Tornadoes are rare in Delaware - since 1950 when organized tornado reporting began, only 55 twisters have been observed in the state. But if there is such a thing as "tornado season" in Delaware, it's June and July. Nearly half of those 55 twisters touched down in one of those two months.

The 55 tornadoes are about equally divided among the three counties of the state - 21 touched down in New Castle county, 16 in Kent, and 18 in Sussex. On the F-scale of tornado intensity, which runs from F0 for weakest to F5 for strongest, most of these tornadoes - 48 out of the 55 - were relatively weak, ranked F0 or F1. The other seven were ranked F2, corresponding to winds between 113 and 157 mph. No tornadoes stronger than that have been observed in the state of Delaware since 1950.

However, we have records of an F3 tornado that brushed southern Sussex County back on June 23, 1944. That tornado actually formed in Maryland and moved east into Delaware. Two people were killed and 33 injured in Maryland by the tornado, but it passed through a relatively unpopulated area of Delaware, with the only damage reported near Delmar where it destroyed some fences, chimneys, and windows.