DOVER, Del.- The National Weather Service has confirmed a record-breaking 29.2-mile-long EF1 tornado that started in Dover and ended in Middletown on Tuesday morning during Tropical Storm Isaias.
The NWS said the distance covered by Tuesday tornado was more than double the previous record for a 1988 tornado in Delaware of 13 miles.
Officials said the EF1 tornado had a maximum estimated wind speed of 105 mph and a maximum path width of 200 yards. No injuries or deaths were attributed to the tornado itself, but a 73-year-old Milford woman died during the tropical storm when a large tree branch fell on her.
According to the NWS, the tornado touched down at around 8:55 a.m. in the vicinity of the Eagle Meadows Apartment complex on Sorghum Mill Road in Dover and then moved across Route 10. It tracked nearly parallel to South State Street through Anneville, the south side of Dover, where significant tree damage occurred, including some treetops shredded from Poplar Lane to the neighborhood around Steele Road. It was here where some roof damage occurred to some homes, especially due to fallen trees. Additionally, a garage was significantly damaged on Dyer’s Tree Farm.
The tornado then crossed over Route 13 near the Eden Medical Center and very near the William Henry Middle School. The school building has since been condemned due to the extensive damage caused by the tornado. A couple sections of the school’s roof were blown off along with some tree damage nearby. A warehouse adjacent to the school had a few sections of its metal walls torn off and a couple of tractor- trailers flipped onto their side.
The NWS said the tornado then crossed over Walker Road at Route 15 then to Westminster Village at Dover near the intersection of Route 15 and College Road.
The tornado then tracked northward just east of Cheswold where the damage may have been more sporadic before moving through the east side of Smyrna where more notable tree damage occurred. A 96 mph wind gust was measured at a Delaware department of Transportation weather station located on Route 1 just north of Smyrna as the tornadic circulation passed by.
From here, the tornado continued nearly parallel to Routes 1 and 13 on the east sides of Townsend and Middletown in New Castle County. Numerous trees were snapped or uprooted along portions of Blackbird Landing and Gum Bush roads in Townsend with some damage to roofs. A garage at a home on Blackbird Landing Road was destroyed.
The tornado then damaged homes along Spring Hollow Drive in Middletown. In this neighborhood, some homes had roof material and siding blown off with numerous trees uprooted Officials said the tornado may have started to dissipate between Mount Pleasant and Glasgow in New Castle County. However, they noted that it is possible the tornado track extended into Cecil County, Md.
