatures for December. The warmest days were December 4th, 6th and 7th. The highest temperatures included 75 degrees in Georgetown and at the New Castle County Airport. Other nearby highest temperatures included 78 degrees in Ocean City, MD and 77 degrees in Salisbury, MD. The daily high temperature record was tied (68 degrees) at the New Castle County Airport on the 3rd. New daily record high temperatures were set at the airport on the 4th (75 degrees) and 7th (72 degrees). The high temperature of 75 degrees on the 4th set a new all-time record for the month of December. The previous record was 74 degrees on December 29, 1984. In a paradoxical scene for early December, people were buying Christmas trees with shorts on. A cold front moved through the region late in the day on the 7th and dropped temperatures closer to normal levels.

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

4 heat. Local standard time, as filed.

Heat, Delaware Beaches

When: December 1, 12:00 AM EST to December 7, 6:00 PM EST
Where: Delaware Beaches forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates: 38.683, -75.339 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heat, Inland Sussex

When: December 1, 12:00 AM EST to December 7, 6:00 PM EST
Where: Inland Sussex forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates: 38.683, -75.339 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heat, Kent

When: December 1, 12:00 AM EST to December 7, 6:00 PM EST
Where: Kent forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates: 39.096, -75.505 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heat, New Castle

When: December 1, 12:00 AM EST to December 7, 6:00 PM EST
Where: New Castle forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates: 39.578, -75.639 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

What these are

Heat: Heat below excessive heat criteria that still caused deaths, injuries or significant impacts.

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

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in Delaware in 1998 Every state in 1998 This day in weather history Warnings in Delaware, December 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: 5675141, 5675142, 5675143, 5675144.