High Wind in Delaware, February 4, 2002

Name: High Wind in Delaware, February 4, 2002
Start: 2002-02-04T15:00
End: 2002-02-04T23:59
Location: Delaware

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

A cold front ushered in colder air into Delaware during the mid-afternoon on the 4th. Strong gusty winds followed the front through the evening of the 4th.

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.

A cold front ushered in colder air into Delaware during the mid-afternoon on the 4th. Strong gusty winds followed the front through the evening of the 4th. Peak wind gusts averaged between 40 and 50 mph and included 51 mph at the Pilot Tower in Lewes (Sussex County) and 47 mph at the New Castle County Airport.

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 4, 2:55 PM EST, 5 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Feb 4, 2:55 PM EST, 5 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOUNT HOLLY NJ
255 PM EST MON FEB 4 2002

SNW SHWRS ARE UPON US...AND GETTING SOME RPRTS OF LGT ACCUMNS.
KEEPING LKLY POPS THRU THE EVE...THEN CLRG THINGS OUT MOST PLACES
OVNGT.

AFT THAT...DRY THRU WED...WITH WNDS DSMHG TMRW AFTN.

COULD GET INTERESTING THU AS SYS BRUSHES BY TO THE SE OF US.

GALE WRNG CONTG ALL MARINE WTRS.

ZONES AVBL PRBLY SOMETIME BTWN 330 AND 4 PM.

.PHI...GALE WRNG CST AND DE BAY.

KRAUS

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

4 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.

High Wind, Delaware Beaches / X E Sussex

When: February 4, 3:00 PM EST to 11:59 PM EST
Where: Delaware Beaches / X E Sussex forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates: 38.683, -75.339 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

High Wind, Inland Sussex

When: February 4, 3:00 PM EST to 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)

High Wind, Kent

When: February 4, 3:00 PM EST to 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)

High Wind, New Castle

When: February 4, 3:00 PM EST to 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

High Wind: Sustained non-thunderstorm winds of 40 mph or more for an hour, or gusts of 58 mph or more.

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, 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: 5282557, 5282558, 5282559, 5282560.