Delaware, 2002

Drought in Delaware, April 1, 2002

April 1, 2002 · NWS PHI · 4 events in 4 counties and zones

3 inches) Counties. 5 inches.

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.

April monthly precipitation across Delaware was near normal in New Castle County (3.2 inches on a county weighted average) and wetter than normal across Kent (4.9 inches) and Sussex (4.3 inches) Counties. Normal is around 3.5 inches. Monthly precipitation totals at the New Castle County Airport was 2.26 inches and in Georgetown(Sussex County) was 3.02 inches. The effects of the dry weather leading into March and April were still evident. On April 1st, every monitored stream in Delaware had below normal flow. Flow along the Brandywine Creek was only one fourth of normal. The Brandywine Creek was setting record daily record low flows through April 15th. Since November 1st, the Brandywine Creek had set 76 daily record low flows for the date. On April 1st, every monitored groundwater well in Delaware and Maryland was below normal, eight were at record lows for the date. The relatively dry conditions led to a dozen small brush fires in New Castle County on April 7th alone. The improving rainfall kept Governor Ruth Ann Minner from upgrading the drought warning to a drought emergency. The governor asked residents to voluntarily conserve water by restricting all non-essential uses such as washing cars and using wise water habits such as running the dishwasher and clothes washer with full loads. But, a few hundreds implemented mandatory water restrictions. In Smyrna (Kent County), car washing, lawn sprinkling, tree watering, vegetation watering and any other unnecessary uses of water were to be banned effective May 1st. Also as of May 1st in Galena (Kent County) washing pavements, filling or topping off private pools, serving water without asking at restaurants, running ornamental fountains without a recycling system were banned. Lawn watering was restricted to odd and even days. The recent rains improved the groundwater to adequate levels in the southern part of the state and short term farming conditions were improving by the day. The Delaware River Basin Commission continued its drought emergency for the entire Delaware River drainage basin.

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 Mar 31, 9:50 PM EST, 2 hours 10 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Mar 31, 9:50 PM EST, 2 hours 10 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION...UPDATED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOUNT HOLLY NJ
950 PM EST SUN MAR 31 2002

*********************************UPDATE*****************************
HAVE HOISTED SML CRFT ADVSRY ACRS ALL CSTL AREAS AND ALL OF DEL BAY.
FEW OTHR CHGS ATTM.    -JWH-

*********************************************************************

PCPN IN ADVANCE OF SECOND SHORT WAVE HAS SLOWLY BEEN WORKING
TOWARD/INTO FORECAST AREA. TODAY HAS BEEN A LTL SPOTTIER THAN
EXPECTED...BUT AS ETA AND AVN ARE QUITE SIMILAR WITH THIS SYSTEM
WILL CONT THE FORECAST FOR RA TONIGHT. GOOD PWATER VALUES FOR SERN
PORTION OF AREA...WITH VALUES AROUND 1.25 IN. H8 DEWPOINTS IN THE
SERN FA EXCEED 5 DEG C AND APPROACH 10 DEG C FAR S. DECENT DYNAMICS
AS THE MID LVL TROF STARTS TO TILT NEGATIVE AND THE LOW LEVEL LOW IS
IN A FAVORED AREA REGARDING UPPER JETS. SOME BUOYANCY SNEAKS INTO
SRN FA OVERNIGHT. SO FAR...LIGHTNING HAS MADE IT UP TO THE NC/VA
BORDER. KEPT THE MENTION OF HEAVY RAIN POSSIBLE FOR THE SERN HALF OF
FA...BASICALLY ALONG AND S OF THE H8 LOW PATH...AND PUT IN THE
PSBLTY OF THUNDER FOR THE FAR SRN ZONES. WITH THE SFC FRONT TO THE S
AND THE WEAK ERLY FLOW OVER ALL OF AREA DONT THINK THE THUNDER...IF
IT OCCURS...WILL AMOUNT TO ANYTHING SEVERE.

