Flash Flood, Morris
- When
- May 13, 10:30 PM EST to May 14, 1:30 AM EST
- Where
- Morris County, Northwest Portion
- Reported by
- EMERGENCY MANAGER
- Coordinates
- 40.862, -74.544 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Flash Flooding in New Jersey, May 13 to 14, 2002
Thunderstorms with torrential downpours caused poor drainage flooding as well as flooding of some of the smaller streams around the Morris and Sussex Counties border. Sections of New Jersey State Route 15 were closed in both counties.
Where it happened
Every event with a place to put it; 2 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
- 2
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 torrential downpours caused poor drainage flooding as well as flooding of some of the smaller streams around the Morris and Sussex Counties border. Sections of New Jersey State Route 15 were closed in both counties. Doppler Radar storm total estimates were between 2 and 3 inches in the area.
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 May 13, 10:00 PM EST, 30 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, May 13, 10:00 PM EST, 30 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION...UPDATED NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOUNT HOLLY NJ 1100 PM EDT MON MAY 13 2002 UPDATE TO DROP THE FLOOD WATCH. .PHI...SCA COAST AND DEL BAY. RNS
In the hours before
Local storm report, May 13, 4:45 PM EST, 5 hours 45 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOUNT HOLLY NJ
545 PM EDT MON MAY 13 2002
TIME(EDT) .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
235 PM BOYERTOWN PA HAIL
05/13/02 BERKS 0.75 INCH
340 PM LORANE PA FLOODING
05/13/02 BERKS FLOODING ALONG
SHELBOURNE ROAD
435 PM CHESAPEAKE CITY MD WIND DAMAGE
05/13/02 CECIL NUMEROUS TREES DOWN
513 PM PA FLOODING
05/13/02 BERKS FLOODING ALONG MANATAWNY
CREEK
520 PM MIDDLETOWN DE WIND DAMAGE
05/13/02 NEW CASTLE A FEW WIRES DOWN
530 PM ATCO NJ HAIL
05/13/02 CAMDEN DIME-SIZE HAIL
JJMLocal storm report, May 13, 6:30 PM EST, 4 hours before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOUNT HOLLY NJ
730 PM EDT MON MAY 13 2002
TIME(EDT) .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
235 PM BOYERTOWN PA HAIL
05/13/02 BERKS 0.75 INCH
340 PM LORANE PA FLOODING
05/13/02 BERKS FLOODING ALONG
SHELBOURNE ROAD
435 PM EARLEVILLE MD WIND DAMAGE
05/13/02 CECIL BARN AND CINDERBLOCK
SHED DESTROYED. PORCH
BLOWN OFF HOUSE.
NUMEROUS TREES DOWN.
435 PM CHESAPEAKE CITY MD WIND DAMAGE
05/13/02 CECIL NUMEROUS TREES DOWN
445 PM RISING SUN MD WIND DAMAGE
05/13/02 CECIL TREES AND WIRES DOWN
513 PM PA FLOODING
05/13/02 BERKS FLOODING ALONG MANATAWNY
CREEK
515 PM UPPER POTTSGROVE PA WIND DAMAGE
05/13/02 MONTGOMERY TREES AND WIRES DOWN
520 PM MIDDLETOWN DE WIND DAMAGE
05/13/02 NEW CASTLE A FEW WIRES DOWN
525 PM CHESILHURST NJ WIND DAMAGE
05/13/02 CAMDEN LIMBS DOWN
530 PM ATCO NJ HAIL
05/13/02 CAMDEN DIME-SIZE HAIL
540 PM WATERFORD TWP NJ FUNNEL CLOUD
05/13/02 CAMDEN
540 PM HAMMONTON NJ WALL CLOUD
05/13/02 ATLANTIC
615 PM BAYVILLE NJ HAIL
05/13/02 OCEAN GOLFBALL SIZE HAIL
620 PM HOLIDAY CITY NJ WIND DAMAGE
05/13/02 OCEAN TREES AND WIRE DOWN
JJMThe radar
The Philadelphia radar (KDIX), 102 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 03:30 UTC.
Event by event
2 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.
Flash Flood, Sussex
- When
- May 13, 10:30 PM EST to May 14, 1:30 AM EST
- Where
- Sussex County, Southeast Portion
- Reported by
- EMERGENCY MANAGER
- Coordinates
- 41.140, -74.690 (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
- Damaging Winds in Virginia, May 13, 2002
- Rip Current in Florida, May 13, 2002
- Hail and Damaging Wind in South Carolina, May 13, 2002
- Flooding in Alaska, May 13 to 21, 2002
- Tornadoes and Damaging Winds in Maryland, May 13, 2002
- Flood in Pennsylvania, May 13 to 14, 2002
- Wildfire in California, May 13, 2002
- Damaging Winds in Virginia, May 13, 2002
- Tornadoes and Hail in Maryland, May 13, 2002
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Maryland, May 13, 2002
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Georgia, May 13, 2002
- Wildfire in California, May 13, 2002
More
Every storm in New Jersey in 2002Every state in 2002This day in weather historyWarnings in New Jersey, May 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: 5299963, 5299964.