Flash Flood in New Jersey, August 20, 1999

Name: Flash Flood in New Jersey, August 20, 1999
Start: 1999-08-20T13:30
End: 1999-08-20T14:30
Location: New Jersey

August 20, 1999 · NWS PHI · 1 event in 1 county or zone

10 inches of rain within 30 minutes in Fortescue and caused poor drainage and flooding from creeks and swamps in the area. The heaviest rain with the thunderstorms extended from eastern Kent County Delaware across Delaware Bay to coastal Cumberland County.

Where it happened

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Heat and drought
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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.

Thunderstorms with torrential downpours dropped 3.10 inches of rain within 30 minutes in Fortescue and caused poor drainage and flooding from creeks and swamps in the area. The heaviest rain with the thunderstorms extended from eastern Kent County Delaware across Delaware Bay to coastal Cumberland County. This was the same thunderstorm complex that produced a waterspout over Delaware Bay. In Millville, 1.27 inches of rain fell. No injuries or property damage was reported.

The radar

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

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Event by event

1 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.

Flash Flood, Cumberland

When: August 20, 1:30 PM EST to 2:30 PM EST
Where: Cumberland County, Fortescue
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 39.328, -75.129 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

What these are

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

Every storm in New Jersey in 1999 Every state in 1999 This day in weather history Warnings in New Jersey, August 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: 5718588.