High Wind, Caroline
- When
- March 21, 7:00 PM EST to 10:00 PM EST
- Where
- Caroline forecast zone
- Reported by
- AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
- Coordinates
- 38.872, -75.832 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
High Wind in Maryland, March 21, 2002
A strong cold front moved through the Maryland Eastern Shore during the evening of the 21st. It was accompanied by wind gusts of around 40 mph inland and around 50 mph along the bay.
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
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.
A strong cold front moved through the Maryland Eastern Shore during the evening of the 21st. It was accompanied by wind gusts of around 40 mph inland and around 50 mph along the bay. The strong gusty winds persisted throughout the night, although the strongest wind gusts occurred with the cold frontal passage and during the ensuing evening. Peak wind gusts included 52 mph in Tolchester (Kent County) and 41 mph at the Baltimore-Washington International 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 Mar 21, 3:10 PM EST, 3 hours 50 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Mar 21, 3:10 PM EST, 3 hours 50 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOUNT HOLLY NJ 310 PM EST THU MAR 21 2002 DISC: SWESTERLIES BRINGING IN MILD AIR WITH TEMPS INTO THE 50S AND WILL FINISH AT 60 DEGREES IN SOME SPOTS. WINDS ARE 15 TO 25 MPH FROM AND MILD SOURCE BUT A CHANGE TO THE NW WILL USHER IN THE COLDER AIR. THE FAST MOVING FRONT WILL APPROACH ERN PA BETWEEN 6 AND 7 PM AND REACH THE COAST BEFORE 11 PM. THE WINDS WILL INITIALLY GUSTS TO 30 TO 40 MPH WITH THE FRONT BEFORE SETTLING OUT AT 25 TO 30 MPH. THIS MAY BE ENOUGH OF A SUDDEN SHIFT AND INCREASE TO BRING SOME TREE AND POWER LINES DOWN. WILL SEND AN SPS LATER. CLDS/PCPN/WINDS ARRIVING AT SAME TIME BUT EXPECT PCPN OF VERY SHORT DURATION EXCEPT FOR NORTHERN AREAS. MAY BE A QUICK BURST OF SNOW FROM A SQUALL FAR NORTH WITH AN INCH OR A LITTLE MORE BEFORE DAYBREAK. SOME DRIVING RESTRICTIONS ACROSS HIGHER TERRTAIN. COLD DRY AIR WILL SWEEP ACROSS THE CFA ON FRI AND SAT WITH COLDER THAN NORMAL TEMPS AND GUSTY WINDS. FCSTID = 16/EBERWINE .PHI... DE...NONE. MD...NONE. NJ...NONE. GALE WARNINGS ENTIRE COAST AND DELAWARE BAY. PA...NONE.
In the hours before
Special weather statement, Mar 21, 3:43 PM EST, 3 hours 17 minutes before
DEZ001>004-MDZ008-012-015-019-020-NJZ001-007>010-012>026-PAZ054-055- 060>062-067>071-230500- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOUNT HOLLY NJ 343 PM EST THU MAR 21 2002 ...A FAST MOVING COLD FRONT TO MOVE ACROSS THE REGION THIS EVENING... TEMPERATURES REACHED LEVELS TYPICAL OF SPRINGTIME BUT A CHANGE IS QUICKLY GOING TO OCCUR LATE THIS EVENING. A COLD FRONT...OVER WESTERN PENNSYLVANIA...WILL REACH PARTS OF EASTERN PENNSYLVANIA AND THE EASTERN SHORE OF MARYLAND BETWEEN 6 AND 7 PM...AND CONTINUE RAPIDLY EAST ACROSS THE DELAWARE VALLEY BETWEEN 8 AND 9 PM...THEN OFFSHORE AROUND MIDNIGHT. LIGHT PRECIPITATION WILL ACCOMPANY THE FRONT ALL AREAS EXCEPT THE NORTHERN PARTS OF CARBON AND MONROE COUNTIES IN PENNSYLVANIA AND SUSSEX COUNTIES...POSSIBLY NORTHERN MORRIS COUNTIES OF NEW JERSEY. AFTER A BRIEF RAIN AND SNOW SHOWER THIS EVENING...THERE MAY BE A SNOW SQUALL WITH A QUICK INCH OF SNOW. ELSEWHERE...INCLUDING MARYLANDS EASTERN SHORE...DELAWARE AND SOUTH JERSEY...SOME SPRINKLES AND FLURRIES ARE POSSIBLE. THE WINDS MAY BE STRONG ENOUGH TO KNOCK DOWN A FEW TREES AND POWER LINES AS THE WINDS SHIFT FROM THE SOUTHWEST TO NORTHWEST AND SUDDENLY...BUT BRIEFLY GUSTS TO 35 OR 40 MPH. STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO AND OTHER LOCAL MEDIA FOR FURTHER DETAILS OR UPDATES. FOR ADDITIONAL WEATHER INFORMATION...CHECK OUR WEB SITE AT WWW.NWS.NOAA.GOV/ER/PHI IN SMALL LETTERS. EBERWINE
The radar
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
Event by event
5 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
High Wind, Cecil
- When
- March 21, 7:00 PM EST to 10:00 PM EST
- Where
- Cecil forecast zone
- Reported by
- AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
- Coordinates
- 39.562, -75.948 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
High Wind, Kent
- When
- March 21, 7:00 PM EST to 10:00 PM EST
- Where
- Kent forecast zone
- Reported by
- AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
- Coordinates
- 39.236, -76.096 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
High Wind, Queen Annes
- When
- March 21, 7:00 PM EST to 10:00 PM EST
- Where
- Queen Annes forecast zone
- Reported by
- AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
- Coordinates
- 39.038, -76.085 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
High Wind, Talbot
- When
- March 21, 7:00 PM EST to 10:00 PM EST
- Where
- Talbot forecast zone
- Reported by
- AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
- Coordinates
- 38.749, -76.179 (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
- High Wind in Pennsylvania, March 21, 2002
- Strong Wind in Virginia, March 21 to 22, 2002
- High Wind in New Jersey, March 21 to 22, 2002
- Strong Wind in Maryland, March 21 to 22, 2002
- Heavy Snow and High Wind in Pennsylvania, March 21, 2002
- Strong Wind in West Virginia, March 21 to 22, 2002
- Flooding in Indiana, March 21 to 31, 2002
- High Wind in Delaware, March 21 to 22, 2002
- Heavy Snow in Michigan, March 21, 2002
- Flash Flooding in Pennsylvania, March 21, 2002
- Heavy Snow in Michigan, March 21, 2002
- High Wind in Alaska, March 21, 2002
More
Every storm in Maryland in 2002Every state in 2002This day in weather historyWarnings in Maryland, March 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: 5286493, 5286494, 5286495, 5286496, 5286497.