Heavy Rain, New Castle
- When
- May 26, 4:00 AM EST to 7:00 PM EST
- Where
- New Castle County, Countywide
- Reported by
- AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
- Coordinates
- 39.578, -75.639 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Heavy Rain in Delaware, May 26, 2001
A slow moving cold front and a very humid air mass preceding it helped generate showers and thunderstorms with heavy rain across New Castle County on the 26th. 5 and 4 inches.
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
The toll
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- None recorded
- Crop damage
- None recorded
- Events
- 1
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 slow moving cold front and a very humid air mass preceding it helped generate showers and thunderstorms with heavy rain across New Castle County on the 26th. Doppler Radar storm total estimates ranged between 1.5 and 4 inches. While the heavy rain produced some poor drainage flooding, no serious stream or river flooding was reported. Significant, but within bankfull, rises occurred on the larger streams and rivers. Storm totals included 2.58 inches at the New Castle County Airport and 2.30 inches in Newark.
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 26, 2:10 AM EST, 1 hour 50 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, May 26, 2:10 AM EST, 1 hour 50 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOUNT HOLLY NJ 310 AM EDT SAT MAY 26 2001 DISC: UPPER LVL LOW OVER THE GREAT LAKES REGION FORECAST TO STAY PUT THROUGH MOST OF THE HOLIDAY WEEKEND WITH VORT MAX/S MOVING ACROSS THE CWA WITH THE GENERAL FLOW. AS A RESULT...CLOUDY SKIES WILL BE THE RULE FOR A LOT OF THE TIME. HOWEVER SUNSHINE IS POSSIBLE ESPECIALLY ON SUN AND THE WEEKEND WON/T BE A TOTAL WASHOUT SINCE PRECIPITATION WON/T BE FALLING ALL THE TIME. THUNDERSTORMS ARE POSSIBLE TODAY AND SUN...BUT MOST PARAMETERS ARE NOT SHOWING CONDITIONS TOO FAVORABLE FOR SEVERE WEATHER. HAVE GONE WITH LIKELY POPS IN MOST LOCATIONS TODAY AND TONIGHT...WITH CHANCE POPS ON SUN...MAINLY LATER IN THE DAY OR IN THE EVENING HOURS. FLOODING CANNOT BE RULED OUT BUT WILL BE MORE ISOLATED THAN WIDESPREAD IF IT DEVELOPS. SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS STILL POSSIBLE ON MON BUT THERE COULD ALSO BE A FEW PEAKS OF SUN THROUGH THE CLOUDS SO HAVE GONE WITH LESS PESSIMISTIC WORDING BY USING VARIABLE CLOUDINESS RATHER THAN MOSTLY CLOUDY IN THE FIRST DAY OF THE EXTENDED. DID NOT STRAY TOO FAR FROM MOS TEMP GUIDANCE IN THIS PACKAGE. NO MAJOR CHANGES TO THE EXTENDED FIN THIS PACKAGE. NOTHING ON THE MARINE AT THE CURRENT TIME...AND NOT EXPECTING ANYTHING IN THE NEAR FUTURE. .PHI...NONE. JJM
The radar
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
Event by event
1 heavy rain. Local standard time, as filed.
What these are
- Heavy Rain
- Rainfall totals unusual for the place and season that did not produce a flood.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
The same day elsewhere
- Tornadoes and Hail in Indiana, May 26, 2001
- Tornado and Hail in Texas, May 26, 2001
- Lightning Strike in Pennsylvania, May 26, 2001
- Hail and Damaging Wind in Texas, May 26, 2001
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Texas, May 26, 2001
- Damaging Winds in Ohio, May 26, 2001
- Damaging Wind in Louisiana, May 26, 2001
- Tornado and Hail in Maryland, May 26, 2001
- Hail and Damaging Wind in Texas, May 26, 2001
- Hail in Virginia, May 26, 2001
- Heavy Rain in New Jersey, May 26, 2001
- Flash Flooding and Hail in Virginia, May 26, 2001
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: 5244821.