Delaware, 2001

Excessive Heat in Delaware, May 2 to 4, 2001

May 2 to 4, 2001 · NWS PHI · 4 events in 4 counties and zones

A very strong ridge of high pressure both at the surface and aloft coupled with the strong early May sun helped produce unseasonably warm temperatures for early May across Delaware. High temperatures reached near 90 degrees on both the 3rd and the 4th.

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

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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 very strong ridge of high pressure both at the surface and aloft coupled with the strong early May sun helped produce unseasonably warm temperatures for early May across Delaware. High temperatures reached near 90 degrees on both the 3rd and the 4th. A cold front moved through the Delmarva Peninsula during the morning of the 5th and brought considerably cooler air to the region. Highest temperatures included 89 degrees in Georgetown (Sussex County), Greenwood (Sussex County) and Milford (Kent County), 88 degrees in Wilmington and 87 degrees at the New Castle County Airport.

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 May 2, 1:25 AM EST, 9 hours 35 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 2, 1:25 AM EST, 9 hours 35 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOUNT HOLLY NJ
225 AM EDT WED MAY 2 2001

THE RIDGE SHOULD CONTINUE TO BUILD UP OVER OUR REGION DURING TODAY
AND THURSDAY.  AS A RESULT...WE/LL SEE MORE OF THE SAME...MOSTLY
CLEAR SKIES AND WARM TEMPS.  THE HUMIDITY IS EXPECTED TO INCREASE
ONLY SLIGHTLY DURING THE NEXT TWO DAYS.  TEMPS AT 850 MB ARE
FORECAST TO BE IN THE 14C TO 15C RANGE SUGGESTING MAXIMUM TEMPS IN
THE UPPER 80S OR NEAR 90 FOR MOST OF OUR FORECAST AREA...A LITTLE
COOLER NEAR THE COAST AND IN THE HIGHER ELEVATIONS.  WITH THAT IN
MIND...WE/LL NEED TO CARRY A HEADLINE OF NEAR RECORD HIGH TEMPS FOR
BOTH DAYS...EXCEPT ALONG THE COAST.

WITH THE NEW MODEL GUIDANCE...THE TIMING OF THE COLD FRONT IS
GENERALLY A LITTLE SLOWER.  IT SHOULD PASS THROUGH OUR COUNTIES ON
FRIDAY NIGHT.  AS A RESULT...WE/LL ADJUST THE TIMING OF THE PRECIP A
LITTLE.  WE/LL CARRY CHANCE POPS TO THE NORTH AND WEST OF PHL FOR
FRIDAY AFTERNOON AND FOR ALL OF THE FORECAST AREA FOR FRIDAY NIGHT.

WITH THE UPPER LEVEL SHORT WAVE TROUGH NOT EXPECTED TO PASS OVER THE
FORECAST AREA UNTIL THE MID DAY HOURS ON SATURDAY...IT SEEMS
POSSIBLE THAT THERE COULD BE SOME LINGERING PRECIP ON SATURDAY
MORNING IN OUR SOUTHEASTERN ZONES.

THE ZONE FORECAST WILL BE ISSUED AT 345.

.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

4 excessive heat. Local standard time, as filed.

Excessive Heat, Delaware Beaches

When
May 2, 11:00 AM EST to May 4, 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)

Excessive Heat, Inland Sussex

When
May 2, 11:00 AM EST to May 4, 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)

Excessive Heat, Kent

When
May 2, 11:00 AM EST to May 4, 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)

Excessive Heat, New Castle

When
May 2, 11:00 AM EST to May 4, 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

Excessive Heat
Heat at or above the local excessive heat warning criteria, or heat that caused deaths.

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, May 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: 5244712, 5244713, 5244714, 5244715.