Heat, Delaware Beaches
- When
- August 6, 9:00 AM EST to August 10, 6:00 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)
Heat in Delaware, August 6 to 10, 2001
A ridge of high pressure both surface and aloft that was broiling the central part of the country moved east and covered the Delmarva Peninsula during the work week of August 6th. This brought the most oppressive hot spell since July of 1999 to the region and peaked on the 9th.
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.
A ridge of high pressure both surface and aloft that was broiling the central part of the country moved east and covered the Delmarva Peninsula during the work week of August 6th. This brought the most oppressive hot spell since July of 1999 to the region and peaked on the 9th. While there were no heat related deaths, there was an increase in the normal number of patients with cardiac and respiratory problems. Social workers and charities checked on the elderly in Dover City. The "Are You OK?" program contacted senior citizens once a day throughout the county. Sussex County opened four heat shelters on the 8th and 9th. The hot weather put a strain on electrical usage. The PJM Interconnection (An independent organization that coordinates electric delivery for 22 million people in Maryland, Delaware, Pennsylvania and New Jersey) set a usage record of 54,176 megawatts on the 9th. It was also forced to reduce voltage by 5 percent that day between 310 p.m. and 615 p.m. EDT to protect power reserves.Highest temperatures included 100 degrees in Bear (New Castle County), 99 at the New Castle County Airport, 97 degrees in Rehoboth Beach and 95 degrees in Georgetown and Dover. The 99 degree high temperature at the New Castle County Airport was the hottest day at the airport since July 19, 1999 when it reached 100 degrees. A cold front moved into the region the evening of the 10th and stalled throughout the weekend (the 11th and 12th). While it did not remove the humid air in place, the clouds and precipitation prevented temperatures from reaching into the 90s after the 10th.
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 Aug 6, 12:42 AM EST, 8 hours 18 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Aug 6, 12:42 AM EST, 8 hours 18 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOUNT HOLLY NJ 142 AM EDT MON AUG 6 2001 THE HUMID AIRMASS IS ALREADY IN PLACE AND THE HOT AIRMASS ARRIVES TONIGHT...BUT BECOMES HOTTER TUESDAY. I WILL ISSUE AN EXCESSIVE HEAT WARNING FOR MOST OF CENTRAL AND SOUTH NEW JERSEY...SE PA...DEL AND NE MD...BUT WILL LEAVE COASTAL ZONES OUT AS A SEABREEZE SHOULD FORM TODAY. SOME OF THE HOT AIR FROM THE UPPER MIDWEST SPILLS OVER THE RIDGE AND ACROSS THE FORECAST AREA THROUGH TUE. BY TUE AFTN THE FCST 850 TEMPS APPROACH 20 WHILE TODAY THEY ARE NOT QUITE AS HIGH. MODELS SUGGEST PSBL TSTM DVLPMNT THIS EVENING. MESOETA PUTS A BULLSEYE VV MAX OVER PHL. THE NGM/AVN ARE MORE CONSERVATIVE. SINCE IT WOULD BE A MESOSCALE INFLUENCE THAT WOULD CAUSE ANY TSTM DVLPMNT...I AM NOT CONFIDENT ENOUGH TO INCLUDE SINCE ACTUAL COVERAGE SHOULD BE SMALL IF TSTMS DO FORM. ALTHOUGH THERE IS GOOD INSTABILITY IN PLACE...MOISTURE IS MARGINAL. FWC TEMPS GENLY OK TODAY...BUT TMRW THEY LOOK A BIT HIGH. HOWEVER...FWC DEWPTS LOOK A BIT LOW THROUGH THE PERIOD AND HAVE BEEN RUNNING A CPL DEGREES LOW. THE SWITCH TO NW FLOW FOR TUE SHOULD ALLOW A SMALL DROP IN DEWPTS WITH SOME MIXING OF DRY AIR DOWN FROM ALFT...BUT THE TEMPS SHOULD BE HIGHER THAT TODAY. BASED ON FCST TEMPS/DEWPTS...THE HEAT INDEX WHERE I WILL ISSUE AN EXCESSIVE HEAT WARNING SHOULD REACH 100 TO 105 TODAY AND AROUND 105 (UP TO 107) TUE. I WILL ALSO HEADLINE THE HEAT INDEX OF NEAR 100 FOR LEHIGH VALLEY AND NRN NJ. MPO 89 70 90 69 / 10 10 10 0 ABE 92 71 94 70 / 10 10 10 0 RDG 93 72 94 70 / 10 10 10 0 PHL 94 75 97 76 / 10 20 10 0 12N 91 70 92 70 / 10 10 10 0 SMQ 93 74 96 74 / 10 10 10 0 TTN 93 74 96 74 / 10 10 10 0 MIV 93 74 97 74 / 10 20 10 0 ACY 88 74 95 74 / 10 20 10 0 ILG 94 74 97 74 / 10 20 10 0 DOV 93 74 97 74 / 10 20 10 0 GED 93 74 96 74 / 10 20 10 0 ESN 93 74 96 74 / 10 20 10 0 .PHI... DE...EXCESSIVE HEAT WARNING ALL BUT THE COAST. MD...EXCESSIVE HEAT WARNING. NJ...EXCESSIVE HEAT WARNING NJ9/10/12/13/15>23. PA...EXCESSIVE HEAT WARNING PA67>71.
The radar
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
Event by event
4 heat. Local standard time, as filed.
Heat, Inland Sussex
- When
- August 6, 9:00 AM EST to August 10, 6:00 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)
Heat, Kent
- When
- August 6, 9:00 AM EST to August 10, 6:00 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)
Heat, New Castle
- When
- August 6, 9:00 AM EST to August 10, 6:00 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
- Heat
- Heat below excessive heat criteria that still caused deaths, injuries or significant impacts.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
The same day elsewhere
- Heat in Pennsylvania, August 6 to 10, 2001
- Heat in Illinois, August 6 to 9, 2001
- Heat in Michigan, August 6 to 9, 2001
- Heat in Wisconsin, August 6 to 9, 2001
- Heat in Maryland, August 6 to 10, 2001
- Heat in New Jersey, August 6 to 10, 2001
- Heat in Maryland, August 6 to 10, 2001
- Damaging Wind and Lightning Strike in Texas, August 6, 2001
- Heat in Texas, August 6, 2001
- Flash Flood in Florida, August 6 to 9, 2001
- Flash Flood in Florida, August 6, 2001
- Tropical Storm in Alabama, August 6, 2001
More
Every storm in Delaware in 2001Every state in 2001This day in weather historyWarnings in Delaware, August 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: 5266698, 5266699, 5266700, 5266701.