A tornado that popped up with almost no warning amid severe thunderstorms near Middletown late Sunday afternoon was “not unusual” for Delaware, the National Weather Service said, nor was its apparent surprise to residents.
Rated an EF-1 on the Enhanced Fujita scale and with wind speeds reaching up to 100 mph, the tornado began at 4:49 p.m. Sunday in a field north of Route 896 and west of North Bayberry Parkway.
Nearby houses were already slightly damaged from strong winds before the tornado formed, the National Weather Service said, but most of it was “cosmetic.”
The most significant damage was reported on Bullen Drive, where the National Weather Service said that one home had an upstairs window blown out, an exterior wall nearly collapsed and an attached garage roof blown off into the front yard.
WHAT HAPPENED:Tornado touched down near Middletown during Sunday’s storms, National Weather Service says
The twister lasted just two minutes, dissipating at 4:51 p.m. near Hyett’s Corner Road, 1.19 miles from where it started. Continued strong winds knocked over a semi-truck on Route 1 and blew down corn in a field on U.S. Route 13, but the National Weather Service said there was no evidence of a tornado there.
Why Sunday’s tornado wasn’t ‘atypical’ for Delaware
While news of the twister garnered attention on social media, National Weather Service meteorologist Dean Iovino, who is based out of the agency’s Mount Holly, New Jersey office, said the tornado wasn’t atypical for Delaware.
He said the state “generally sees a weak tornado or two at least somewhere in Delaware during the course of the spring and summer months each year.”
Most tornados that occur in The First State are rated EF-0 or EF-1, which are considered weak. Occasionally, however, EF-2 and EF-3 tornados − which have speeds of 111-135 mph and 136-165 mph, respectively − do crop up.
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Such was the case earlier this year, when an EF-3 twister with peak wind speeds of 140 mph tore through Sussex County. It traveled 14.3 miles from west of Bridgeville to east of Ellendale. At its widest, it was about 700 yards.
An EF-2 tornado also hit Delaware in August 2020, spawned by Tropical Storm Isaias. Traveling just more than 20 miles, it was the longest twister ever recorded in the state, at the time surpassing the previous tornado path length record of 13 miles, which occurred in 1988.
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Despite these two recent higher-intensity twisters, Iovino emphasized that he “wouldn’t necessarily say they’re happening more frequently.”
“Two things that have come into play, especially over the past 20 to 30 years, is that we have much better technology as far as the radar coverage,” Iovino said. “We’re seeing tornadoes that we wouldn’t have known about back in like the 1970s or 1980s, and also just the fact that that the area’s becoming increasingly developed, so you’re having more buildings and structures that are prone to damage.”
Decades ago, Iovino said, residents may not have heard about a tornado that just damaged fields or farmland. But people certainly notice buildings and homes that are destroyed, he said.
APRIL TWISTER:Follow Sussex tornado’s 14.3-mile path on our map. Homes and lives wrecked in 20 minutes.
“It kind of makes it an apples-and-oranges comparison to go by how many tornadoes were reported in the 1960s and 70s as opposed to how many are being recorded now,” he said.
Surprise! Sunday’s twister came with almost no warning
On social media on Monday, which is when the National Weather Service confirmed Sunday’s tornado, users questioned why there was no tornado warning in effect at the time.
Iovino said weaker twisters often form with little or no warning, making it sometimes impossible to issue a tornado warning. He added that any time there’s a severe thunderstorm warning, there’s always a chance a tornado will occur.
“If you have a severe thunderstorm warning, there’s a possibility of a tornado,” he said, “which is kind of a mixed-blessing thing.”
RELATED:What’s the difference between a tornado watch and a tornado warning?
Contrary to what many believe, severe thunderstorm warnings have nothing to do with how much thunder or lightning a storm produces. Rather, these kinds of warnings refer to storms that produce winds at or above 58 mph, or storms with these winds that produce hail one inch or larger in diameter.
Unlike in tornado alley − the central part of the U.S. known as the Great Plains − where tornadoes can be seen and predicted from miles away, in Delaware, twisters are often hidden in large swaths of rain and hail.
Because they are also frequently weaker and smaller in diameter, they’re more difficult to detect on radar, Iovino said.
But that’s “a good thing for us,” he added.
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“We don’t want the EF-3s and 4s and 5s,” he said. “Even though they’re more detectable using the radar and they’re easier to track, and maybe you could give a little bit more lead time as far as warnings are concerned, they are extraordinarily disruptive.”
While one person was killed in Delaware’s April EF-3 tornado, unlike in the Plains, deaths and injuries from Delaware twisters are rare. In fact, the last time a tornado killed someone in Delaware was July 21, 1983, in Hartly.
“It’s kind of a trade-off, and I think we have the better end of that trade-off,” Iovino said. “Ours generally do some roof damage and knock down some trees, but aren’t usually overly destructive like the ones out in the middle part of the country.”
Got a tip? Send to Isabel Hughes at ihughes@delawareonline.com or 302-324-2785. For all things breaking news, follow her on Twitter at @izzihughes_
