Heavy Rain in Delaware, February 6, 2004

Name: Heavy Rain in Delaware, February 6, 2004
Start: 2004-02-06T09:00
End: 2004-02-06T20:00
Location: Delaware

February 6, 2004 · NWS PHI · 2 events in 2 counties and zones

The combination of heavy rain and snow melt caused poor drainage flooding in Kent and Sussex Counties. Heavier rain fell from the middle of the morning into the middle of the evening on the 6th.

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

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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.

The combination of heavy rain and snow melt caused poor drainage flooding in Kent and Sussex Counties. Heavier rain fell from the middle of the morning into the middle of the evening on the 6th. The ground was still frozen and this caused ponding of water on fields and in poor drainage areas. Several roads were closed in Sussex County. Storm totals included 1.24 inches in Greenwood (Sussex County), 1.08 inches in Milford (Kent County), 1.01 inches in Georgetown (Sussex County) and 0.91 inches in Dover (Kent County). The low pressure system responsible for the heavy rain developed in the western Gulf of Mexico on the 5th. It moved northeast reaching the Tennessee Valley on the evening of the 5th and into the Great Lakes on the morning of the 6th. Its associated warm front moved north from the Carolinas on the morning of the 6th into the lower Delmarva Peninsula during the afternoon of the 6th before stalling. The occluded front associated with the primary low pressure system (It went northeast from the Great Lakes through the Saint Lawrence River Valley.) moved through the region during the night of the 6th and ended the rain. precipitation initially began as a wintry mix during the late evening of the 5th before changing to rain during the morning of the 6th in Kent County.

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 Feb 6, 8:37 AM EST, 23 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Feb 6, 8:37 AM EST, 23 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION...UPDATED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOUNT HOLLY NJ
837 AM EST FRI FEB 6 2004

FOR THE MOST PART, FREEZING RAIN HAS TURNED TO RAIN AROUND THE
NJ TURNPIKE CORRIDOR, AND SO WE HAVE TAKEN DOWN THE WINTER WEATHER
ADVISORY THERE. WE NOTE THAT VAY IS REPORTING FZRA WHILE HERE AT OUR
OFFICE, N OF VAY BY ONLY A FEW MILES, THE TEMP IS UP TO 34 DEF F.
COOP REPORTS AROUND OUR AREA ARE OF RAIN.

ALSO MASSAGED TEMPS AND DWPTS TO MATCH CURRENT CONDITIONS, AND
MASSAGED GRIDS TO SHOW LESS RAIN THIS MORNING OVER THE SOUTHERN
ZONES. OTHERWISE NO CHANGES.

PREV AFDS BELOW.

.PHI WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
PA...WINTER STORM WARNING INTO THIS AFTERNOON
      PAZ054-055.
     WINTER STORM WARNING THIS MORNING
      PAZ060>062.
     WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY THIS MORNING
      PAZ067>069.
     FLOOD WATCH THIS AFTERNOON INTO SAT PAZ060>062-067>071.
NJ...WINTER STORM WARNING INTO THIS AFTERNOON NJZ001.
     WINTER STORM WARNING THIS MORNING NJZ007.
     WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY THIS MORNING NJZ008>010.
     FLOOD WATCH THIS AFTERNOON INTO SAT NJZ007>010-012-013-015>019.
DE...FLOOD WATCH THIS AFTERNOON INTO SAT DEZ001.
MD...FLOOD WATCH THIS AFTERNOON INTO SAT MDZ008.
MARINE...SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY ON THE OCEAN FRONT FROM SANDY HOOK NJ
     TO FENWICK ISLAND DE AND LOWER DELAWARE BAY. ANZ450>455-431.

MPD

********************************************************************

WL UPDATE THE ZONES AND WSW TO REFLECT INTERMITTENT PCPN SRN ZONES
AS BACK EDGE HAS MOVD IN. N-S BAND OF HVYR RAIN IS STILL XPCD TO MOV
NEWD OVR THE CWA THIS AFTN. WL DROP THE WS ADVY FOR THE FARTHEST SE
STRIP OF ZONES FOR ERY THIS MRNG AS TEMPS HAVE WARMED THERE AND FZRA
IS NO LONGER XPCD. WS ADVYS AND WRNGS CONT FOR OTHER AREAS TO THE
NW. UPDATED WSW TO FOLLOW SHORTLY.

PREV AFD IS BLO...

