Drought in Maryland, February 1 to 28, 2002

Name: Drought in Maryland, February 1 to 28, 2002
Start: 2002-02-01T00:00
End: 2002-02-28T23:59
Location: Maryland

February 1 to 28, 2002 · NWS PHI · 5 events in 5 counties and zones

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 5 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: 5

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 dry weather pattern that has been established over the Maryland Eastern Shore since July of 2001 intensified during the month of February. For many locations, February 2002 was the driest February on record. On a county weighted average, monthly precipitation totals ranged from 0.5 inches in Cecil and Kent Counties to 0.8 inches in Caroline County. Normal is around 2.9 inches. The February precipitation total at the Baltimore-Washington International Airport was 0.36 inches and was 2.66 inches below normal. The meteorological winter (December through February) precipitation total for the airport was 4.28 inches, 5.62 inches (less than half of) below normal. All groundwater wells were lower than normal. At the start of February, 87 percent of all gaged streams in Maryland were below normal. Farmers' fields were dry down to 12 inches. While currently not a problem, it will become one in the spring if the top layer does not become moist. Streamflow into Chesapeake Bay at the end of January was the second lowest on record (began in 1937). The higher salinity infiltration threatened shallow wells and caused more oyster diseases. The continued dry conditions forced the Maryland Department of the Environment to continue the drought warning for the Maryland Eastern Shore that was issued on January 24th. No formal water restrictions were in place, but businesses and private citizens were asked to conserve as much water as possible..

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 Jan 31, 10:30 PM EST, 1 hour 30 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jan 31, 10:30 PM EST, 1 hour 30 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION...UPDATED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOUNT HOLLY NJ
1030 PM EST THU JAN 31 2002

WE WILL BE REISSUING A WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FOR MONROE AND SUSSEX
COUNTY HAS FREEZING DRIZZLE AND DENSE FOG ON THE RIDGES. SUSSEX CTY
MESONET HAS 5 OF 8 LOCATIONS BLO FRZG. WRMFNT IS SLO TO MOVE NWD AND
DON/T EXPECT THESE LOCNS TO GET ABV FREEZING TIL DAYBREAK.  WILL
FINE TUNE WINDS A BIT S ALSO.

TFG

PREV AFD............................................................

IFPS AND GFE APPEAR TO BE WORKING NORMALLY AGAIN...SO WE EXPECT
WE/LL BE ABLE TO OUTPUT ALL OF OUR PRODUCTS BY ABOUT 400 PM.

OTHERWISE WE/LL NOT CHG MUCH FM PREVIOUS FCST. FRZG RAIN IS SPOTTY
AND LGT XTRM NRN PTN OF CWA AT THIS TIME SO WL LET WINT WX ADVY
EXPIRE WITH THIS PACKAGE AFT COORD WITH BGM. OTHERWISE WRMFNT WL BE
PUSHING INTO CWA FM THE S TNGT...AND WL KEEP LIKELY POPS FAR NRN
ZONES AND CHC LGT RA OR DZ CNTRL ZONES...AND JUST A MENTION OF DZ S.
WL SAY AREAS OF FOG AS WELL WITH HI DPTS AND WRMFNTL ACTION.

THEN...AS VIGOROUS LOW MOVS NW OF THE CWA AND BRINGS THE ASSCD CDFNT
THRU THE REGION FRI AFTN...WL KEEP LIKELY POPS N AND CNTRL AND HI
CHC S...WITH A MENTION OF THUNDER IN VIEW OF RATHER GOOD INSTABY BY
18Z. WL USE A COMP OF AVN/ETA WITH TIMING OF FNT...THINKING FNT WL
APCH WRN AREAS BY 18Z AND MOV THRU THE CWA BY LATE AFTN. WL CONT
WITH MENTION OF STG WIND GUSTS FRI AFTN SPCLY NR RW/S OR ANY TSTMS
BUT APPEARS TO REMAIN BLO ANY ADVY THRESHOLDS.

TEMPS...NON-DIURNAL TREND TNGT MOST ZONES...PSBLY EVEN NRN ZONES
LATE...AS WRMFNT PUSHES WELL INTO CWA. WL GO ABV MOS FOR FRI AS THE
THINKING IS THAT SUN WL BRK THRU CLDS CNTRL AND SPCLY SRN ZONES AND
BUMP TEMPS TO NEAR OR OVER RECORD LVLS. OTHERWISE MOS ACCEPTED.

WL CONT THE SML CRFT ADVY ON THE CSTL WATERS FROM SANDY HOOK NJ TO
FENWICK ISLAND DE AND FOR LWR DE BAY.

FCSTID = 17
MPO   31  57  23  31 /  60  70  10  10
ABE   39  65  29  36 /  50  70  10  10
RDG   42  66  30  38 /  50  70  10  10
PHL   45  69  32  40 /  30  60   0   0
12N   33  60  26  34 /  60  70  10  10
SMQ   42  67  30  38 /  30  60   0   0
TTN   44  68  31  39 /  30  60   0   0
MIV   49  70  30  40 /  20  50   0   0
ACY   46  68  33  41 /  20  50   0   0
ILG   45  70  31  40 /  30  60   0   0
DOV   49  72  32  40 /  20  50   0   0
GED   52  73  33  41 /  20  50   0   0
ESN   51  72  33  41 /  20  50   0   0

.PHI...
DE...NONE.
MD...NONE.
NJ...WINTER WEATHER ADVY INTO THE ERLY MRNG NJZ1
PA...WINTER WEATHER ADVY INTO THE ERLY MRNG PAZ55
MARINE...SCA CSTL WATERS AND LOWER DE BAY.

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

5 drought. Local standard time, as filed.

Drought, Caroline

When: February 1, 12:00 AM EST to February 28, 11:59 PM EST
Where: Caroline forecast zone
Reported by: GOVT OFFICIAL
Coordinates: 38.872, -75.832 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Drought, Cecil

When: February 1, 12:00 AM EST to February 28, 11:59 PM EST
Where: Cecil forecast zone
Reported by: GOVT OFFICIAL
Coordinates: 39.562, -75.948 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Drought, Kent

When: February 1, 12:00 AM EST to February 28, 11:59 PM EST
Where: Kent forecast zone
Reported by: GOVT OFFICIAL
Coordinates: 39.236, -76.096 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Drought, Queen Annes

When: February 1, 12:00 AM EST to February 28, 11:59 PM EST
Where: Queen Annes forecast zone
Reported by: GOVT OFFICIAL
Coordinates: 39.038, -76.085 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Drought, Talbot

When: February 1, 12:00 AM EST to February 28, 11:59 PM EST
Where: Talbot forecast zone
Reported by: GOVT OFFICIAL
Coordinates: 38.749, -76.179 (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 Maryland in 2002 Every state in 2002 This day in weather history Warnings in Maryland, 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: 5282728, 5282729, 5282730, 5282731, 5282732.