Delaware, 2002

Heat in Delaware, February 28, 2002

February 28, 2002 · NWS PHI · 4 events in 4 counties and zones

February concluded the 2001-2 meteorological winter season with another month of warmer than normal temperatures. Every winter month was warmer than normal and the winter as a whole was one of the five warmest winters on record for Delaware.

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

Open the live radar over this ground

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.

February concluded the 2001-2 meteorological winter season with another month of warmer than normal temperatures. Every winter month was warmer than normal and the winter as a whole was one of the five warmest winters on record for Delaware. The February monthly mean temperature at the New Castle County Airport was 39.4 degrees and was the eighth warmest February on record. The February monthly mean temperature at Georgetown (Sussex County) was 40.8 degrees and was 4.5 degrees above normal. For the meteorological winter as a whole at the New Castle County Airport, the mean temperature was 39.9 degrees and was the second warmest winter on record. The winter mean temperature at Georgetown was 41.5 degrees and was 5.3 degrees warmer 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 Feb 28, 9:55 PM EST, 2 hours 4 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Feb 28, 9:55 PM EST, 2 hours 4 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOUNT HOLLY NJ
955 PM EST THU FEB 28 2002

FORECAST ON TRACK AND WILL ONLY ADJUST 1ST PD TEMPS AND SKY COVER.
TEMPS ALREADY IN THE LOWER TO MIDDLE 20S ACROSS NWRN NJ AND POCONOS.
ALSO...THE S/W MOVING ACROSS DELMARVA IS PRODUCING A BIT MORE HIGH
CLOUDINESS THAN EXPECTED.

.PHI...
DE...NONE.
MD...NONE.
NJ...NONE.
PA...NONE.

KRUZDLO

-------------------------PREVIOUS AFD--------------------------

HIGH PRES WILL CONTROL OUR WX FOR THE NEXT 36 HOURS.  SKIES WILL
BE MOSTLY CLR TNGT AND FRI...ALTHOUGH THERE MAY BE SOME MID TO HI
CLOUDS NRN ZONES LATER TNGT INTO ERY FRI. WINDS WILL DROP OFF
TNGT. THIS...ALONG WITH MOSTLY CLR SKIES...ESP SRN ZNS...WILL GIVE
US GOOD RADIATING CONDS...SO MIN TEMPS WILL BE AT OR BELOW LAST
NIGHTS READINGS. MILDER TEMPS WILL RETURN FRI...RISING TO OR
SLIGHTLY ABOVE NORMAL. SATURDAYS HIGHS WILL BE EVEN MILDER
AHEAD OF OUR NEXT WX MAKER. LOW PRES ASSOC WITH THE
FULL LAT TROUGH TO OUR WEST WILL SPREAD CLDNS INTO THE FA SAT.
RAIN WILL MOVE IN DURG SAT AFTN. THE RAIN MAY BE MIXED WITH
SLEET OR SNOW AT THE ONSET NRN ZONES.

WINDS AND SEAS ARE LOWERING...SCA HAVE BEEN DROPPED. LOW TIDES
ARE OCCURRING NOW...SO THE MENTION OF BLOWOUT CONDS IS NO
LONGER NEEDED.

RPW

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

4 heat. Local standard time, as filed.

Heat, Delaware Beaches

When
February 28, 11:59 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)

Heat, Inland Sussex

When
February 28, 11:59 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)

Heat, Kent

When
February 28, 11:59 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)

Heat, New Castle

When
February 28, 11:59 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

Heat
Heat below excessive heat criteria that still caused deaths, injuries or significant 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, February 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: 5282630, 5282631, 5282632, 5282633.