Damaging Wind and Lightning Strike in Delaware, July 5, 2001

Name: Damaging Wind and Lightning Strike in Delaware, July 5, 2001
Start: 2001-07-05T19:00
End: 2001-07-05T19:00
Location: Delaware

July 5, 2001 · NWS PHI · 2 events in 1 county or zone

A severe thunderstorm tore down large tree limbs in Laurel. The same storm struck a person within Laurel.

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

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The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 1
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 2

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 severe thunderstorm tore down large tree limbs in Laurel. The same storm struck a person within Laurel. The individual was not seriously injured.

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 Jul 5, 1:50 PM EST, 5 hours 10 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 5, 1:50 PM EST, 5 hours 10 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOUNT HOLLY NJ
250 PM EDT THU JUL 5 2001

AT 200 PM...THE COLD FRONT APPEARED TO EXTEND SOUTHWEST FROM
NORTHERN VERMONT...ACROSS THE FINGER LAKES REGION AND INTO NORTHERN
OHIO.  A FEW REMNANT BOUNDARIES REMAINED OUT AHEAD OF THE FRONT...
AND THERE SEEMED TO BE A WEAK SURFACE LOW OVER NORTH CENTRAL
PENNSYLVANIA.

THE FRONT AND THE HODGE PODGE OF SURFACE BOUNDARIES SHOULD CONTINUE
TO SINK TO THE SOUTH.  WE/RE STILL EXPECTING THE FRONT TO REACH
CENTRAL NEW JERSEY AND SOUTHEASTERN PENNSYLVANIA BY DARK.  THAT
FEATURE SHOULD THEN MAKE IT TO FENWICK ISLAND AFTER MIDNIGHT.  WE/LL
KEEP THE MENTION OF PRECIP IN THE FORECAST UNTIL AFTER THE FRONT
PASSES.

THE DRY AIR NOW OVER MICHIGAN AND WISCONSIN IS EXPECTED TO BUILD
OVER OUR REGION FOR FRIDAY INTO FRIDAY NIGHT...WITH THE RETURN FLOW
OF SOMEWHAT WARMER AND MORE HUMID AIR ANTICIPATED FOR SATURDAY.

WITH THE APPROACH OF THE NEXT SHORT WAVE TROUGH LATE IN THE
WEEKEND...WE/LL MAINTAIN CHANCE POPS IN THE FORECASTS FOR SATURDAY
NIGHT AND SUNDAY.

THE ZONE FORECASTS WILL BE ISSUED AROUND 400.

.PHI...NONE.

IOVINO

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 thunderstorm wind, 1 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.

Thunderstorm Wind, Sussex

When: July 5, 7:00 PM EST
Where: Sussex County, Laurel
Measured: 50 kt (58 mph)
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 38.550, -75.567

Lightning, Sussex

When: July 5, 7:00 PM EST
Where: Sussex County, Laurel
Injuries: 1 direct, 0 indirect
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 38.683, -75.339 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

What these are

Thunderstorm Wind: Winds from a thunderstorm of 50 knots (58 mph) or more, or lower winds that caused damage or casualties. Measured gusts are marked MG, estimated EG.
Lightning: A lightning strike that killed, injured or caused damage.

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, July 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: 5260218, 5260219.