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EF1 tornado in Sussex County, Delaware

Tornado May 16, 2025 · Sussex County, Delaware

EF1
Rating
4.3 mi
Path length
600 yd
Path width
EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 600 yards (0.34 mi) — zoom in and the swath grows to true scale. Other tornadoes recorded nearby that day are shown faint.

What EF1 means. On the Enhanced Fujita scale, EF1 is moderate damage: roofs badly stripped, mobile homes pushed off foundations or overturned, windows broken, consistent with estimated gusts of 86–110 mph. The rating comes from a survey of the worst damage after the storm, not from a wind measurement, so it says as much about what the tornado hit as about how strong it was.

What the National Weather Service wrote

On Friday May 16th, an EF-1 tornado occurred beginning in Dorchester County, Maryland before crossing into Sussex County, Delaware. While the tornado was in Sussex County, tree damage occurred in Phillips Landing Park. A tree was snapped and twisted near the base of its trunk with additional tree damage in the Cherry Walk Woods neighborhood and along Phillips Landing Road. Additional trees were damaged along Shell Bridge Road with a tree snapped near the intersection with Phillips Landing Road. Several large limbs were also downed near Broad Creek, south-southwest of Bethel. The tornado dissipated in this area.

The wider storm

A stationary front over the region resulted in two rounds of severe thunderstorms. The first was in the late morning through mid day. After a few hours lull, a second round of thunderstorms occurred late in the afternoon through the evening.

Began near Woodland (38.5660, -75.7020).

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 1267356. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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