Heat, Delaware Beaches
- When
- July 28, 9:00 AM EST to July 30, 6:00 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 in Delaware, July 28 to 30, 2002
Another hot and very humid air mass moved into Delaware on the 28th. In most areas this hot spell produced some of the highest heat indices of the summer as they reached between 105F and 110F during the afternoon of the 29th.
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
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.
Another hot and very humid air mass moved into Delaware on the 28th. In most areas this hot spell produced some of the highest heat indices of the summer as they reached between 105F and 110F during the afternoon of the 29th. A cold front moved through the region during the night of the 30th. While temperatures on the 31st still reached into the 90s, dew point temperatures and the moisture content of the air mass was considerably lower. The apparent temperature (or heat index) matched and did not exceed afternoon high temperatures. More humid air again moved in during the start of August. The string of days with high temperatures of 90 degrees or higher did not end until August 6th. County office buildings in Sussex County were available for senior citizens to keep themselves cool. There were no reports of heat related illnesses in either Kent or Sussex County. The hot weather and high humidity levels taxed electric utilities and the PJM Interconnection issued a usage advisory.For most places the highest temperatures with the July part of this hot spell occurred on the 29th and included 97 degrees at the New Castle County Airport, Georgetown (Sussex County) and Salisbury, Maryland (Wicomico County), 96 degrees in Milford (Kent County), 95 degrees in Greenwood (Sussex County) and 94 degrees at the Dover Air Force Base (Kent County) and Wilmington (New Castle County). The hot spell at the end of July cemented the month as being above normal. Monthly mean temperatures averaged between 1 and 2 degrees warmer than normal. The July monthly mean temperature at the New Castle County Airport was 77.5 degrees, 0.9 degrees warmer than normal and in Georgetown was 78.4 degrees, 2.1 degrees warmer than normal. At Georgetown, 18 of the 31 days in July had high temperatures of 90 degrees or higher. At the New Castle County Airport, it was 13 days.
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 28, 3:01 AM EST, 5 hours 59 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Jul 28, 3:01 AM EST, 5 hours 59 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOUNT HOLLY NJ 401 AM EDT SUN JUL 28 2002 INCREASING HEAT AND HUMIDITY = THE STEAMBATH...THE SAUNA...THE STICKIES. ALL THE ABOVE IMPLIES UNCOMFORT. THAT IS WHAT WERE HEADED FOR. DWPTS INCRSD LT SAT AND DWPTS GNRLY IN 70-75 RANGE TDA THRU AT LEAST TUE. TEMPS WL BE ON THE UPSWING. CURNT WX MAP SHOWS TRW COMPLEX UP NR ERN LE HEADED TWD WRN NY STA. THIS IN CONJUNCTION WITH WRM FNTL BNDRY THAT XTNDS SE TWD DEL BAY AREA. THIS WHOLE MASS TO SWING E AND GRDLY AM LO CLDS TO GIVE WAY TO P/SNY AND WRMER AND HUMID CONDITIONS THIS AFTN. TEMPS TDA WL RISE TO L-M 80S NRN AREAS TO ARND 90 NR SE PA AND SW NJ AND MAYBE LOW 90S DELMAR. FOR MON...TEMPS GO EVEN HIER MOSTLY L-M90S...XCPTN POCONOS AND IMMEDIATE SHORE LINE. THIS WL MAKE IT FEEL MORE LIKE 100-105 MOST AREAS AND SO WL ISSUE EXCESSIVE HT WATCH FOR MOST AREAS FOR MON. LATEST INDICATIONS ARE THAT A CD FNT WL MOVE THRU AREA LT TUE AND TUE NGT...BUT TEMPS SHUD ONCE AGAIN BE HI ENUF TO XTND HT WTCH INTO TUE. REAL CONCERN WL BE FOR HIGHLY URBANIZED AREAS WHERE HT WRNG MAY BE REQUIRED...SINCE TDA WL BEGIN TO HEAT THE BRICKS AND MON AND TUE WL CONT BEFORE CD FNT BRINGS AN END TO CURNT SPELL. AS FOR MARINE...ALL QUITE. FCSTID = 14 MPO 81 67 86 69 / 40 30 40 30 ABE 86 71 93 73 / 40 30 40 30 RDG 89 74 93 76 / 40 30 30 30 PHL 90 76 96 78 / 30 30 30 30 12N 84 70 91 72 / 30 30 40 30 SMQ 86 73 97 75 / 30 30 30 30 TTN 87 74 96 76 / 30 30 30 30 MIV 90 75 93 77 / 30 30 30 30 ACY 83 76 88 78 / 30 30 30 30 ILG 90 75 94 77 / 30 30 30 30 DOV 93 75 95 77 / 30 30 30 30 GED 94 75 96 77 / 30 30 30 30 ESN 94 76 95 78 / 30 30 30 30 .PHI... DE...EXCESSIVE HEAT WATCH MONDAY FOR ZONE DEZ001>003. MD...EXCESSIVE HEAT WATCH MONDAY FOR ZONES MDZ008...MDZ012...MDZ015...MDZ019>020. NJ...EXCESSIVE HEAT WATCH MONDAY FOR ZONES NJZ007>010...NJZ012>013...NJZ015>023...NJZ027. PA...EXCESSIVE HEAT WATCH MONDAY FOR ZONES PAZ060>062...PAZ067>071. MARINE...NONE. JWH
The radar
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
Event by event
4 heat. Local standard time, as filed.
Heat, Inland Sussex
- When
- July 28, 9:00 AM EST to July 30, 6:00 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
- July 28, 9:00 AM EST to July 30, 6:00 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
- July 28, 9:00 AM EST to July 30, 6:00 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
- Heat in Maryland, July 28 to 29, 2002
- Heat in Pennsylvania, July 28 to 30, 2002
- Heat in Maryland, July 28 to 30, 2002
- Tornado in New York, July 28, 2002
- Damaging Wind in South Dakota, July 28, 2002
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Kansas, July 28, 2002
- Hail in South Dakota, July 28, 2002
- Damaging Wind in New York, July 28, 2002
- Hail and Damaging Wind in South Dakota, July 28, 2002
- Damaging Winds in Ohio, July 28, 2002
- Tornado and Hail in Michigan, July 28, 2002
- Hail and Damaging Winds in New York, July 28, 2002
More
Every storm in Delaware in 2002Every state in 2002This day in weather historyWarnings in Delaware, July 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: 5308767, 5308768, 5308769, 5308770.