Storm Records: Delaware
Every storm the National Weather Service has filed in Delaware: its floods, heat, cold, winter storms, hail, wind, lightning and tornadoes, year by year and county by county, each episode with its narrative.
The worst in Delaware on the map
The deadliest and costliest episodes on record here, colored by kind of event.
- Tornadoes
- Tropical storms and surge
- Floods
- Wind
- Hail
- Winter weather
- Heat and drought
- Cold
- Fire, smoke and dust
- Marine and coastal
- Other
The record
- Events
- 4,839
- Deaths
- 41
- Injuries
- 886
- Damage
- $192 million
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.
Every year
Tap a year for every episode in it.
Deaths each year
By kind of event
| Kind of event | Events | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thunderstorm Wind | 1,109 | 2 | 21 | $6.5 million |
| Strong Wind | 505 | 4 | 3 | $1.8 million |
| Winter Weather | 425 | 3 | 271 | |
| Heavy Rain | 359 | 0 | 1 | |
| Flash Flood | 255 | 4 | 6 | $32 million |
| High Wind | 216 | 0 | 2 | $13 million |
| Heat | 216 | 8 | 51 | |
| Drought | 207 | 0 | 0 | $29 million |
| Coastal Flood | 193 | 0 | 5 | $55 million |
| Flood | 167 | 0 | 1 | $600,000 |
| Hail | 159 | 0 | 0 | $420,000 |
| Lightning | 145 | 0 | 13 | $6.3 million |
| Dense Fog | 145 | 0 | 0 | |
| Winter Storm | 101 | 6 | 146 | $14 million |
| Cold/Wind Chill | 89 | 1 | 0 | |
| Heavy Snow | 88 | 0 | 138 | |
| Excessive Heat | 87 | 1 | 26 | |
| Tornado | 81 | 3 | 78 | $13 million |
| Astronomical Low Tide | 68 | 0 | 1 | |
| Storm Surge/Tide | 44 | 0 | 0 | $1.0 million |
| Funnel Cloud | 32 | 0 | 0 | |
| Rip Current | 31 | 5 | 46 | |
| High Surf | 24 | 0 | 66 | $100,000 |
| Tropical Storm | 20 | 0 | 0 | $18 million |
| Wildfire | 17 | 0 | 2 | $5,000 |
| Extreme Cold/Wind Chill | 16 | 4 | 4 | |
| Sleet | 12 | 0 | 0 | |
| Blizzard | 10 | 0 | 0 | $1.0 million |
| Waterspout | 5 | 0 | 0 | |
| Frost/Freeze | 5 | 0 | 0 | |
| Freezing Fog | 3 | 0 | 0 | |
| Ice Storm | 2 | 0 | 5 | |
| Hurricane (Typhoon) | 1 | 0 | 0 | $50,000 |
| Dust Storm | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| Tsunami | 1 | 0 | 0 |
The deadliest
- Heat in Delaware, July 4 to 6, 1999A very strong and oppressive high pressure system that extended from the surface to aloft gave Delaware a brutal heat wave that included the entire Independence Day weekend. There were four heat related deaths, two in New Castle County, two in Sussex County.
- Extreme Cold in Delaware, February 5 to 6, 2007An arctic air mass that originated near the North Pole invaded Delaware on the 5th and 6th. The combination of the unseasonably cold air and gusty northwest winds produced wind chill factors as low as zero to 10 degrees below zero during the mornings of the 5th and 6th.
- Strong Wind in Delaware, March 8, 2008A line of severe thunderstorms that accompanied a cold frontal passage produced wind damage across northern Delaware during the late afternoon of the 8th.
- Hurricane and Flash Flooding in Delaware, September 16 to 17, 1999Hurricane Floyd battered Delaware (especially New Castle County) on September 16th and brought with it torrential rains and damaging winds.
- Blizzard and Winter Storm in Delaware, February 9 to 11, 2010For the second time within a week a major winter storm, this one with blizzard conditions at times, affected the state of Delaware. Blizzard conditions occurred at times during the afternoon and early evening of the 10th.
- Tornado and Damaging Winds in Delaware, July 21, 1983
- Heat in Delaware, August 1 to 3, 2006A strong area of high pressure anchored over the East Coast and the western Atlantic, resulted in a stretch of excessive heat for the entire region to start off August 2006.
- Winter Storm and Winter Weather in Delaware, February 25 to 26, 2007A winter storm that featured mixed precipitation affected Delaware on the 25th. Snowfall accumulations averaged 2 to 4 inches in Kent and New Castle Counties and less than two inches in Sussex County.
- Tornado and Tropical Storm in Delaware, August 27 to 30, 2011Hurricane Irene produced heavy flooding rain, widespread tropical storm force wind gusts, a confirmed tornado near Lewes in Sussex County, moderate to severe coastal flooding and beach erosion and caused two flooding related deaths, forced evacuations near the coast over the…
- Strong Wind in Delaware, December 1, 2004The combination of a rapidly intensifying low pressure system and a strong cold frontal passage produced peak wind gusts of around 50 mph across Delaware during the second half of the morning and throughout most of the afternoon.
- Tornado and Damaging Winds in Delaware, June 30, 2025A cold front moved into a warm and unstable airmass, producing strong to severe thunderstorms and damaging wind gusts. A storm along the sea-breeze also produced a brief tornado.
- Damaging Wind in Delaware, July 16, 1995The oppressive heat and humidity during the day on the 15th set the stage for a complex of severe thunderstorms the early morning of the 16th.
- Rip Current in Delaware, August 23 to 29, 1998Rip currents and large waves associated with Hurricane Bonnie killed one swimmer at Rehoboth Beach and resulted in swimming restrictions up and down the Delaware Coast through the full week of August 23rd.
