EF1 tornado, Kent County, Delaware, August 20, 2026

1. EF065 to 85 mph

   Light damage. Surface peeled off some roofs, gutters and siding damaged, branches broken, shallow-rooted trees pushed over.

2. EF186 to 110 mphthis tornado

   Moderate damage. Roofs badly stripped, mobile homes overturned or badly damaged, exterior doors lost, windows broken.

3. EF2111 to 135 mph

   Considerable damage. Roofs torn off well-built houses, frame homes shifted on their foundations, mobile homes destroyed, large trees snapped or uprooted, cars lifted off the ground.

4. EF3136 to 165 mph

   Severe damage. Whole stories of well-built houses destroyed, large buildings badly damaged, trains overturned, trees debarked, heavy cars lifted and thrown.

5. EF4166 to 200 mph

   Devastating damage. Well-built houses leveled, structures with weak foundations moved some distance, cars thrown and large missiles generated.

6. EF5over 200 mph

   Incredible damage. Strong frame houses swept off their foundations, car-sized missiles thrown more than 100 meters, steel-reinforced concrete badly damaged, high-rise buildings deformed.

7. Unrated

   The survey recorded a tornado but could not put a number on it, most often because it crossed open country and damaged nothing a rating can be read from.

Rating, as surveyed

EF1, preliminary

Date

August 20, 2026

Touchdown

4:09 PM EDT (20:09 UTC)

Lifted

4:14 PM EDT (20:14 UTC)

On the ground

5 minutes

Path length

3.2 miles (5.1 km)

Path width

100 yards (91 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

0

County

Kent County

Touchdown point

39.140, -75.557

Lift-off point

39.170, -75.518

Highest wind the damage implies

110 mph

Surveyed by

NWS PHI

Survey last edited

August 23, 2026

Record number

None yet. SPC numbers 2026 in the spring of 2027.

On August 20, 2026, a tornado formed over the open fields west of Wyoming Mill Rd near Riverside Rd, scarring the crops before moving the tree line east of Wyoming Mill Rd, snapping several branches and tree tops. The tornado then made direct contact with the Dover Little League baseball fields at Schutte Park, causing extensive damage across two of their baseball diamonds. At least seven large wooden field lighting fixtures were snapped at either the base or halfway up, falling onto the fencing surrounding the fields. Additional fencing was also ripped from their posts and believed to have been caused directly from the tornadic winds rather than impacted from another object. One large scoreboard secured by a brick foundation fell over and a second one supported by metal posts was bent and likely crushed by an unknown projectile. Part of a tree was observed in the middle of one of the fields with no clear origin. The tornado then hit the City of Dover VanSant Generating Station, shifting one trailer off its foundation and causing minor roof damage to a metal building structure in addition to visibly denting the metal siding with unknown projectiles. The tornado then carved a path through another tree line before impacting the Kraft-Heinz plant where some of the most significant damage occurred. Two sections of concrete block walls collapsed, a few trailers were sent tumbling, and a small section of the metal roof came off. The collapse of the concrete block walls confirmed max wind gusts of a high-end EF-1. The tornado then moved ENE, missing the the Eden Hill Medical Center. Continuing its path, the tornado zig-zagged through the main downtown area of Dover where it was weaker at this point, downing a few trees and snapping branches along W North Street before turning towards Dover City Hall and turning again towards Memorial Park. The tornado then began moving NNE along Park Dr and Kings Hwy downing large trees and branches. As it approached the intersection of Kings Hwy and N Dupont Hwy, the tornado intensified again and reached its maximum width of 100 yards. The tornado reached a second peak intensity here as it peeled half of the roof off the Super Lodge, damaging the roof to the Days Inn next door, and downing two large business signs. This significant roof damage provided secondary confirmation of max wind gusts of a high-end EF-1. The tornado quickly dissipated afterwards.

Written by NWS PHI in the NWS Damage Assessment Toolkit. A survey is revised as better evidence arrives.

25 damage points were recorded along this path by NWS PHI, in the Damage Assessment Toolkit the survey teams carry. The strongest indicator was rated EF1. The highest wind the damage implies is 110 mph.

• 50% of roof on entire structure peeled off. Other half damaged
• Several tall wood lighting structures at a baseball field snapped at the base and higher up along the trunk in a convergent pattern
• Additional siding damage to warehouse building
• Exterior walls (possibly concrete bricks) collapsed outward. Trailers pushed over

Survey points are preliminary and are the raw material the published rating was built from. Source: NWS Damage Assessment Toolkit.

No tornado warning for this county appears in the archive as in force at the moment the tornado touched down. One was issued for the county at another hour that day.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 19:00 UTC and running to 23:46 UTC.

Every warning and watch covering the touchdown point that day, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service products. Lead time is measured from the issue of the warning in force to the touchdown time in the database, both of which were recorded to the minute by different people.

The Storm Prediction Center had this point in a Slight Risk, with a 0.05 chance of a tornado within 25 miles, in the hatched area where significant tornadoes were expected. The outlook in force was issued at 19:55 UTC.

SPC's Day 1 convective outlook as it stood when the tornado began, read at the touchdown point. The same archive is on the radar archive.

Dover Afb (DOV), 7 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of airport observations.

The Dover AFB radar (KDOX), 38 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 20:08 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment, over the track

Reflectivity and velocity, decoded from the Level II archive in the browser. Volumes take a few seconds to open the first time.

Local storm reports within 60 km of the path, in the three hours either side.

From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service local storm reports.

The live radar over the trackEvery 2026 tornado in DelawareEvery tornado in Delaware since 1950Warnings in force in Delaware nowThe forecast where you are

10 more have been surveyed in the United States that day, so far.

Ratings are the survey's, read off the damage rather than measured; the rating scale is above. A survey can be revised, so the rating, the path and the casualties can all still change.

NWS Damage Assessment Toolkit, the record the survey teams file from the damage, and NOAA Storm Prediction Center storm reports. Neither is the official database for 2026, which SPC publishes in the spring of 2027.