Heavy Rain, Delaware Beaches
- When
- March 31, 11:59 PM EST
- Where
- Delaware Beaches forecast zone
- Coordinates
- 38.683, -75.339 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Heavy Rain in Delaware, March 31, 1998
Continuing a trend that has persisted throughout 1998 so far, March 1998 was an unseasonably wet month across the Delmarva Peninsula. This led to the Christina River in New Castle County reaching flood stage three times during the month.
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.
Continuing a trend that has persisted throughout 1998 so far, March 1998 was an unseasonably wet month across the Delmarva Peninsula. This led to the Christina River in New Castle County reaching flood stage three times during the month. On a county weighted average, monthly precipitation totals were between 5.1 and 5.8 inches and averaged between 1.1 and 2.4 inches above normal. Precipitation was greater than 150 percent of normal in Kent and New Castle Counties and slightly less, but still above normal in Sussex County.
The radar
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
Event by event
4 heavy rain. Local standard time, as filed.
Heavy Rain, Inland Sussex
- When
- March 31, 11:59 PM EST
- Where
- Inland Sussex forecast zone
- Coordinates
- 38.683, -75.339 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Heavy Rain, Kent
- When
- March 31, 11:59 PM EST
- Where
- Kent forecast zone
- Coordinates
- 39.096, -75.505 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Heavy Rain, New Castle
- When
- March 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
- Heavy Rain
- Rainfall totals unusual for the place and season that did not produce a flood.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
The same day elsewhere
- Damaging Wind in Georgia, March 31, 1998
- Heavy Snow in South Dakota, March 31, 1998
- Flash Flood in Vermont, March 31, 1998
- Blizzard in South Dakota, March 31, 1998
- Damaging Wind in Texas, March 31, 1998
- Heavy Snow in Minnesota, March 31, 1998
- Heavy Rain in New Jersey, March 31, 1998
- Heavy Snow in Minnesota, March 31, 1998
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Mississippi, March 31, 1998
- Funnel Clouds and Waterspouts in California, March 31, 1998
- Heavy Snow in Minnesota, March 31, 1998
- Heavy Rain in Maryland, March 31, 1998
More
Every storm in Delaware in 1998Every state in 1998This day in weather historyWarnings in Delaware, March 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: 5636990, 5636991, 5636992, 5636993.