Drought in Delaware, August 1 to 31, 2002

Name: Drought in Delaware, August 1 to 31, 2002
Start: 2002-08-01T00:00
End: 2002-08-31T23:59
Location: Delaware

August 1 to 31, 2002 · NWS PHI · 4 events in 4 counties and zones

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.

The combination of unseasonably warm weather entering August and below normal monthly precipitation intensified the drought across Delaware. As a result on August 2nd Governor Ruth Ann Minner declared a state of drought emergency for New Castle County north of the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal. The drought emergency imposed mandatory restrictions in northern New Castle County: no car washing except at commercial establishments, no flushing of water lines, no filling of swimming pools, no lawn watering (except for new sod or pesticide application), no use of water in ornamental fountains, no hosing of paved surfaces, no serving of water except if requested by patrons. The use of water at golf courses and athletic fields were restricted to overnight hours at the minimum rate to prevent loss or minimize injury. The governor also asked downstate residents to voluntarily reduce their water use. The lack of precipitation also affected farmers as most of the corn and soybean crops in the state were rated fair to very poor. Very little rain fell during the first three weeks in August. In fact, nearby Philadelphia International Airport went twenty-four consecutive days without measurable precipitation from July 29th through August 21st, the second longest stretch on record during the summer months. Substantial rains fell on the 24th and 29th, but may have been too late to help farmers.On a county weighted average August monthly precipitation was 3.4 inches in Sussex County, 3.0 inches in Kent County and 2.2 inches in New Castle County. Normal is around 3.9 inches. The August monthly precipitation total in Georgetown (Sussex County) was 3.55 inches and at the New Castle County Airport was 2.03 inches. The Delaware River Basin Commission continued its drought emergency declaration for the entire Delaware River drainage basin. The New York City Reservoirs which feed the Delaware River fell from 76.5 percent of capacity on August 1st to 59.7 percent of capacity on September 1st.

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 31, 1:50 PM EST, 10 hours 10 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 31, 1:50 PM EST, 10 hours 10 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOUNT HOLLY NJ
250 PM EDT WED JUL 31 2002

EARLY/MID AFTERNOON TEMPS RUNNING EVEN TO -3 DEGREES COMPARED TO 24
HOURS AGO. DEWPOINTS ARE DOWN 5 TO 10 DEGREES. HEAT INDICES SHOULD
TOP OUT IN THE LOWER TO MID 90S IN MOST AREAS.

NOT TOO MUCH CHANGE BETWEEN LAST NIGHT/S 06Z RUNS AND THIS MORNING/S
12Z RUNS WITH SURFACE HIGH PRESSURE SPRAWLED ACROSS THE EASTERN HALF
OF THE NATION. THE WESTERLY H5 FLOW WILL TURN MORE NW THIS EVENING
HELPING TO DISSIPATE THE SHOWERS NOW ACROSS WESTERN PA/NY. WE SHOULD
SEE A FEW CLOUDS THIS EVENING...BUT WILL STILL CALL SKIES MOSTLY
CLEAR. ANOTHER H5 S/W IS PROGGED TO MOVE OVER THE REGION TOMORROW
AFTERNOON/EVENING. THE AVN CONTINUES TO PRODUCE MEASURABLE
THROUGHOUT THE CWA. THIS HAS BEEN THE TREND OF LATE WITH THESE WEAK
SYSTEMS IN A W/NW FLOW. WILL CONTINUE TO DISCOUNT AND SIDE WITH THE
ETA SOLUTIONS. I GUESS WHAT THROWS THE THOUGHT OF POSSIBLE
SHOWERS/THUNDERSTORMS TOMORROW AFTERNOON IN MY MIND IS THAT WE/LL
HAVE MORE SURFACE CONVERGENCE WITH THE LEE SIDE TROF AND THE CAP WE
HAVE TODAY IS FORECAST TO DISSIPATE. AT THE MOMENT...WE/LL THROW
10/20 POPS IN...KEEPING THE EVENT UNDER THE CHANCE CATEGORY.

