Delaware, 1999

Damaging Wind in Delaware, February 12, 1999

February 12, 1999 · NWS PHI · 1 event in 1 county or zone

A severe thunderstorm destroyed three mobile homes and injured one person on Hollett's Corner near Clayton. The 67-year-old man was injured when he became trapped within his destroyed mobile home.

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

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The toll

Deaths
0
Injuries
1
Property damage
$200,000
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 severe thunderstorm destroyed three mobile homes and injured one person on Hollett's Corner near Clayton. The 67-year-old man was injured when he became trapped within his destroyed mobile home. Two other homes were blown off their foundation and a few other mobile homes suffered minor damage. Damage was estimated at $200,000. Elsewhere across northern Kent County, several trees were knocked down, one electrical pole was knocked down and tree limbs were snapped in a Smyrna Elementary School Playground. An unseasonably warm air mass and a strong cold front conspired to produce a line of strong to locally severe thunderstorms. Preceding this line, high temperatures soared to record breaking levels at both the New Castle County Airport (71 degrees, previous record 61 degrees set in 1898) and Dover Air Force Base (70 degrees, previous record 65 degrees set in 1965).

The radar

The Dover AFB radar (KDOX), 54 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 22:32 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.

Thunderstorm Wind, Kent

When
February 12, 5:30 PM EST
Where
Kent County, 1 mi W of Clayton
Injuries
1 direct, 0 indirect
Property damage
$200,000
Reported by
GOVT OFFICIAL
Coordinates
39.280, -75.650

What these are

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

More

Every storm in Delaware in 1999Every state in 1999This day in weather historyWarnings in Delaware, February 1999

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: 5689269.