*******************************************************************

ONGOING WX SITUATION WILL BE CHANGING FROM A FROZEN/FREEZING EVENT TO
A FLOODING EVENT AS THE DAY WEARS ON.  WINTER STORM WARNING WILL
BE CONTINUED IN THE 7 NRN COUNTIES. ADVISORIES TO THE SOUTH WILL
BE IN PLACE...MAINLY FOR FREEZING RAIN. TEMPS HAVE ALREADY CLIMBED
ABOVE FREEZING IN SUSSEX AND PORTIONS OF KENT COUNTY IN DE AND IN
CAPE MAY COUNTY NJ...ALSO COASTAL NJ ZONES. ADVS WILL END FROM S
TO N AS TEMPS RISE ABV FRZNG THIS MRNG. THE FLOOD WATCH WILL REMAIN
IN EFFECT THIS AFTN INTO SAT FOR MUCH OF THE AREA. THE STORM WILL
BE MOVING OFF TO THE NE TNGT...BRINGING AN END TO THE PCPN.
ADDITIONAL INFO IS AVAILABLE IN STATEMENTS ALREADY ISSUED...
WSW AND FFA.

.PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS...
MPO 32 29 31 12 / 100 80 20 10
ABE 36 31 37 16 / 100 80 10 10
RDG 38 33 39 19 / 100 80 10 10
PHL 42 35 40 24 / 100 80 10 10
12N 35 29 33 14 / 100 80 10 10
SMQ 38 34 40 19 / 100 80 10 10
TTN 39 35 40 22 / 100 80 10 10
MIV 45 37 43 19 / 100 80 10 10
N55 46 40 43 23 / 100 80 10 10
ACY 45 38 43 18 / 100 80 10 10
ILG 42 35 40 22 / 100 80 10 10
DOV 44 37 43 22 / 100 80 10 10
GED 48 39 43 22 / 100 80 10 10

Hazardous weather outlook, Feb 6, 5:25 AM EST, 3 hours 35 minutes before

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...CORRECTED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOUNT HOLLY NJ
525 AM EST FRI FEB 6 2004

DEZ001>004-MDZ008-012-015-019-020-NJZ001-007>010-012>027-PAZ054-055-
060>062-067>071-061215-
ATLANTIC NJ-ATLANTIC COASTAL CAPE MAY NJ-BERKS PA-BUCKS PA-CAMDEN NJ-
CAPE MAY NJ-CARBON PA-CAROLINE MD-CECIL MD-CHESTER PA-
COASTAL ATLANTIC NJ-COASTAL OCEAN NJ-CUMBERLAND NJ-DELAWARE PA-
DELAWARE BEACHES DE-EASTERN MONMOUTH NJ-GLOUCESTER NJ-HUNTERDON NJ-
INLAND SUSSEX DE-KENT MD-KENT DE-LEHIGH PA-MERCER NJ-MIDDLESEX NJ-
MONROE PA-MONTGOMERY PA-MORRIS NJ-NEW CASTLE DE-NORTHAMPTON PA-
NORTHWESTERN BURLINGTON NJ-OCEAN NJ-PHILADELPHIA PA-QUEEN ANNES MD-
SALEM NJ-SOMERSET NJ-SOUTHEASTERN BURLINGTON NJ-SUSSEX NJ-TALBOT MD-
WARREN NJ-WESTERN MONMOUTH NJ-
525 AM EST FRI FEB 6 2004

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

A WINTER STORM WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR THE LEHIGH VALLEY
IN PENNSYLVANIA AND WARREN COUNTY IN NEW JERSEY THIS MORNING...
AND FOR THE SOUTHERN POCONOS IN PENNSYLVANIA AND SUSSEX COUNTY
IN NEW JERSEY INTO THE AFTERNOON. SOUTH OF THE WARNING AREA...
EXCEPT FOR CAPE MAY COUNTY AND COASTAL ZONES IN NEW JERSEY AND
SUSSEX COUNTY IN DELAWARE...WINTER WEATHER ADVISORIES ARE IN
EFFECT THIS MORNING FOR FREEZING RAIN. A FLOOD WATCH REMAINS IN
EFFECT THIS AFTERNOON INTO SATURDAY FOR NORTHERN DELAWARE,
EXTREME NORTHEASTERN MARYLAND, SOUTHEASTERN PENNSYLVANIA, AND
MUCH OF SOUTHWESTERN AND CENTRAL NEW JERSEY.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...

ANOTHER STORM COULD AFFECT THE REGION TUESDAY AFTERNOON INTO
WEDNESDAY.

.SPOTTER CALL TO ACTION STATEMENT...SPOTTERS ARE REQUESTED TO CALL
IN REPORTS OF FREEZING PRECIPITATION AND SNOW AMOUNTS.

RPW

The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

2 heavy rain. Local standard time, as filed.

Heavy Rain, Kent

When: February 6, 9:00 AM EST to 8:00 PM EST
Where: Kent County, Countywide
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates: 39.096, -75.505 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Rain, Sussex

When: February 6, 9:00 AM EST to 8:00 PM EST
Where: Sussex County, Countywide
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates: 38.683, -75.339 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

What these are

Heavy Rain: Rainfall totals unusual for the place and season that did not produce a flood.

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

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Delaware in 2004 Every state in 2004 This day in weather history Warnings in Delaware, February 2004

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: 5392812, 5392813.