Wilmington

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond this area.
2. Weak tornadoes were under-recorded before Doppler radar coverage became national in the early 1990s, so earlier decades read low. Ratings use the Fujita scale before February 2007 and the Enhanced Fujita scale after.

Storm Prediction Center severe weather database, 1950 to 2025.

Every storm within 100 miles

1. Tropical storms and hurricanes (34 kt or more, still tropical) at closest approach. Post-tropical remnants with gale-force winds are listed but not counted. Direct: track within 50 miles; near: within 100 miles. Distance is measured to the county boundary for counties and to the city centre for cities, using positions interpolated hourly between HURDAT2 fixes.

National Hurricane Center HURDAT2, 1851 to 2025.

Smoke overhead

1. A smoke day is a date on which a smoke plume traced by NOAA Hazard Mapping System analysts from satellite imagery covered this place's point (the county's population centre or the city centre). Counts here are of medium or heavy smoke. Since 2018 analysts have often drawn light smoke as one area over most of the continent, so light-smoke counts are not comparable from year to year. The plumes show smoke anywhere in the air above, not air quality at the ground, and smoke hidden by cloud is missed.

NOAA Hazard Mapping System smoke analysis, 2011 to 2026, retrieved October 30, 2026.

Flood insurance figures are for New Castle County, the county that contains Wilmington.

Claims by ZIP code

This product uses the Federal Emergency Management Agency's OpenFEMA API, but is not endorsed by FEMA. The Federal Government or FEMA cannot vouch for the data or analyses derived from these data after the data have been retrieved from the Agency's website(s).

OpenFEMA NFIP Redacted Claims v3, refreshed August 4, 2026. NOAA Storm Events through 2026.

River crests

River gauges in New Castle County, the county that contains Wilmington.

River gauges

1. Crests are the highest and the recent crests the National Weather Service lists for each river gauge in the county that has a flood stage, not every flood. Flood categories use each gauge's current flood stages; crests from before levees, dams or channel changes may not be comparable. Crests measured on an old datum are left out of the rankings.

NOAA National Water Prediction Service gauge records, retrieved October 30, 2026.

High tide flooding

Tide gauges in New Castle County.

Other tide gauges here: Delaware City (record 9 days, 2023).

1. High tide flooding days are days on which a NOAA tide gauge recorded water at or above NOAA's minor flood threshold, set from the gauge's tide range, counted by meteorological year (May to April). These are the counts in NOAA's annual high tide flooding reports; they are not National Weather Service flood stages. Years with less than 80 percent of data are left out.

NOAA CO-OPS high tide flooding counts, through April 2026, retrieved October 30, 2026.

The drought index is for New Castle County, the county that contains Wilmington.

1. The Palmer Drought Severity Index is computed by NOAA each month from the county's average temperature and precipitation, relative to the county's own climate. Zero is normal; -3 or lower is severe drought and -4 or lower extreme drought. It describes the long-term balance of moisture, not water supply or crop losses.

NOAA NCEI nClimDiv county Palmer Drought Severity Index, 1895 to September 2026, issued October 6, 2026.

Every earthquake of magnitude 4 or more within 50 miles

1. Earthquakes of magnitude 2.5 or more in the USGS Comprehensive Catalog since 1900. Within 50 miles means the epicentre lies within 50 miles of the city centre.
2. Small earthquakes were under-recorded before the modern seismic networks of the 1970s and are still missed in remote areas, so early decades read low. Magnitudes are as the catalogue reports them and mix scales (moment, local and body-wave).

USGS ANSS Comprehensive Earthquake Catalog, 1900 to present, retrieved October 30, 2026.

