
FYI Philly | Holiday nights out, ways to unwind and wines to try
By Marcus L. Chen
Advertisement · Why this ad?

The National Weather Service in Mount Holly confirmed that a tornado struck New Castle County, Delaware, and Chesterfield Township, New Jersey, Thursday afternoon. One video appears to capture a tornado moving through Claymont, Delaware. The tornado in New Jersey happened in the area of Old York Road. Details on both tornadoes including strength, path length and width and estimated wind speed will be available this afternoon. View this post on Instagram A post shared by CBS Philadelphia (@cbsphiladelphia) A line of severe thunderstorms with embedded supercells moved through the Philadelphia region Thursday, triggering tornado warnings in New Castle County, Delaware, and parts of New Jersey. The storm produced heavy rain, widespread hail in some areas and a tornado, leaving behind damage. The average number of November tornadoes across the tri-state area is zero. Only four tornadoes have been recorded to touch down in Delaware between 1810 and 2025, 15 in New Jersey and 41 in Pennsylvania. The last November tornado in Pennsylvania occurred in Allegheny County on Nov. 20, 2024. The last November tornado to occur in New Jersey was on Nov. 1, 2019, in Morris County and the last November tornado in Delaware occurred on Nov. 16, 1989. Sonesta sign damages 2 cars in Newark, Delaware The sign at the Sonesta ES Suites Wilmington/Newark on Chapman Avenue in Newark tipped over and fell on top of two cars. One of the cars damaged is a Lexus owned by a woman named April. April told CBS News Philadelphia that she was working on the second floor of the Sonesta when she heard a "boom." She didn't think it was her car at first, but is grateful no one was hurt. "I thought it was someone else's car, like a Honda. It hurts bad, and I want Lexus to know that I want a new Lexus," April said. "I am grateful that I was not in the car because I did not want this to be a tragedy to my family. … I'm grateful and appreciative that everybody was concerned about me and glad I was not in the car because normally I'm in the car." Emily Schneider is staying at the Sonesta, visiting her daughter who goes to the University of Delaware. She was inside a nearby restaurant when the storm blew through and described what she experienced. "It was crazy, especially since we know we were parked here last night and it was a couple of spaces down from where we are parked right now," Schneider said. "We saw the tree that was uprooted when we drove in. We thought maybe there was a downed power line. They have some caution tape out. They're doing some work here. We weren't really sure what it was until we came back and saw back some of the news. We didn't realize it was a tornado." The storms also blew down some fences and downed some trees and wires in the area. It's unclear whether the tornado and storm have resulted in any injuries. Storms bring heavy hail to Delaware County It wasn't just tornado damage in the Philadelphia region. A severe thunderstorm dropped about 19 inches of hail Thursday afternoon in Parkside Borough, Delaware County, according to its police department. A stretch of Edgmont Avenue, from West Forestview Road to Upland Road, was temporarily closed while crews cleared hail from the roadway. View this post on Instagram A post shared by CBS Philadelphia (@cbsphiladelphia) In Brookhaven, heavy rain and a large amount of hail from a severe thunderstorm appeared to turn a street into an icy river Thursday afternoon. The hail appeared to coat the ground and, combined with heavy rain, flow downhill. In: New Castle County New Jersey Burlington County Tornado Delaware Featured Local Savings