Drought, New Castle
- When
- January 1, 12:00 AM EST to January 31, 11:59 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)
Drought in Delaware, January 1 to 31, 1999
January 1999 finally broke a string of unseasonably dry months that prevailed throughout the second half of 1998. Conditions did not look promising at the start of the month.
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.
January 1999 finally broke a string of unseasonably dry months that prevailed throughout the second half of 1998. Conditions did not look promising at the start of the month. On January 5th, the Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC) issued a conditional drought emergency for the Delaware River Basin north of the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal. Heavy precipitation on the 3rd gave the area a temporary reprieve from going straight into a drought emergency. The DRBC expected that threshold to be reached on January 25th. Subsequent heavy precipitation events on the 15th, 18th and 24th started replenishing reservoir and streamflow levels. By the end of the month, the lifting of the drought warning was only days away. On a statewide average, January monthly precipitation was around 150% to 200% of normal and was around 6.7 inches. The monthly precipitation total of 5.42 inches at the New Castle County Airport was the 7th wettest January in this century.
The radar
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
Event by event
1 drought. Local standard time, as filed.
What these are
- Drought
- A drought reaching severe (D2) or worse on the US Drought Monitor, or with notable impacts.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
The same day elsewhere
- Winter Storm in Nebraska, January 1 to 3, 1999
- Winter Storm in Iowa, January 1 to 2, 1999
- Winter Storm in North Dakota, January 1, 1999
- Winter Storm in Iowa, January 1 to 3, 1999
- Tornado in Texas, January 1, 1999
- Tornadoes and Hail in Texas, January 1, 1999
- Winter Storm and Heavy Snow in Illinois, January 1 to 3, 1999
- Tornado in Louisiana, January 1, 1999
- Dense Fog in California, January 1 to 2, 1999
- Ice Storm in Arkansas, January 1 to 2, 1999
- Heavy Snow in Illinois, January 1 to 2, 1999
- Winter Storm in Missouri, January 1 to 2, 1999
More
Every storm in Delaware in 1999Every state in 1999This day in weather historyWarnings in Delaware, January 1999
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: 5685285.