More event types since 1996

Costliest events since 1996

1. Sep 15, 2003Flash Flood$16.1 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Remnant moisture from Tropical Storm Henri produced copious amounts of rain during the early morning of the 15th across northern New Castle County and hit Mill Creek Hundred in the northwest part of the county the hardest. Thunderstorms with torrential downpours moved from south to north across the same areas and produced one to ten inches of rain across the region with the heaviest amounts around Hockessin. The worst flood damage occurred in the Glenville area of Mill Creek Hundred where 194 homes suffered flood damage. Numerous people were rescued from trapped vehicles. People were rescued from their flooded homes, including one person who was rescued from his roof by…

2. Sep 18, 2003High Wind, New Castle$9.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Tropical Storm Isabel caused tidal flooding up Delaware Bay, heavy rain and strong power outage producing winds. Isabel made landfall as a hurricane near Drum Inlet, North Carolina around 100 p.m. EDT on the 18th and weakened as it tracked farther inland. At one time in its life cycle, it was a powerful Category 5 hurricane when it was north of the Leewood Islands. Isabel's track took it west of Chesapeake Bay and was able to funnel water into the bay. This caused flooding along coastal areas all the way into New Castle County. Rivers and streams in New Castle County flooded from two fronts: from the heavy rain inland and also from the storm surge. The tide at Reedy Point reached…

3. Sep 16, 1999Flash Flood$8.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Hurricane Floyd battered Delaware (especially New Castle County) on September 16th and brought with it torrential rains and damaging winds. The hurricane caused widespread flash flooding as storm totals averaged around nine inches, most of which fell in a twelve hour period from the early morning through the afternoon on the 16th. Two girls (an eleven-year-old and a twelve-year-old) drowned when they were swept into a 1,500 foot culvert in Red Lion (New Castle County) during the afternoon of the 16th. An 8-year-old girl who was with them managed to pull herself from the culvert. These were the first hurricane related deaths in the state since Hazel in 1954. The highest verifiable…

4. Sep 1, 2021Flash Flood$3.6 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Widespread flash flooding occurred in New Castle County with many road closures. Several rivers and creeks in the county overflowed their banks, including the Christina River, the Red Clay Creek and the White Clay Creek. More than 200 residences were affected by the flooding.

5. Feb 9, 2010Winter Storm, New Castle$3.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   For the second time within a week a major winter storm, this one with blizzard conditions at times, affected the state of Delaware. Blizzard conditions occurred at times during the afternoon and early evening of the 10th. Accumulations averaged around one foot with the highest amounts in New Castle County. Ice accretions were less than one quarter of an inch. Two storm related deaths occurred. ||In the southern half of the state, precipitation started briefly as rain or sleet around 6 p.m. EST on the 9th. As the precipitation intensity increased, the rain and sleet changed to snow by the middle of the evening. As warmer air moved in aloft, the snow changed back to sleet and…

6. Oct 30, 2012Coastal Flood, New Castle$2.3 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Post Tropical Storm Sandy caused an estimated $5.5 million dollars of damage across the three counties in Delaware. The damage estimates from the state were broken down to $2.8 million in New Castle County, $832,000 in Kent County and $1.9 million in Sussex County. Damages were due to tidal flooding as significant wave action resulted during multiple high tide cycles, due to increasing onshore winds prior to landfall. Damages were also due in part to inland flooding caused by excessive rainfall, as up to 10 inches of rain were reported. In addition, high winds resulted in many trees and wires coming down statewide. This created 100,000 power outages and resulted in many road…

7. Feb 16, 2003Winter Storm, New Castle$1.3 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The most powerful storm to affect Delaware since the Blizzard of 1996 struck during the President's Day Weekend. Snow spread from south to north during the pre-dawn on Sunday the 16th. The heaviest snow fell during the daylight hours of the 16th. Precipitation started mixing with and changing to sleet from south to north during the evening of the 16th. In Sussex County, precipitation changed to freezing rain during the second half of the evening and even changed to plain rain toward and along the coast around midnight EST. Similar precipitation types fell overnight. Precipitation changed back to all snow before it ended during the day on the 17th in New Castle County. It remained…

