High Wind — New Castle, Delaware

2003-09-18 to 2003-09-19 · New Castle, Delaware

Wider weather episode

Tropical Storm Isabel caused tidal flooding up Delaware Bay, heavy rain and strong power outage producing winds. Isabel made landfall as a hurricane near Drum Inlet, North Carolina around 100 p.m. EDT on the 18th and weakened as it tracked farther inland. At one time in its life cycle, it was a powerful Category 5 hurricane when it was north of the Leewood Islands. Isabel's track took it west of Chesapeake Bay and was able to funnel water into the bay. This caused flooding along coastal areas all the way into New Castle County. Rivers and streams in New Castle County flooded from two fronts: from the heavy rain inland and also from the storm surge. The tide at Reedy Point reached 8.66 feet above mean lower low water at 506 a.m. EDT on the 19th. The surge was about 5 feet. The surge funneled up the bay and was lower and occurred earlier close to the coast. The highest tide at Lewes (Sussex County) was 6.51 feet above mean lower low water at 324 p.m. EDT on the 18th. The heavy rain did not coincide with the tidal flooding and occurred mainly from the afternoon of the 18th into the early morning of the 19th. Nevertheless, runoff from streams in New Castle County were slowed because of the incoming storm surge. While tides barely reached minor tidal levels along the ocean, the wave action on top of the tide caused beach erosion. Dunes were breached on the ocean front south of South Bethany and water overwashed onto Delaware State Route 1 in several locations. Winds gusted up to 70 mph and caused numerous trees, tree limbs and power lines to be knocked down. This was one of the worst power outage events in history for Conectiv Energy. The Christina River at Coochs Bridge (New Castle County) was above its 9 foot flood stage from 927 p.m. EDT on the 18th through 612 a.m. EDT on the 19th. It crested at 11.38 feet at 115 a.m. EDT on the 19th. The Red Clay Creek at Wooddale was above its 5.5 foot flood stage from 106 a.m. EDT through 728 a.m. EDT on the 19th. It crested at 5.87 feet at 430 a.m. EDT on the 19th. Peak wind gusts included 70 mph at the Pilot Tower (Sussex County), 62 mph in Lewes (Sussex County), 61 mph at the Dover Air Force Base (Kent County), 60 mph in Georgetown (Sussex County) and 53 mph at both Bear (New Castle County) and the New Castle County Airport. Storm totals included 1.88 inches in Greenwood (Sussex County), 1.74 inches in Georgetown (Sussex County), 1.46 inches at the New Castle County Airport, 1.35 inches in Milford (Kent County) and 1.00 at the Dover Air Force Base (Kent County).

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 5372405. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.