Kent County

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond the county. Deaths recorded within Kent County: 2.
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.

Every large fire

1. Large fires mapped by the Monitoring Trends in Burn Severity program since 1984: 1,000 acres or more in the West, 500 or more in the East. Prescribed burns are excluded. Acres here are the part of each perimeter inside this place.

Monitoring Trends in Burn Severity (USGS and U.S. Forest Service), 1984 to 2026.

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.

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

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.

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 county boundary (or inside the county).
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 18, 2003Tropical Storm, Kent$8.5 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…

2. Feb 9, 2010Winter Storm, Kent$1.8 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…

3. Jun 26, 1998Thunderstorm Wind$1.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A severe thunderstorm blasted the Dover area with hurricane force gusts and caused about $1.5 million dollars in property damage. No serious injuries were reported. The wind gusted to 80 mph at Dover Air Force Base. Seventeen homes, four apartment buildings, one commercial building and one townhouse were damaged. The northwest section of Dover bore the brunt of the severe thunderstorm. The thunderstorm peeled two-thirds of the roof off the Whatcoat Village Apartments. The families were evacuated and the building condemned. A large part of the roof was also peeled from the Wedgewood Apartments. In nearby West Dover 100-year-old oaks were uprooted and sheared. A multi-story addition…

4. Feb 16, 2003Winter Storm, Kent$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…

5. Oct 29, 2012Coastal Flood, Kent$700,000
   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…

6. Jul 12, 2004Flash Flood$625,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A series of thunderstorms with torrential downpours caused flooding from Clayton and Smyrna southeast through Dover. Hardest hit was Smyrna which declared a state of emergency after 11.10 inches of rain fell. This represents approximately a once in five hundred year storm. Major roads were closed, hundreds of homes were flooded, drivers were stranded and had to be rescued, horses were rescued, fields and yards became ponds, wells became compromised and over 100 people were evacuated. Both U.S. Route 13 and Delaware State Route 1 were closed near Smyrna. One lane in each direction of U.S. Route 13 was reopened at 8 p.m. EDT on the 12th and Delaware State Route 1 was reopened at 10…

7. Jan 6, 1996Winter Storm, Kent$500,000
8. Jun 19, 1996Flash Flood$300,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Slow moving thunderstorms with torrential downpours washed out two bridges and caused widespread street and highway flooding in the northern part of the county. Many roads were closed. Dover reported 3.11 inches of rain. One bridge washed out near Cheswold. Massey's Mill Pond Bridge was also washed out overnight on the 19th. Workers worked overnight to save the U.S. Route 13 bridge at Garrison's Lake. The lake itself started flooding at 7 p.m. EDT on the 19th. Four persons were rescued from flooded cars through 7 p.m. EDT on the 19th. Flooding also forced the evacuation of a mobile home park near Hartley. No serious injuries were reported.

9. Sep 16, 1999Flash Flood$224,000
   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…

10. Jun 10, 2011Lightning$200,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Lightning struck a Harrington home in the Farmington area on Staytonsville Road near Wolf���s Trail End Drive. The ensuing fire caused about $200,000 in damage. Four fire companies battled the blaze and the residents were evacuated without injury. One firefighter was injured battling the blaze.

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

104°F5 times, most recently Jul 5, 2026

All-time low

−11°FFeb 9, 1934

Warmest night

85°FAug 15, 1908

Coldest day

11°F3 times, most recently Jan 21, 1985

Wettest day

8.50 inJul 13, 1975

Snowiest day

25.0 inFeb 19, 1979

Hottest year

1991mean 59.6°F

Coldest year

1940mean 53.5°F

Wettest year

201865.90 in

Driest year

201220.49 in

Snowiest season

65.6 in2009-10

Station Dover (USC00072730), 30 ft elevation, 3.2 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1893 to October 27, 2026; 94.0% 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.

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.

Neighbouring counties

• 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 USC00072730.
• River crests NOAA National Weather Service, National Water Prediction Service river gauges, 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.