Tornado in Delaware
Every tornado event the National Weather Service has filed in Delaware, year by year, with the most significant episodes. 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.
The most significant on the map
The most significant tornado episodes in Delaware.
- 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
- 81
- Deaths
- 3
- Injuries
- 78
- Damage
- $13 million
Every year
The most significant
Ranked by deaths, injuries, damage and size together.
- Tornado and Damaging Winds in Delaware, July 21, 1983
- Tornadoes and Damaging Wind in Delaware, June 7, 1988
- Tornado and Hail in Delaware, April 1, 2023A strong cold front approached the region, with a line of strong showers and thunderstorms developing out ahead of the front. Storms produced damaging winds, a tornado, and small to medium-sized hail in Delaware.
- 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…
- Tornado in Delaware, April 28, 1961
- Tornado in Delaware, January 27, 1967
- Tornado in Delaware, June 9, 1989
- Tornado in Delaware, September 5, 1979
- Tornado in Delaware, September 28, 2004An F2 (on the Fujita scale) tornado touched down in northern New Castle County with maximum winds estimated at 130 mph. The path length was 5.0 miles long with a maximum path width of 150 yards. The tornado touched down near and was observed at the New Castle County Airport.
- Tornadoes and Damaging Winds in Delaware, May 8, 1984
- 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.
- Tornado in Delaware, June 9, 1977
- Tornadoes and Damaging Wind in Delaware, July 31, 1992
- Tornado and Damaging Wind in Delaware, October 18, 1990
- Tornadoes and Damaging Wind in Delaware, July 27, 1994Two sites along Route 13 had some wind damage. One was about 2 miles south of Felton where a warehouse lost its loading doors and sustained damage to some other doors. An empty trailer was blown off a rig which was driving south on Route 13.
- Tornadoes and Damaging Winds in Delaware, September 27, 1993The first tornado touched down inside the Delaware border 3 miles west northwest of Mt. Pleasant and east northeast to about 1.5 miles southeast of Delaware City. The tornado traveled an intermittent path.
- Tornado and Damaging Wind in Delaware, April 3, 1975
- Tornado in Delaware, July 18, 1984
- Tornado and Damaging Winds in Delaware, November 16, 1989
- Tornadoes and Damaging Winds in Delaware, April 15, 2019A severe weather outbreak impacted much of the East Coast, causing widespread straight line wind damage and a few tornadoes.
- Tornadoes and Tropical Storm in Delaware, August 4, 2020Tropical Storm Isaias brought high winds, heavy rain, several tornadoes, and coastal flooding to the mid-Atlantic region, becoming the most impactful tropical cyclone to impact most of the region since Sandy in 2012.
- Tornado and Hail in Delaware, May 22, 2014A very strong cold front and strong winds above the ground helped produce supercell type thunderstorms across Delaware during the second half of the afternoon on the 22nd. One confirmed tornado, large and destructive hail and pockets of wind damage occurred throughout the state.
- Tornado in Delaware, August 12, 1955
- Tornado in Delaware, July 1, 1954
- Tornado in Delaware, August 10, 1979
More
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.