EF-1 Tornado Hits Newark, Delaware, Damaging Homes and Overturning Truck on I-95
An EF-1 tornado, rated on the Enhanced Fujita damage scale that runs from EF0 to EF5, tore a 4.4-mile path through the eastern side of Newark, in New Castle County, Delaware. The National Weather Service's Mount Holly, New Jersey office said in a damage survey that the tornado began at 1:05 p.m. EST on Nov. 12, 2026, with peak winds of 100 mph. It damaged homes, overturned a tractor-trailer on Interstate 95 and damaged two medical helicopters at Christiana Hospital.
The tornado was one of two confirmed that afternoon as severe thunderstorms moved through northern Delaware, southeastern Pennsylvania and New Jersey, the weather service said. The storms also produced a waterspout and widespread wind and hail damage.
The tornado touched down in the southern part of the Salem Woods neighborhood and moved north-northeast, damaging siding, tearing shingles off several houses and breaking large tree branches. It reached peak intensity in the Chapman Woods neighborhood, where the 100 mph winds blew in windows on multiple homes, stripped more shingles and siding and snapped several trees at their trunks.
The tornado then continued northeast, snapping more trees as it crossed Chapman Road and knocking down a hotel sign onto several parked vehicles. It crossed Interstate 95, overturning a tractor-trailer, before moving through a wooded area onto the grounds of Christiana Hospital, where it rotated one medical helicopter 90 degrees and damaged the rotors of a second. There were no known injuries or fatalities from the tornado, which had a maximum path width of 175 yards.