WITH THE NEG TILT MID LVL TROF EXITING TOMORROW...BRISK/BREEZY/WINDY
CONDITIONS ARE IN THE FCST. THE IMPULSE PUSHES THROUGH NRN ZONES AND
HAVE KEPT THE PSBLTY OF AM SHOWERS THERE. OTHERWISE A CATABATIC KIND
OF DAY.

AVN AND ETA THEN START TO DIVERGE WITH THE MID LVL TROF OVER SERN
CANADA AND THE ASSOCIATED SFC FEATURE...WITH THE CANADIAN MODEL
FAVORING THE AVN. THEY HAVE A DEEPER MID LVL CIRCULATION...AND THE
LOW LEVEL FEATURE IS DEEPER AND SLOWER THAN THE ETA. HAVE WENT THIS
WAY...SO ALTHOUGH BRING IN SOME CLOUDS...KEEP THE PCPN OUT THROUGH
TUE.

DIDNT FINESSE TEMPS TOO MUCH. WITH THE CATABATIC FLOW TOMORROW
GENERALLY STAYED ON THE HIGHER SIDE OF STAT GUIDANCE. CAA IS
THERE...BUT NOT VERY STRONG AFTER AN INITIAL SHOT. ALTHOUGH FCSTING
SOME CLOUDS TMRW NITE THEY SHOULD BE HIGH CLOUDS...AND WINDS SHOULD
DIMINISH...SO WENT A TAD COOLER IN THE RADIATING ZONES. ON TUE...
WITH A DECENT SWLY FLOW AGAIN BOUGHT OFF ON THE HIGHER SIDE OF
GUIDANCE.

MARINE FCSTR CONCERNED ABOUT MINOR TIDAL FLOODING...MAINLY BECAUSE
OF HIGH ASTRONOMICAL TIDES TONIGHT. ZONES ARE HEADLINED FOR THE
PSBLTY. ALSO...WITH THE WINDS PICKING UP AS THE TROF TILTS AND THE
SFC FEATURE WINDS UP OFF OUR COAST...SCA CONDS EXPECTED EITHER
TOWARD DAYBREAK OR JUST AFTER.

FCSTID = 45
MPO   35  49  29  53 / 100  30  20  20
ABE   40  54  32  59 / 100  30  20  20
RDG   40  55  32  60 / 100  30  20  20
PHL   43  57  39  63 / 100  20  10  20
12N   39  52  29  57 / 100  30  20  20
SMQ   41  56  31  61 / 100  20  10  20
TTN   41  56  33  61 / 100  20  10  20
MIV   44  59  32  64 / 100  20   0  10
ACY   45  59  44  56 / 100  20   0  10
ILG   43  57  35  63 / 100  20  10  20
DOV   45  59  36  64 / 100  20   0  10
GED   45  59  36  64 / 100  20   0  10
ESN   45  59  36  64 / 100  20   0  10

.PHI...
DE...NONE.
MD...NONE.
NJ...NONE.
PA...NONE.
MARINE...SML CRFT ADVSRY CST AND BAY ANZ450>455-430-431.

MPD

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
April 1, 12:00 AM EST to 11:59 PM EST
Where
Delaware Beaches forecast zone
Reported by
GOVT OFFICIAL
Coordinates
38.683, -75.339 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Drought, Inland Sussex

When
April 1, 12:00 AM EST to 11:59 PM EST
Where
Inland Sussex forecast zone
Reported by
GOVT OFFICIAL
Coordinates
38.683, -75.339 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Drought, Kent

When
April 1, 12:00 AM EST to 11:59 PM EST
Where
Kent forecast zone
Reported by
GOVT OFFICIAL
Coordinates
39.096, -75.505 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Drought, New Castle

When
April 1, 12:00 AM EST to 11:59 PM EST
Where
New Castle forecast zone
Reported by
GOVT OFFICIAL
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

More

Every storm in Delaware in 2002Every state in 2002This day in weather historyWarnings in Delaware, April 2002

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: 5292627, 5292628, 5292629, 5292630.