Delaware, 1998

Flash Flood and Heavy Rain in Delaware, March 8 to 9, 1998

March 8 to 9, 1998 · NWS PHI · 4 events in 3 counties and zones

Rain overspread Delaware during the late morning on the 8th preceding a low pressure system's warm front. The heaviest rain in the state fell during the afternoon on the 8th and again during the morning of the 9th before it ended.

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.

Rain overspread Delaware during the late morning on the 8th preceding a low pressure system's warm front. The heaviest rain in the state fell during the afternoon on the 8th and again during the morning of the 9th before it ended. This caused some urban and poor drainage flooding and the second surge of heavy rain pushed the Christina River over its banks during the second half of the morning into the early afternoon on the 9th. At Coochs Bridge, the Christina River exceeded its 9 foot flood stage from 845 a.m. EST through 2 p.m. EST on the 9th. It crested at 10.1 feet at 1045 a.m. EST. Storm totals throughout the state averaged between one and two inches and included 1.90 inches in Lewes, 1.60 inches in Newark, 1.54 inches in Dover, 1.50 inches in Odessa, 1.47 inches in Wilmington and 1.31 inches in Georgetown.

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

3 heavy rain, 1 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.

Heavy Rain, Kent

When
March 8, 11:00 AM EST to March 9, 10:00 AM EST
Where
Kent County, Countywide
Coordinates
39.096, -75.505 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Rain, New Castle

When
March 8, 11:00 AM EST to March 9, 10:00 AM EST
Where
New Castle County, Countywide
Coordinates
39.578, -75.639 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Rain, Sussex

When
March 8, 11:00 AM EST to March 9, 10:00 AM EST
Where
Sussex County, Countywide
Coordinates
38.683, -75.339 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Flash Flood, New Castle

When
March 9, 8:45 AM EST to 2:00 PM EST
Where
New Castle County, Coochs Bridge
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.
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

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: 5636675, 5636676, 5636677, 5636678.