The tornado that left one person dead and carved a 14-mile path of destruction through Bridgeville and Ellendale, Del., on Saturday was the state’s widest twister on record and one of its two strongest, the National Weather Service said in a damage survey released Monday. Spawned by the same system that produced damaging wind gusts over 60 mph in the D.C. area on Saturday evening, it was one of dozens of tornadoes across the Mid-Atlantic, South and Midwest during the past week.
At a width of 700 yards, the tornado was 200 yards wider than the two previously widest. It was rated an EF-3 on the 0-to-5 scale used for tornado intensity, with estimated peak winds of 140 mph. The only other Delaware tornado to receive that high of a rating occurred in Newcastle, south of Wilmington, on April 28, 1961. That storm was rated F3 on a prior version of the tornado intensity scale. The only two previous tornado-related deaths in Delaware occurred with an F2 tornado on July 21, 1983, near Hartley in Kent County.
Some of the damage from the EF3 tornado in Delaware
first image was a poorly built home that was given EF2 DI while the second image was a well built two story house where the fatality occurred and was given an EF3 rating pic.twitter.com/vDLsintpBc
Other confirmed tornadoes in the Mid-Atlantic on Friday and Saturday include one in Cecil County, Md., one in Bucks County, Pa., and four in New Jersey.
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The tornado began at 5:59 p.m. near the intersection of Polk and Dublin Hill roads in the northwestern portion of Bridgeville just south of Route 404, which drivers from the D.C. and Baltimore areas may recognize as an alternate to Route 50 to get to the Delaware and Maryland beaches. The tornado lasted for 20 minutes, until 6:19 p.m., as it tracked to the east and northeast into Ellendale.
I had a busy Saturday evening. Tornado crossing near Bridgeville Delaware at 6 PM. One fatality. Video from Brian Swain. pic.twitter.com/fajbA0LEGK
— Dan Satterfield (@wildweatherdan) April 2, 2023Along the way it destroyed barns, blew down power poles, uprooted or snapped numerous trees, collapsed a two-story house, blew multiple houses off their foundation, overturned several semitrailers and scattered debris several hundred yards. Trees falling into houses caused significant damage, and one home had its chimney blown off.
The tornado reached its peak wind intensity as it caused substantial damage to a Delaware Department of Transportation facility, including the collapse of an exterior wall and large portion of a roof. Several garage doors were blown out and the roof of a building that stores salt was completely destroyed. Siding material was found embedded into the ground near where a weather station measured a wind gust of 98 mph.
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A review of radar imagery shows the storm began as a shower south of Culpeper, Va., about 3:10 p.m., organized into an area of thundershowers that passed just south of the D.C. Beltway about 4:10 p.m., reached the Eastern Shore around 5:10 p.m., and began to enter Delaware at about 5:40 p.m. before producing a tornado at 5:59 p.m.
The National Weather Service first issued a tornado warning for northwest Sussex County and south-central Kent County, including Bridgeville and Ellendale, at 6:01 p.m. based on rotation detected by radar. The warning said that “flying debris will be dangerous to those caught without shelter. Mobile homes will be damaged or destroyed. Damage to roofs, windows, and vehicles will occur. Tree damage is likely.”
An update from the Weather Service at 6:04 p.m. said that a confirmed tornado was near Bridgeville. Another update at 6:14 p.m. said the tornado was over Ellendale.
The Weather Service noted that “historically, Delaware has gone multiple years without any tornadoes, only to then have multiple occur in a short time … the most in a year were 6 in 1992 and 2020.”
Jason Samenow contributed to this report.
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