Delaware, 2001

Drought in Delaware, April 30, 2001

April 30, 2001 · NWS PHI · 4 events in 4 counties and zones

April 2001 was an unseasonably dry month for the state of Delaware, especially during the second half of the month when very little rain fell. 8 inches in Sussex and New Castle Counties.

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.

April 2001 was an unseasonably dry month for the state of Delaware, especially during the second half of the month when very little rain fell. On a county weighted average, April monthly precipitation totals ranged from 1.6 inches in Kent County to 1.8 inches in Sussex and New Castle Counties. This was about 50 percent of normal and most of the precipitation fell prior to April 14th. At the New Castle County Airport, the monthly total of 1.44 inches was the seventh driest April on record. In addition to raising the fire danger, the unseasonably dry weather, if it persists, will start to threaten the growing season.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS Philadelphia/Mount Holly wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Apr 30, 8:45 PM EST, 3 hours 14 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Apr 30, 8:45 PM EST, 3 hours 14 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOUNT HOLLY NJ
945 PM EDT MON APR 30 2001

DISC: DRY WARM SPELL ON THE WAY. ILG-PHI-ACY-ABE HAVE NOT HAD A HALF
INCH OF RAIN ON ANY DAY THIS MONTH SO WE NEED THE RAIN. OTHERWISE
CURRENT FCST PCKG IS ON TRACK SO NO UPDATE NEEDED.

SEE YA AT 3AM

.PHI...NONE.

EBEWINE

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

4 drought. Local standard time, as filed.

Drought, Delaware Beaches

When
April 30, 11:59 PM EST
Where
Delaware Beaches forecast zone
Reported by
AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates
38.683, -75.339 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Drought, Inland Sussex

When
April 30, 11:59 PM EST
Where
Inland Sussex forecast zone
Reported by
AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates
38.683, -75.339 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Drought, Kent

When
April 30, 11:59 PM EST
Where
Kent forecast zone
Reported by
AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates
39.096, -75.505 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Drought, New Castle

When
April 30, 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)

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

More

Every storm in Delaware in 2001Every state in 2001This day in weather historyWarnings in Delaware, April 2001

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: 5240773, 5240774, 5240775, 5240776.