DELMARVA - The National Weather Service says the tornado that touched down on Friday night was an EF-1. This comes after a team from Mount Holly, New Jersey surveyed Western Sussex County.
According to the National Weather Service's damage survey results, the EF-1 tornado occurred from 6:52pm to 7:06pm on Friday night. It hit estimated peak winds of 100-110 mph. The NWS says an EF-1 is classified as a tornado hitting wind speeds from 86 to 110 mph.
The tornado traveled an overall 11.4 miles on Friday. It began in Dorchester County, Maryland, southeast of Rhodesdale, in the area of Vienna Road. In this area, the NWS says there was significant tree damage to a line of trees to the east of the roadway, "with many trees snapped along their trunks and several more uprooted. The tree damage appeared to be convergent with trees bent towards the center of the damaged area."
The tornado then reached Eldorado-Sharptown Road, uprooting and snapping several more trees. According to the NWS, as the tornado approached Galestown, "damage occurred to an elongated farm building, with the entire structure lifted off its foundation and pushed several yards to the east-northeast". Galestown had the most concentrated damage to the areas impacted. This is where the tornado hit its peak width of 600 yards.
It then moved into Sussex County, Delaware, crossing the Nanticoke River. The NWS says there was tree damage in Phillips Landing Park, the Cherry Walk Woods neighborhood, and along Phillips Landing Road. Additional damage was found on Shell Bridge Road with a tree snapped near the intersection with Phillips Landing Road.
The tornado dissipated in the area of Bethel, Delaware, although there was damage found eastward towards Laurel.
The NWS says the damage in Laurel was the result of "straight-line winds associated with the rear-flank downdraft". The winds caused roofs to be taken off two commercial structures.