Tornado and Waterspouts in Delaware, August 13, 1998

Name: Tornado and Waterspouts in Delaware, August 13, 1998
Start: 1998-08-13T11:45
End: 1998-08-13T12:33
Location: Delaware

August 13, 1998 · NWS PHI · 3 events in 1 county or zone

A couple of waterspouts formed over the Atlantic Ocean just east of Rehoboth and Dewey Beaches. One briefly came ashore as a weak tornado in Dewey Beach.

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: 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 couple of waterspouts formed over the Atlantic Ocean just east of Rehoboth and Dewey Beaches. One briefly came ashore as a weak tornado in Dewey Beach. The first waterspout formed in the ocean near Hickman Street in Rehoboth Beach at about 1245 p.m. EDT. The beach was cleared for 15 minutes until the waterspout lifted and the funnel cloud headed south toward Dewey Beach. The waterspout was then sighted a mile and a half east of Dickinson Street in Dewey Beach at 120 p.m. EDT. The lifeguards cleared the beach. It dissipated and then reformed about 500 feet offshore. A third waterspout formed near the shore and came inland as a tornado and tossed sand and beach umbrellas around. The tornado dissipated when it reached Dickinson Street. The weak tornado's (F0 on the Fujita Scale) path length is estimated at 0.1 miles and path width is estimated at 100 yards.

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

2 waterspout, 1 tornado. Local standard time, as filed.

Waterspout, Sussex

When: August 13, 11:45 AM EST to 12:00 PM EST
Where: Sussex County, 1 mi E of Rehoboth Beach
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 38.683, -75.339 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Waterspout, Sussex

When: August 13, 12:20 PM EST to 12:33 PM EST
Where: Sussex County, 2 mi E of Dewey Beach
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 38.683, -75.339 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Tornado, Sussex

When: August 13, 12:33 PM EST
Where: Sussex County, Dewey Beach
Rating: F0
Path length: 0.1 mi
Path width: 100 yd
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 38.700, -75.070

What these are

Waterspout: A tornado over water. One that moves ashore is filed as a tornado from the coastline on.
Tornado: A violently rotating column of air in contact with the ground and extending from a thunderstorm, filed with its path, width and Fujita or Enhanced Fujita rating from the damage survey.

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

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Delaware in 1998 Every state in 1998 This day in weather history The tornado archive for Delaware, 1998 Warnings in Delaware, August 1998

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: 5668069, 5668070, 5668071.