- Heat in Delaware, June 25 to 26, 1998A two day hot spell brought some of the highest temperatures of the summer to the Delmarva Peninsula and ended abruptly with severe thunderstorms during the late afternoon and early evening of the 26th. The excessive heat caused the death of an 84-year-old Wilmington woman.
- Rip Current in Delaware, August 25 to 26, 2001A strong high pressure system built into New England on the 25th and 26th. The northeast to east flow around the high and a developing low pressure system well east of Cape Hatteras produced rough surf and rip currents along the Delaware shore.
- Rip Current in Delaware, September 29, 2002Rip currents helped claim the life of a 33-year-old man in Rehoboth Beach. The man and a friend went swimming at 1 a.m. EDT early on the 29th. The friend managed to get away from the current. The body was found at 3 a.m. EDT.
- Rip Current in Delaware, September 5 to 6, 2005Rip currents associated with the northeast flow around a high pressure system building into New England caused the death of a 27-year-old man in Dewey Beach. He was swimming on the unguarded beach with 3 or 4 friends off of McKinley Avenue around 645 p.m.
- Cold in Delaware, January 26, 2007The combination of a strong northwest flow around an arctic high pressure system and because this high originated near the North Pole produced the coldest morning in two years across most of Delaware on the 26th. Most low temperatures were around 10F.
- Winter Storm and Winter Weather in Delaware, February 13 to 14, 2007An area of low pressure tracked across southeastern Canada during the 12th, which brought an arctic front across the Mid Atlantic region late on the 12th.
- Winter Weather in Delaware, January 28, 2008A high pressure ridge that extended from the southeastern United States into Delaware provided the light winds and trapped low level moisture near the ground for black ice to form in Sussex County on the morning of the 28th.
- Winter Storm and Winter Weather in Delaware, January 26 to 27, 2011A protracted winter storm with a one-two punch affected Delaware from the early morning of the 26th into the early morning of the 27th. The first phase of the storm affected mainly New Castle County, while the second phase of the storm affected all of the state.
- Winter Weather in Delaware, January 21, 2012A low pressure system that passed south of Delaware during the morning of the 21st brought a wintry mix of snow, sleet and freezing rain to the state. Snowfall in New Castle County averaged 1 to 3 inches and less than an inch in Kent and Sussex Counties.
- Excessive Heat and Heat in Delaware, July 15 to 20, 2013The most oppressive hot spell of the summer season affected Delaware from July 15th through the 20th. Widespread high temperatures reached into the mid 90s and the most oppressive days (combination of heat and humidity) occurred on the 18th and 19th.
- Heat in Delaware, June 18 to 19, 2014The first back-to-back days with high temperatures of 90 degrees or higher occurred across Delaware on the 17th and 18th. High temperatures were in the lower to mid 90s both days with the hottest weather on the 18th.
- Winter Weather in Delaware, January 17, 2016Low pressure off the southeast U.S. Coast strengthened as it quickly tracked out to sea just south of the area on January 17th.
The costliest
- Coastal Flood and High Wind in Delaware, November 11 to 14, 2009
- Drought in Delaware, September 1 to 17, 1999
- Tropical Storm and Storm Surge in Delaware, September 18 to 20, 2003
- Flash Flood in Delaware, September 15 to 16, 2003
- Hurricane and Flash Flooding in Delaware, September 16 to 17, 1999
- Blizzard and Winter Storm in Delaware, February 9 to 11, 2010
- Flooding and Coastal Flood in Delaware, October 28 to 30, 2012
- Storm Surge and Winter Storm in Delaware, February 16 to 17, 2003
- Tornadoes and Damaging Wind in Delaware, June 7, 1988
- Flash Flood in Delaware, September 1, 2021
- Tornado in Delaware, June 9, 1989
- Coastal Flood in Delaware, January 7 to 8, 1996
- Coastal Flood and High Wind in Delaware, February 4 to 9, 1998
- Damaging Wind in Delaware, June 26, 1998
- Coastal Flood and High Wind in Delaware, January 28 to 29, 1998
- Flash Flood in Delaware, August 11 to 12, 2001
- Tornadoes and Damaging Wind in Delaware, July 27, 1994
- Damaging Wind in Delaware, November 11, 1995
- Winter Storm in Delaware, January 6 to 8, 1996
- Blizzard in Delaware, January 7 to 8, 1996
- Tornado in Delaware, September 28, 2004
- Flash Flood and Flood in Delaware, June 25 to 26, 2006
- Winter Storm in Delaware, February 5 to 6, 2010
- Flood and Coastal Flood in Delaware, September 1 to 5, 2006
- Lightning Strike in Delaware, August 30, 2003
Counties
Every storm event filed in each county, including the zone-filed ones that covered it.
Counties and zones as filed
The places filed most often, as the offices named them.
| County or zone | Events | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| New Castle | 875 | 6 | 32 | $40 million |
| Sussex | 856 | 5 | 62 | $10.0 million |
| New Castle zone | 694 | 13 | 317 | $20 million |
| Inland Sussex zone | 651 | 8 | 150 | $40 million |
| Kent zone | 602 | 5 | 161 | $22 million |
| Delaware Beaches zone | 572 | 2 | 96 | $50 million |
| Kent | 504 | 2 | 62 | $9.1 million |
| Delaware Beaches / X E Sussex zone | 76 | 0 | 6 | $11,000 |
| 9 | 0 | 0 |
Every year
More
Every tornado in DelawareEvery warning in Delaware since 1986River gauges in DelawareEvery state
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.