Drought in Delaware, December 1 to 31, 2001

Name: Drought in Delaware, December 1 to 31, 2001
Start: 2001-12-01T00:00
End: 2001-12-31T23:59
Location: Delaware

December 1 to 31, 2001 · NWS PHI · 4 events in 4 counties and zones

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.

December 2001 marked the sixth consecutive month of below normal precipitation for most of Delaware. While more precipitation fell in December than in October or November, it was still only about 60 percent of normal. On a county weighted average, monthly precipitation totals averaged 2.0 inches, while normal is around 3.5 inches. This was after the driest autumn on record at the New Castle County Airport near Wilmington. Only 4.29 inches of precipitation fell. Normal is 9.58 inches. The flow along the Brandywine Creek reached a 54 year low on December 3rd, flowing at one-third of its usual rate for the date. The dry weather affected winter crops as cereal grains and crops to protect the environment were not growing well. The Great Cypress Swamp near Gumboro and Selbyville was badly parched. The lack of precipitation in the Delaware River Basin prompted the Delaware River Basin Commission to declare a "drought" on December 3rd and a drought emergency on the 18th.

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 Nov 30, 9:30 PM EST, 2 hours 30 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Nov 30, 9:30 PM EST, 2 hours 30 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOUNT HOLLY NJ
930 PM EST FRI NOV 30 2001

WILL BE CLEANING UP ZONES AS SHRAS ARE NEARLY GONE. WE WILL ALSO BE
LWRG SCA ON DE BAY.

PREV AFD **********************************************************

FRONTAL SYSTEM IS WORKING ITS WAY TWD THE CWA THIS AFTN...PRECEDED
BY SHWRS SPCLY N OF PHL. CURRENT ACTIVITY MAINLY N OF PHL SHUD CONT
TO MOV NEWD THIS AFTN...BUT WE/LL KEEP IN A CHC OF SHWRS FOR ERY
THIS EVE WITH HIEST POS NWRN ZONES IN CASE ANY OF THE PRECIP
CURRENTLY OVR SWRN PA CURVES NEWD THRU OUR NWRN ZONES. THUNDER WAS
IN THE WARM ADVECTION AREA TO OUR WEST WITH THE BEST PVA
EARLIER...SO NO MENTION OF THUNDER FOR THE EVE IS PLANNED. STLT
SHOWS LTG ALIGNED ALG CDFNT IN WRN NY NOW...WITH ONLY THE
AFORMENTIONED SHWRS SWD INTO PA.

OTHERWISE CLDS SHUD BE ON THE DCRS AFTER THE EVE HRS...WITH FIRST
CDFNT TO MOV THRU LATER TNGT WITH WINDS BCMG MORE WLY AFT MIDN/TWD
MRNG. FIGURING ON MIXED SUN/CLDS SAT...WITH A SECONDARY DRY FRONT
PROGGED THRU SAT NITE. WL SAY PTLY CLDY AT THIS POINT BASED ON MODEL
RH...WITH MOSUNNY CONDS SUN AS DRIER AIR WORKS IN.

TEMPS...MOS SEEMS TO BE PRETTY REASONABLE...MAV MAXES SEEMED TOO
COOL SAT.

ON THE MARINE WL CONT WITH SCA ALL WATERS AND DE BAY. WINDS MAY BE
MARGINAL SPCLY UPPER BAY BUT SINCE ITS ADVERTISED WE/LL KEEP IT UP
FOR NOW.

FCSTID = 17
MPO   46  55  33  46 /  60  10   0   0
ABE   49  61  37  51 /  50   0   0   0
RDG   50  62  38  53 /  50   0   0   0
PHL   54  66  40  55 /  40   0   0   0
12N   48  58  35  48 /  60  10   0   0
SMQ   51  64  38  54 /  40   0   0   0
TTN   52  65  38  54 /  40   0   0   0
MIV   52  65  36  54 /  30   0   0   0
ACY   55  64  40  53 /  30   0   0   0
ILG   53  65  39  55 /  40   0   0   0
DOV   54  66  38  55 /  30   0   0   0
GED   54  67  39  56 /  30   0   0   0
ESN   54  66  40  54 /  30   0   0   0

.PHI...
DE...NONE.
MD...NONE.
NJ...NONE.
PA...NONE.
.MARINE...SCA CSTL WATERS SANDY HOOK NJ TO FENWICK ISLAND DE.

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: December 1, 12:00 AM EST to December 31, 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: December 1, 12:00 AM EST to December 31, 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: December 1, 12:00 AM EST to December 31, 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: December 1, 12:00 AM EST to December 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)

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

Every storm in Delaware in 2001 Every state in 2001 This day in weather history Warnings in Delaware, December 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: 5274267, 5274268, 5274269, 5274270.