OVER THE NEXT 48 HOURS...MODELS FORECAST A MODEST 5 DEGREE RISE
IN DEW POINTS AND ABOUT A 2 DEGREE RISE IN H8 TEMPS. NOT THE WORST
CASE SCENARIO...BUT ENOUGH TO TRIGGER AN EXCESSIVE HEAT WARNING FOR
THURSDAY AND FRIDAY(URBAN AREAS ONLY). THE ROAD THE MODELS ARE
TRAVELING LOOK REASONABLE AS BL WINDS ARE QUITE VARIABLE AS WELL AS
LIGHT DURING THIS TIME UNTIL FRIDAY AFTERNOON WHERE THEY BECOME MORE
PERSISTENT FROM THE WEST. WITH PERSISTENCE NOT IN THE FORECAST...
THE MODEST RISES WE WILL EXPERIENCE WILL BE MORE FROM LOCAL EFFECTS
MODIFYING THE AIRMASS COMPARED TO ADVECTION. WITH THE L/V WINDS...
SEA BREEZES WILL BE TAMING TEMPS ACROSS THE SHORE.

FOR FRIDAY...BESIDES A BIT MORE HEAT AND HUMIDITY...WILL INTRODUCE A
CHANCE OF SHOWERS LATE IN THE DAY FOR THE NWRN ZONES AS A WEAK
SURFACE COLD FRONT APPROACHES THE REGION. H5 FLOW TRIES TO BECOME
MORE CYCLONIC WHILE SURFACE CONVECTIVE PARAMETERS INDICATE GREATER
INSTABILITY. DON/T THINK WE/LL BE CAPPED EITHER.

BEYOND THE 48 HOUR TIME FRAME...WE/LL KEEP THE CHANCE OF SHOWERS
GOING FOR FRIDAY NIGHT. AS WITH THE MOST RECENT COLD FROPA WHERE
TEMPS WERE NOT THAT DIFFERENT ON THE BACK SIDE...THIS NEXT COLD
FRONT IS STARTING TO LOOK SIMILAR. AFTERNOON HIGHS WILL BE
BUMPED UP A CATEGORY OVER THE WEEKEND. WILL KEEP EVERYTHING ELSE
PRETTY MUCH IN TACT WITH THE NEXT THREAT OF PRECIPITATION ON TUESDAY.

QUIET ON THE OCEAN AND BAY.

FCSTID = 29
MPO   67  89  69  90 /   0  20  10  30
ABE   70  93  71  94 /   0  20  10  30
RDG   71  94  72  95 /   0  20  10  30
PHL   75  95  75  96 /   0  10  10  20
12N   67  90  69  91 /   0  20  10  30
SMQ   70  94  70  95 /   0  10  10  20
TTN   71  95  72  96 /   0  10  10  20
MIV   71  94  72  95 /   0  20  10  20
ACY   75  89  75  89 /   0  10  10  20
ILG   71  95  72  96 /   0  10  10  20
DOV   72  94  74  95 /   0  20  10  20
GED   72  93  74  94 /   0  20  10  20
ESN   71  93  73  94 /   0  20  10  20

.PHI...
DE...EXCESSIVE HEAT WARNING THROUGH FRIDAY FOR ZONE DEZ001.
MD...NONE.
NJ...EXCESSIVE HEAT WARNING THROUGH FRIDAY FOR ZONES NJZ015-017>019.
PA...EXCESSIVE HEAT WARNING THROUGH FRIDAY FOR ZONES PAZ067>071.
MARINE...NONE.

KRUZDLO

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: August 1, 12:00 AM EST to August 31, 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: August 1, 12:00 AM EST to August 31, 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: August 1, 12:00 AM EST to August 31, 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: August 1, 12:00 AM EST to August 31, 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

Every storm in Delaware in 2002 Every state in 2002 This day in weather history Warnings in Delaware, August 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: 5318297, 5318298, 5318299, 5318300.