Wildfire, Sussex
- When
- August 17, 8:00 PM EST to August 18, 1:00 PM EST
- Where
- Sussex County, 3 mi SW of Culvers Lake
- Reported by
- NEWSPAPER
- Coordinates
- 41.140, -74.690 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Wildfire in New Jersey, August 17 to 18, 2002
A lightning strike started a slow moving forest fire in the Stokes State Forest in Frankford Township during the evening of the 17th. The fire was about one-quarter of a mile east of the Appalachian Trail.
Where it happened
Every event with a place to put it; 1 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
- 1
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 lightning strike started a slow moving forest fire in the Stokes State Forest in Frankford Township during the evening of the 17th. The fire was about one-quarter of a mile east of the Appalachian Trail. The trail was partially shut for several hours on the 18th. The fire burned about six acres before it was under control during the afternoon of the 18th.
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 Aug 17, 3:13 PM EST, 4 hours 47 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Aug 17, 3:13 PM EST, 4 hours 47 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOUNT HOLLY NJ 413 PM EDT SAT AUG 17 2002 MODELS ARE FAIRLY SIMILAR WITHIN THEMSELVES AND BETWEEN EACH OTHER THROUGH MONDAY...WITH AVN PERHAPS A BIT SLOWER MOVING THE SUN NIGHT COLD FRONT THROUGH FA. GIVEN LACK OF PUSH BEHIND THE FRONT...LEANED TOWARD THE AVN. BOTH PUSH A MID LVL IMPULSE THROUGH THE FA OVERNIGHT TONIGHT. DIFFERENTIAL HEATING AND MINOR LEADING IMPULSE CAUSING CONVECTION MAINLY OVER NRN AND WRN PORTIONS OF FA THIS AFTN...ALTHO STORMS RUNNING UP AGAINST WEAK CAP AND NOT AMOUNTING TO MUCH AT TIME. CAP IS FORECAST TO WEAKEN OVERNIGHT...AND GOOD MOISTURE AND MODERATE INSTABILITY LINGER...SO CONTINUITY WITH PREV FCST LOOKS GOOD. TOMORROW THE COLD FRONT...WITHOUT MUCH IN THE WAY OF DYNAMIC SUPPORT...SURFACE BASED CONVERGENCE OR FRONTOGENESIS...APPROACHES. STILL HAVE MOISTURE AND INSTABILITY...AND SO AGAIN CONTINUITY GENERALLY LOOKS GOOD. SINCE AM GOING WITH AVN...TOOK OUT THE SECOND PD POP IN THE SRN ZONES AS THAT MODEL KEEPS THEM DRY THROUGH END OF DAY. COLD FRONT MOVES THROUGH MOST OR ALL OF FA BY END OF THIRD PD...THEN WEAKENS JUST TO S WHILE AN IMPULSE STARTS TO TRACK E ALONG IT AND TOWARD FA. THOUGHT THIS IMPULSE WOULD NOT AFFECT FA UNTIL MON NIGHT PER COORD WITH EXTENDED FORECASTER...HENCE CHC POPS WITH THAT ARE LEFT OUT OF FOURTH PD. DWPTS ARE DOWN A LTL FROM YSTDY AT THIS TIME...CONSEQUENTLY FORECAST FOR TONIGHT/S MINS ARE A BIT LOWER THAN THIS AM. TMRW DIDNT SHAVE TOO MUCH FROM TDY/S MAXES AS AM THINKING OF A SLOWER FRONT. SOME COOL DOWN IN THE NRN ZONES THIRD PD...THEN WE COOL DOWN TO ONLY SLIGHTLY ABOVE NORMAL FOR MON. CONTINUING NPW FOR URBANIZED AREAS OF THE DE VALLEY INTO SUN EVENING. HEAT INDICES OUTSIDE OF URBAN AREAS...COASTAL ZONES AND THE HIGHER ELEVATIONS OF THE NW PROBABLY WILL TOP IN THE 90 TO 100 RANGE...BUT IN THE DOWNTOWN SECTIONS OF CITIES THEY SHOULD CLIMB ABOVE 100. THIS DOES NOT CONSTITUTE RELIEF...SO CANCELLING THE ADVISORY SEEMS ILL ADVISED. FCSTID = 45 ABE 69 92 66 84 / 40 40 40 20 RDG 70 92 66 85 / 40 40 40 20 PHL 75 95 74 88 / 40 30 40 20 12N 68 90 65 84 / 40 40 40 20 SMQ 70 93 67 86 / 40 30 40 20 TTN 72 93 71 87 / 40 30 40 20 MIV 74 94 73 88 / 40 30 40 20 ACY 73 88 73 84 / 40 30 40 20 ILG 74 94 72 86 / 40 30 40 20 DOV 74 94 73 88 / 40 30 40 20 GED 74 94 73 88 / 40 30 40 20 ESN 74 94 73 88 / 40 30 40 20 .PHI... DE...EXCESSIVE HEAT WARNING INTO SUNDAY EVENING FOR ZONE DEZ001. MD...NONE. NJ...EXCESSIVE HEAT WARNING INTO SUNDAY EVENING FOR ZONES NJZ015... NJZ017>019. PA...EXCESSIVE HEAT WARNING INTO SUNDAY EVENING FOR ZONES PAZ067>071. NYY
The radar
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
Event by event
1 wildfire. Local standard time, as filed.
What these are
- Wildfire
- A fire burning in wildland vegetation, with its acreage and damage where known.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
The same day elsewhere
- Flash Flood and Lightning Strike in North Carolina, August 17, 2002
- Wildfire in California, August 17 to 20, 2002
- Lightning Strike in Nebraska, August 17, 2002
- Damaging Wind in Florida, August 17, 2002
- Wildfire in Oregon, August 17 to 22, 2002
- Damaging Winds in Wisconsin, August 17, 2002
- Lightning Strike in Georgia, August 17, 2002
- Damaging Wind in South Carolina, August 17, 2002
- Lightning Strike in Wisconsin, August 17, 2002
- Lightning Strike in Florida, August 17, 2002
- High Wind and Strong Wind in Wisconsin, August 17, 2002
- Damaging Winds in Nebraska, August 17, 2002
More
Every storm in New Jersey in 2002Every state in 2002This day in weather historyWarnings in New Jersey, August 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: 5317491.