Confirmed tornado in northern Delaware

MIDDLETOWN, Del. – The National Weather Service has confirmed that a tornado touched down Sunday evening in New Castle County.

According to the NWS, the tornado touched down at 4:59 p.m. 4 miles northeast of Middletown, and was only on the ground for approximately 2 minutes. However, in that short period of time the tornado damaged multiple homes and buildings, while snapping and uprooting countless trees. At one point the tornado grew to a width of 200 yards.

There were no injuries or deaths reported from the tornado.

Several areas of straight-line wind damage also occurred near the tornado path. You can read the detailed damage survey here.

This is the second tornado to strike the state of Delaware this year. On April 1st, an EF-3 tornado tore through parts of Sussex county. With one fatality reported it became only the 2nd deadly tornado on record to hit the state of Delaware. It is also Delaware’s second strongest tornado on record.

EF Scale Explained – The Enhanced Fujita Scale classifies tornadoes based on estimated wind speed:
EF0 – Weak – 65 to 85 mph
EF1 – Weak – 86 to 110 mph
EF2 – Strong – 111 to 135 mph
EF3 – Strong – 136 to 165 mph
EF4 – Violent – 166 to 200 mph
EF5 – Violent – >200 mph