New Jersey, 2002

Flash Flood in New Jersey, July 19, 2002

July 19, 2002 · NWS PHI · 1 event in 1 county or zone

Thunderstorms with very heavy rain caused considerable urban and poor drainage flooding as well as creek flooding from Palmyra Township south to Evesham Township in Burlington County. Adjusted Doppler Radar storm total estimates indicated that 4 to 5 inches of rain fell within a three hour period in this area.

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

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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.

Thunderstorms with very heavy rain caused considerable urban and poor drainage flooding as well as creek flooding from Palmyra Township south to Evesham Township in Burlington County. Adjusted Doppler Radar storm total estimates indicated that 4 to 5 inches of rain fell within a three hour period in this area. In Mount Laurel Township, State Route 38 near Interstate 295 was flooded. South Jersey Regional Airport in Lumberton Township reported a storm total of 3.04 inches. Elsewhere in the county, the heavy rain apparently contributed to a fatal accident in which three teenage boys were killed on State Route 38 in Southampton Township. The driver was heading westbound and lost control of the vehicle and veered into the eastbound lanes where it struck another vehicle.

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 19, 2:29 PM EST, 3 hours 46 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 19, 2:29 PM EST, 3 hours 46 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOUNT HOLLY NJ
329 PM EDT FRI JUL 19 2002

CHANGE IN AIRMASS TO TAKE PLACE LATER TNGT AND SAT AS A COLD
FRONT DROPS ACROSS THE FA. NUMEROUS SHWRS/TSTMS THRU THE EVENING
HOURS WILL TAPER OFF FROM N TO S LATER TNGT. SOME VERY HEAVY
RAIN MAY ACCOMPANY SOME OF THESE STORMS. ONCE THE FRONT DROPS
S AND THE PCPN ENDS...SKIES WILL BEGIN TO CLEAR FROM N TO S
TOWARD DAYBREAK. THE WEEKEND WX SHOULD BE PCPN FREE WITH SLIGHTLY
LOWER TEMPS AND HUMIDITY.

NO MARINE ADVS OR WRNGS.

.PHI...NONE.

RPW

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Jul 19, 12:59 PM EST, 5 hours 16 minutes before
DEZ003-004-192100-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT - VERY HEAVY RAIN
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOUNT HOLLY NJ
159 PM EDT FRI JUL 19 2002

...HEAVY RAIN OVER COASTAL SUSSEX COUNTY DELAWARE...
...INTENSE LIGHTNING WITH THIS STORM...

A SERIES OF THUNDERSTORMS HAVE FORMED OVER THE DELAWARE BEACHES AND
ARE MOVING VERY SLOWLY. RADAR INDICATES THAT AS MUCH AS 3 INCHES OF
RAIN HAS FALLEN IN THE PAST HOUR. IF THESE STORMS DONT MOVE INTO
THE NEARSHORE WATERS SEVERAL MORE INCHES OF RAIN COULD FALL FLOODING
SOME OF THE ROADWAYS. FREQUENT LIGHTNING WAS ALSO OBSERVED WITH THIS
STORMS.

EBERWINE

The radar

The Philadelphia radar (KDIX), 23 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 23:15 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.

Flash Flood, Burlington

When
July 19, 6:15 PM EST to 8:15 PM EST
Where
Burlington County, Palmyra
Reported by
AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates
39.878, -74.668 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

What these are

Flash Flood
Flooding that begins within six hours of the rain that causes it, or of a dam or levee failure or ice jam release, often with deadly speed.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in New Jersey in 2002Every state in 2002This day in weather historyWarnings in New Jersey, 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: 5308664.