Drought in New Jersey, May 1 to 20, 2001

Name: Drought in New Jersey, May 1 to 20, 2001
Start: 2001-05-01T00:00
End: 2001-05-20T18:00
Location: New Jersey

May 1 to 20, 2001 · NWS PHI · 20 events in 20 counties and zones

Unseasonably dry weather continued across New Jersey into the 20th. Little, if any, precipitation fell across the state during the first 19 days of the month.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 20 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: 20

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.

Unseasonably dry weather continued across New Jersey into the 20th. Little, if any, precipitation fell across the state during the first 19 days of the month. It continued a trend that had prevailed since the second half of April. In response to the dry weather, the New Jersey State Forest Fire Service imposed a statewide ban on any open, controlled fires. The lack of precipitation forced farmers to delay planting soybeans and initiate irrigation for peaches and corn. May crops (grains/grasses) were either stunted or grew at a slow pace. Rain associated with a warm front missed the state on the 19th. But, a weak low pressure system that formed on the ensuing cold front spread rain across the state on the evening of the 20th and the early morning of the 21st. The heaviest rain fell across the southern half of the state. This ushered a change in the weather pattern. For the rest of the month, precipitation totals were wetter than normal.

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 Apr 30, 8:45 PM EST, 3 hours 15 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Apr 30, 8:45 PM EST, 3 hours 15 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOUNT HOLLY NJ
945 PM EDT MON APR 30 2001

DISC: DRY WARM SPELL ON THE WAY. ILG-PHI-ACY-ABE HAVE NOT HAD A HALF
INCH OF RAIN ON ANY DAY THIS MONTH SO WE NEED THE RAIN. OTHERWISE
CURRENT FCST PCKG IS ON TRACK SO NO UPDATE NEEDED.

SEE YA AT 3AM

.PHI...NONE.

EBEWINE

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

20 drought. Local standard time, as filed.

Drought, Burlington

When: May 1, 12:00 AM EST to May 20, 6:00 PM EST
Where: Burlington forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates: 39.878, -74.668 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Drought, Camden

When: May 1, 12:00 AM EST to May 20, 6:00 PM EST
Where: Camden forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates: 39.804, -74.960 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Drought, Cumberland

When: May 1, 12:00 AM EST to May 20, 6:00 PM EST
Where: Cumberland forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates: 39.328, -75.129 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Drought, Eastern Atlantic

When: May 1, 12:00 AM EST to May 20, 6:00 PM EST
Where: Eastern Atlantic forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates: 39.469, -74.634 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Drought, Eastern Cape May

When: May 1, 12:00 AM EST to May 20, 6:00 PM EST
Where: Eastern Cape May forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates: 39.085, -74.850 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Drought, Eastern Monmouth

When: May 1, 12:00 AM EST to May 20, 6:00 PM EST
Where: Eastern Monmouth forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates: 40.288, -74.158 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Drought, Eastern Ocean

When: May 1, 12:00 AM EST to May 20, 6:00 PM EST
Where: Eastern Ocean forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates: 39.866, -74.250 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Drought, Gloucester

When: May 1, 12:00 AM EST to May 20, 6:00 PM EST
Where: Gloucester forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates: 39.717, -75.142 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Drought, Hunterdon

When: May 1, 12:00 AM EST to May 20, 6:00 PM EST
Where: Hunterdon forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates: 40.567, -74.912 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Drought, Mercer

When: May 1, 12:00 AM EST to May 20, 6:00 PM EST
Where: Mercer forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates: 40.283, -74.702 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Drought, Middlesex

When: May 1, 12:00 AM EST to May 20, 6:00 PM EST
Where: Middlesex forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates: 40.440, -74.409 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Drought, Morris

When: May 1, 12:00 AM EST to May 20, 6:00 PM EST
Where: Morris forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates: 40.862, -74.544 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Drought, Salem

When: May 1, 12:00 AM EST to May 20, 6:00 PM EST
Where: Salem forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates: 39.577, -75.358 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Drought, Somerset

When: May 1, 12:00 AM EST to May 20, 6:00 PM EST
Where: Somerset forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates: 40.564, -74.616 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Drought, Sussex

When: May 1, 12:00 AM EST to May 20, 6:00 PM EST
Where: Sussex forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates: 41.140, -74.690 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Drought, Warren

When: May 1, 12:00 AM EST to May 20, 6:00 PM EST
Where: Warren forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates: 40.857, -74.997 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Drought, Western Atlantic

When: May 1, 12:00 AM EST to May 20, 6:00 PM EST
Where: Western Atlantic forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates: 39.469, -74.634 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Drought, Western Cape May

When: May 1, 12:00 AM EST to May 20, 6:00 PM EST
Where: Western Cape May forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates: 39.085, -74.850 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Drought, Western Monmouth

When: May 1, 12:00 AM EST to May 20, 6:00 PM EST
Where: Western Monmouth forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates: 40.288, -74.158 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Drought, Western Ocean

When: May 1, 12:00 AM EST to May 20, 6:00 PM EST
Where: Western Ocean forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates: 39.866, -74.250 (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 New Jersey in 2001 Every state in 2001 This day in weather history Warnings in New Jersey, 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: 5244601, 5244602, 5244603, 5244604, 5244605, 5244606, 5244607, 5244608, 5244609, 5244610, 5244611, 5244612, 5244613, 5244614, 5244615, 5244616, 5244617, 5244618, 5244619, 5244620.