Hail, Delaware
- When
- May 1, 5:05 PM EST
- Where
- Delaware County, Aston Mills
- Measured
- 0.75 in hail
- Coordinates
- 39.870, -75.450
Hail and Damaging Wind in Pennsylvania, May 1, 1997
A severe thunderstorm produced large hail and damaging winds across the eastern half of Delaware County. Quarter size hail fell in Swarthmore.
Where it happened
Every event with a place to put it. 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
- 3
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 severe thunderstorm produced large hail and damaging winds across the eastern half of Delaware County. Quarter size hail fell in Swarthmore. Penny to nickel size hail fell in Aston and Wallingford. In addition, wind gusts estimated as strong as 60 mph pulled down power lines and trees. About 15,000 homes and businesses lost power in Delaware County. This represented over half of the outages that occurred from this event in the Philadelphia Electric Company (PECO) southeastern Pennsylvania service area.
The radar
The Philadelphia radar (KDIX), 89 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 22:05 UTC.
Event by event
2 hail, 1 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.
Hail, Delaware
- When
- May 1, 5:10 PM EST to 5:15 PM EST
- Where
- Delaware County, Swarthmore
- Measured
- 1 in hail
- Coordinates
- 39.900, -75.380
Thunderstorm Wind, Delaware
- When
- May 1, 5:15 PM EST
- Where
- Delaware County, Darby
- Measured
- 52 kt (60 mph)
- Coordinates
- 39.920, -75.270
What these are
- Hail
- Hail three-quarters of an inch or larger, or smaller hail that caused damage, filed with the largest stone measured.
- Thunderstorm Wind
- Winds from a thunderstorm of 50 knots (58 mph) or more, or lower winds that caused damage or casualties. Measured gusts are marked MG, estimated EG.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
The same day elsewhere
- Tornadoes and Flash Flooding in Kansas, May 1 to 29, 1997
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Virginia, May 1, 1997
- Lightning Strike in New Jersey, May 1, 1997
- Drought in Texas, May 1 to 31, 1997
- Flooding in Idaho, May 1 to 31, 1997
- Heavy Rain in Ohio, May 1 to 31, 1997
- Flooding in Montana, May 1 to 31, 1997
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Oklahoma, May 1, 1997
- Flooding in Louisiana, May 1 to 9, 1997
- Flooding in Texas, May 1 to 9, 1997
- High Wind in Ohio, May 1, 1997
- Lightning Strike in Tennessee, May 1, 1997
More
Every storm in Pennsylvania in 1997Every state in 1997This day in weather historyWarnings in Pennsylvania, May 1997
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: 5608928, 5608926, 5608927.