8. Sep 28, 2004Tornado$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   An F2 (on the Fujita scale) tornado touched down in northern New Castle County with maximum winds estimated at 130 mph. The path length was 5.0 miles long with a maximum path width of 150 yards. The tornado touched down near and was observed at the New Castle County Airport. The northern end of the tornado track was in Elsmere. Significant damage did occur along the path of this tornado, particularly to some of the planes at the airport and industrial buildings near the airport. In addition, five persons were injured.The tornado damaged five C-130 cargo planes at the New Castle County Airport, caused thousands of pounds of jet fuel to spill and damaged hangers. It tore through the…

9. Jan 7, 1996Blizzard, New Castle$1.0 million
10. Oct 1, 2010Flood$600,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Flooding started early in the morning on October 1st. Governor Jack Markell declared a limited state of emergency in Delaware because of the flooding in Edgemoor.. The worst flood damage occurred in Edgemoor when the Shellpot Creek flooded and tore away a small bridge and gas lines on Colony Boulevard between 2 a.m. EDT and 3 a.m. EDT on the 1st and trapped about 1000 residents in their homes at the Summit Chase Colony North and Las Casas Apartments. In Christina, flooding along the Christina River forced the evacuation of about 25 families along East Main Street. Nineteen families were evacuated from the Kingsmill Mobile Home Park in Kirkwood after a small creek flooded. In…

1. Storm Events records before 1996 cover only tornadoes, thunderstorm wind and hail. Damage figures are as reported by the National Weather Service at the time, not adjusted for inflation.

NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, 1950 to 2026, issued October 26, 2026.

All-time high

103°F3 times, most recently Jul 2, 2026

All-time low

−14°F2 times, most recently Jan 21, 1985

Warmest night

82°FJul 22, 2011

Coldest day

4°FJan 19, 1994

Wettest day

8.29 inSep 16, 1999

Snowiest day

22.0 inJan 7, 1996

Hottest year

2023mean 57.8°F

Coldest year

1958mean 52.1°F

Wettest year

201861.37 in

Driest year

196524.90 in

Snowiest season

72.7 in2009-10

Station Wilmington New Castle County Airport (USW00013781), 74 ft elevation, 5.8 miles from the city centre. Daily records from 1931 to October 26, 2026; 100.0% of days in the last 30 years are complete. Records at a single station can differ from a city’s official threaded record, which may combine several stations.

NOAA NCEI Global Historical Climatology Network Daily.

Declarations for New Castle County.

This product uses the Federal Emergency Management Agency's OpenFEMA API, but is not endorsed by FEMA. The Federal Government or FEMA cannot vouch for the data or analyses derived from these data after the data have been retrieved from the Agency's website(s).

OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries, retrieved October 30, 2026. Statewide declarations are not listed.

• Tornadoes NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather database, through 2025.
• Tropical cyclones NOAA National Hurricane Center HURDAT2 (Atlantic; Northeast and Central Pacific), through 2025.
• Wildfire USGS/USFS Monitoring Trends in Burn Severity, through 2026.
• Storm events NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, through 2026.
• Flood insurance OpenFEMA NFIP Redacted Claims v3, refreshed August 4, 2026.
• Declarations OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries v2, retrieved October 30, 2026.
• Weather records NOAA NCEI Global Historical Climatology Network Daily, station USW00013781.
• River crests NOAA National Weather Service, National Water Prediction Service river gauges, retrieved October 30, 2026.
• Tide gauges NOAA CO-OPS high tide flooding counts, retrieved October 30, 2026.
• Drought NOAA NCEI nClimDiv county Palmer Drought Severity Index, through September 2026.
• Smoke NOAA NESDIS Hazard Mapping System smoke analysis, retrieved October 30, 2026.
• Earthquakes USGS ANSS Comprehensive Earthquake Catalog (ComCat), retrieved October 30, 2026.

Joins, thresholds and known limits are set out in the methodology. Found an error? Report it. Page built October 30, 2026.