Flood, New Castle
- When
- September 23, 7:10 AM EST to 3:03 PM EST
- Where
- New Castle forecast zone
- Reported by
- AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
- Coordinates
- 39.578, -75.639 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Flood in Delaware, September 23, 2003
A slow moving cold front helped produce heavy rain as it displaced a warm and humid air mass preceding it. m EDT).
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 slow moving cold front helped produce heavy rain as it displaced a warm and humid air mass preceding it. While showers with heavy rain began falling during the early morning of the 23rd, the heaviest rain fell around the time of cold frontal passage (7 a.m EDT). Doppler Radar Storm totals ranged from 1 to 2 inches with the highest amounts in the western part of the county. The heavy rain combined with saturated soils from the heavy rains on the 15th and 19th caused poor drainage flooding and flooding along the White Clay Creek and Christina River. Flooding was reported in both Stanton and Newark. The Christina River at Coochs Bridge reached its 9 foot flood stage at 810 a.m. EDT on the 23rd, crested at 11.51 feet at noon EDT on the 23rd and was back within bankfull at 403 p.m. EDT on the 23rd. The creek rose from 5.2 feet to 10.1 feet in one hour. The White Clay Creek at Newark was above its 13 foot flood stage from 1130 a.m. through 209 p.m. EDT on the 23rd. It crested at 13.33 feet at 1 p.m. EDT. Storm totals included 1.50 inches in Newark, 1.32 inches in Wilmington, 1.18 inches at the New Castle County Airport. September 2003 was an unseasonably wet month throughout Delaware. On a county weighted average, monthly precipitation totals were 5.4 inches in Kent County, 6.1 inches in Sussex County and 8.3 inches in New Castle County. Normal is around 3.7 inches. The monthly precipitation total at the New Castle County Airport was 7.39 inches, 3.38 inches wetter than normal and the sixth wettest September on record. The monthly precipitation total at the Sussex County Airport (Georgetown) was 6.12 inches, 2.13 inches wetter than normal.
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 Sep 23, 2:52 AM EST, 4 hours 18 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Sep 23, 2:52 AM EST, 4 hours 18 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION...CORRECTED TO INCLUDE DE CTY PA IN WATCH
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOUNT HOLLY NJ
352 AM EDT TUE SEP 23 2003
DROPPING FLD WATCH ESSENTIALLY FROM PHL E...SPECIFIC CNTYS LISTED
BLO...AS THAT AREA DID NOT HAVE SGFNT RAINS LAST WK...AS OPPOSED TO
OUR NWRN ZONES AND AREA TO THE IMMEDIATE W OF PHL.
OTRW...PCPN SHOULD END FM THE W BY NOON OR SHRTLY THRFTR...THEN DRY
INTO THU WHEN NXT FNT ARRIVES FM THE NW. SLOWED PCPN TIMING DOWN
JUST A BIT...BGNG THU MRNG NWRN ZONES AND THU AFTN SERN ZONES.
OTRW...LEFT EXTDDS PRETTY MUCH AS THEY WERE.
NO CHGS ON THE MARINE...SML CRAFT REMAINS UP ALL WTRS.
ZONES AND UPDATED FLOOD WATCH SHOULD FLY BY 430 AM.
.PHI...FLOOD WATCH THIS MRNG PA54-55,60-62,67-70 NJ1,7 DE1 MD8
SML CRAFT ADVY CST AND DE BAY.
KRAUSHazardous weather outlook, Sep 23, 5:28 AM EST, 1 hour 42 minutes before
DEZ001>004-MDZ008-012-015-019-020-NJZ001-007>010-012>027-PAZ054-055- 060>062-067>071-231230- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOUNT HOLLY NJ 628 AM EDT TUE SEP 23 2003 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR EAST CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST PENNSYLVANIA...DELAWARE...THE NORTHERN MARYLAND EASTERN SHORE...AND NEW JERSEY EXCLUDING THE FIVE NORTHEAST COUNTIES. .DAY ONE...TODAY FLOOD WATCHES REMAIN IN EFFECT THIS MORNING FOR MUCH OF THE AREA TO THE NORTH AND WEST OF PHILADELPHIA...AND FLOOD WARNINGS HAVE BEEN ISSUED FOR SOME COUNTIES. THE RAIN WILL MOVE EAST AND SHOULD BE OFF THE COAST BY EARLY AFTERNOON. STORM TOTALS WILL EXCEED THREE INCHES IN SOME SPOTS. THERE IS A MODERATE RISK OF RIP CURRENTS TODAY ALONG THE NEW JERSEY AND DELAWARE COASTS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN... NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTERS ARE ASKED TO CALL IN WITH SIGNIFICANT RAINFALL TOTALS...OF TWO INCHES OR MORE. KRAUS
In the hours before
Special weather statement, Sep 23, 4:45 AM EST, 2 hours 25 minutes before
DEZ001>003-MDZ008-012-015-019-020-NJZ001-007>010-012-015>019-021- PAZ054-055-060>062-067>071-231115- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOUNT HOLLY NJ 545 AM EDT TUE SEP 23 2003 ...AREA OF HEAVY RAIN MOVING SLOWLY EAST... AT 530 AM...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR SHOWED AN AREA OF HEAVY RAIN MOVING SLOWLY EAST ACROSS EASTERN PENNSYLVANIA AND MARYLAND. IT EXTENDED FROM THE POCONOS THROUGH ALLENTOWN PA...SOUTH THROUGH CHESTER COUNTY AND THEN ALONG THE NORTHERN CHESAPEAKE BAY. RAINFALL AMOUNTS OF OVER AN INCH IN LESS THAN HALF AN HOUR HAVE BEEN REPORTED. THE RAIN WILL SLOWLY SHIFT EAST INTO THE PHILADELPHIA AND WILMINGTON AREAS AFTER 6 AM...AND ALSO INTO WESTERN NEW JERSEY AND THE NORTHERN DELMARVA. BE ESPECIALLY CAUTIOUS ON THE ROADS THIS MORNING...AS THERE WILL BE WATER PONDED IN LOW LYING AREAS AND UNDERPASSES. SLOW DOWN AND ALLOW FOR EXTRA SPACE BETWEEN YOU AND THE CARS AROUND YOU. A FEW OVERNIGHT RAINFALL REPORTS THROUGH 530 AM...READING AIRPORT IN BERKS COUNTY...2.93 INCHES...AND MOUNT POCONO AIRPORT IN MONROE COUNTY...2.42 INCHES. KRAUS
The radar
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
Event by event
1 flood. Local standard time, as filed.
What these are
- Flood
- Flooding that develops more slowly than a flash flood: rivers leaving their banks, or water standing over land for an extended time.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
The same day elsewhere
- Tornado in Pennsylvania, September 23, 2003
- Tornado in New Jersey, September 23, 2003
- Tornado in New Jersey, September 23, 2003
- Tornado in New Jersey, September 23, 2003
- Damaging Wind in New Jersey, September 23, 2003
- Damaging Wind in Pennsylvania, September 23, 2003
- Flash Flooding and Flooding in Virginia, September 23 to 24, 2003
- Tornadoes and Damaging Winds in Virginia, September 23, 2003
- Flash Flooding and Damaging Wind in North Carolina, September 23, 2003
- Flash Flooding and Damaging Wind in Massachusetts, September 23, 2003
- Flash Flood and Damaging Wind in New York, September 23, 2003
- High Wind in Alaska, September 23 to 24, 2003
More
Every storm in Delaware in 2003Every state in 2003This day in weather historyWarnings in Delaware, September 2003
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: 5335071.