Heat, Delaware Beaches
- When
- January 4, 10:00 AM EST to January 9, 5:00 PM EST
- Where
- Delaware Beaches forecast zone
- Coordinates
- 38.683, -75.339 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Heat in Delaware, January 4 to 9, 1998
A high pressure system over the Western Atlantic, in a position normally seen during the summer months, gave the Delmarva Peninsula six days of unseasonably warm weather during early January. A cold front tried to move south across the area on the 5th, but stalled and remained over northern Pennsylvania and New Jersey.
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
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 high pressure system over the Western Atlantic, in a position normally seen during the summer months, gave the Delmarva Peninsula six days of unseasonably warm weather during early January. A cold front tried to move south across the area on the 5th, but stalled and remained over northern Pennsylvania and New Jersey. A stronger cold front moved through the region on the 9th. The warmest day for most locations was the 8th as many new record high temperatures were set. High temperatures that day included 72 degrees in Odessa, 70 degrees in Bridgeville and Pennyhill, 69 degrees in Georgetown and Salisbury, MD, 68 degrees in Lewes and 66 degrees at the New Castle County Airport.
The radar
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
Event by event
4 heat. Local standard time, as filed.
Heat, Inland Sussex
- When
- January 4, 10:00 AM EST to January 9, 5:00 PM EST
- Where
- Inland Sussex forecast zone
- Coordinates
- 38.683, -75.339 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Heat, Kent
- When
- January 4, 10:00 AM EST to January 9, 5:00 PM EST
- Where
- Kent forecast zone
- Coordinates
- 39.096, -75.505 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Heat, New Castle
- When
- January 4, 10:00 AM EST to January 9, 5:00 PM EST
- Where
- New Castle forecast zone
- 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
- Flash Flooding and High Wind in California, January 4 to 25, 1998
- Ice Storm in Kansas, January 4, 1998
- Flash Flooding in Arkansas, January 4 to 5, 1998
- Winter Storm in Oregon, January 4, 1998
- Ice Storm in Wisconsin, January 4 to 5, 1998
- Flash Flooding in Texas, January 4 to 5, 1998
- Ice Storm in Iowa, January 4, 1998
- Winter Storm in Utah, January 4 to 5, 1998
- Winter Weather in Vermont, January 4 to 6, 1998
- Winter Weather in New York, January 4 to 6, 1998
- Flash Flooding and Lightning Strike in Oklahoma, January 4 to 5, 1998
- Heavy Rain in Texas, January 4 to 5, 1998
More
Every storm in Delaware in 1998Every state in 1998This day in weather historyWarnings in Delaware, January 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: 5630302, 5630303, 5630304, 5630305.