Skip to content

NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database

Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Hockessin, DE

Every tropical system within 75 miles since 1851 and every tornado within 25 miles since 1950.

36 tropical systems have passed within 75 miles of Hockessin, Delaware since 1851, 2 of them at hurricane strength; the most recent was Ida in 2021. Since 1950, 92 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 4 of them rated EF3 or stronger.

Hurricanes
2

within 75 mi, since 1851

Tropical storms
34

below hurricane strength

Tornadoes
92

within 25 mi, since 1950

EF3 or stronger
4

3 deaths in all

Tropical storms and hurricanes near Hockessin

Tropical systems that passed within 75 miles of Hockessin, Delaware, newest first
YearStormClosestStrength when closestPeak
2021IdaSep 1overheadTropical storm (40 mph)Category 4
2021ElsaJul 974 miTropical storm (58 mph)Category 1
2020IsaiasAug 4overheadTropical storm (66 mph)Category 1
2020FayJul 1070 miTropical storm (47 mph)Tropical storm
2012SandyOct 30overheadTropical storm (69 mph)Category 3
2011IreneAug 2873 miTropical storm (68 mph)Category 3
2008HannaSep 641 miTropical storm (52 mph)Category 1
2006ErnestoSep 254 miTropical storm (41 mph)Category 1
1996BerthaJul 1337 miTropical storm (69 mph)Category 3
1992DanielleSep 2616 miTropical storm (39 mph)Tropical storm
1971DoriaAug 2855 miTropical storm (55 mph)Tropical storm
1961Unnamed 1961 stormSep 1574 miTropical storm (60 mph)Tropical storm
1960BrendaJul 3058 miTropical storm (58 mph)Tropical storm
1955DianeAug 1825 miTropical storm (40 mph)Category 2
1955ConnieAug 1363 miTropical storm (56 mph)Category 4
1952AbleSep 132 miTropical storm (58 mph)Category 2
1944Unnamed 1944 stormAug 365 miTropical storm (40 mph)Category 1
1943Unnamed 1943 stormOct 161 miTropical storm (39 mph)Tropical storm
1934Unnamed 1934 stormJun 195 miTropical storm (46 mph)Category 2
1933Unnamed 1933 stormAug 2474 miTropical storm (56 mph)Category 4
1929Unnamed 1929 stormOct 333 miTropical storm (58 mph)Category 4
1924Unnamed 1924 stormSep 3057 miTropical storm (71 mph)Category 1
1915Unnamed 1915 stormAug 420 miTropical storm (52 mph)Category 1
1904Unnamed 1904 stormSep 1560 miCategory 1 (75 mph)Category 1
1903Unnamed 1903 stormSep 1643 miTropical storm (70 mph)Category 2
1899Unnamed 1899 stormNov 115 miTropical storm (58 mph)Category 2
1893Unnamed 1893 stormAug 2932 miTropical storm (63 mph)Category 3
1888Unnamed 1888 stormSep 1152 miTropical storm (40 mph)Tropical storm
1888Unnamed 1888 stormAug 2268 miTropical storm (46 mph)Category 3
1882Unnamed 1882 stormSep 2367 miTropical storm (46 mph)Tropical storm
1878Unnamed 1878 stormOct 2344 miCategory 1 (87 mph)Category 2
1877Unnamed 1877 stormOct 553 miTropical storm (69 mph)Category 3
1874Unnamed 1874 stormSep 2944 miTropical storm (61 mph)Category 1
1872Unnamed 1872 stormOct 2642 miTropical storm (46 mph)Category 1
1863Unnamed 1863 stormSep 1941 miTropical storm (54 mph)Tropical storm
1861Unnamed 1861 stormSep 2855 miTropical storm (68 mph)Category 1

Strength is the sustained wind on the track at the closest point, which is not the wind felt in Hockessin: a hurricane's worst winds sit within a few dozen miles of its centre, and inland cities are usually past that.

Tornadoes within 25 miles of Hockessin

By decade

  • 2020s12(1 EF3+)
  • 2010s9
  • 2000s8
  • 1990s25(1 EF3+)
  • 1980s11
  • 1970s16
  • 1960s8(1 EF3+)
  • 1950s3(1 EF3+)
Strongest tornadoes near Hockessin, Delaware
DateRatingDistancePathKilled / injured
Mar 22, 1955F313 mi9.6 mi1 / 0
Sep 1, 2021EF324 mi12.37 mi0 / 2
Jul 27, 1994F34 mi4 mi0 / 11
Apr 28, 1961F310 mi0.3 mi0 / 0
Sep 5, 1979F23 mi4.1 mi1 / 4
Sep 1, 2021EF214 mi5.92 mi0 / 0
Aug 4, 2020EF215 mi35.78 mi0 / 0
Oct 31, 2019EF213 mi0.47 mi0 / 2
Feb 24, 2016EF224 mi4.87 mi0 / 0
Sep 28, 2004F27 mi5 mi0 / 0
May 2, 2002F215 mi4.5 mi0 / 0
May 31, 1998F222 mi7 mi0 / 0

The strongest 12 of 92, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.

How to read this page

A storm is listed when the centre of its track passed within 75 miles of Hockessin while it was at least a tropical storm, which is the reach of damaging wind and rain for a typical hurricane. Being on the list does not mean the city took a direct hit; the "closest" column says how near the centre came. Tornadoes are counted when any part of the path came within 25 miles.

Tornado records before the 1990s are thinner, because weak tornadoes in open country often went unreported before Doppler radar and mobile phones. A rise in the decade counts is mostly better reporting, not a change in the weather.

Tracks come from the National Hurricane Center's HURDAT2 database, tornadoes from the Storm Prediction Center's database. Both are the official federal records and both are revised as old storms are re-analysed.

Other cities in Delaware