Winter Storm — New Castle, Delaware

2007-02-13 to 2007-02-14 · New Castle, Delaware

Wider weather episode

An area of low pressure tracked across southeastern Canada during the 12th, which brought an arctic front across the Mid Atlantic region late on the 12th. As this occurred, a strong area of high pressure located across central Canada built down into the Northeast, allowing very cold air to spill southward ultimately leading to what is known as cold air damming. This occurs east of the mountains down through the Mid Atlantic states. Meanwhile, a Pacific storm slammed onto the California coast during the 11th and as it moved eastward, a new area of low pressure developed across southeastern Colorado and the Texas Panhandle. This storm became impressive as it moved into the Ohio Valley during the 13th. However as additional energy moved into the eastern part of the country, a new area of low pressure developed near the North Carolina coast late on the 13th. This allowed mainly light snow to overspread the region from south to north during the early morning hours of the 13th. As the secondary area of low pressure became more organized to our south, moisture began to fill in across North Carolina and Virginia and this moved northward. The arctic front that slipped through the state on the 12th was positioned across the southern Delmarva and this began a northward jog during the night of the 13th and the morning of the 14th. The intensifying area of low pressure tracked very near southern Delaware and then slid close to the New Jersey Shore during the morning of the 14th. This system continued to intensify as it moved into New England during the afternoon and evening of the 14th. The upper-level system then passed overhead during the evening of the 14th, with the entire system pretty much a memory by late in the evening of the 14th. The precipitation came to an end across the state between 7 PM and 9:30 PM EST.

Snow began from south to north between 6 AM EST and 7 AM EST on the 13th. There was a lull in the precipitation during the evening hours of the 13th, however the precipitation became widespread overnight and during the early morning hours of the 14th. As some warmer air began to move in above the surface, the snow mixed with and changed to sleet and freezing rain between 9 AM and 12 PM EST in Kent and Sussex Counties, but not until 5 PM EST in New Castle County. The mixed precipitation changed to plain rain during the evening hours of the 13th across most of Kent and Sussex Counties, and sleet and freezing rain continued across New Castle County. This caused a fair amount of icing across New Castle County with lesser amounts across Kent and Sussex Counties. However, slippery roads still occurred across most of Sussex and Kent Counties due to the earlier snow and then some freezing rain and sleet that added a glaze.

In New Castle County a Red Cross shelter was set up at the Read Middle School on the 14th for those who had no heat. State offices in the county were closed on the 14th because of the icy conditions and power outages. Gusty winds and ice combined to be the primary factor for most of the power interruptions, according to the electrical officials. The ice produced significant damage to trees and telephone poles. In Meadowbrook Farms South, the ice destroyed a resident's pear trees to the point where they were unsalvageable. A tractor-trailer overturned on Delaware 1 North near Boyds Corner around 7 AM on the 14th, closing the highway until 2:45 PM on the 14th. The snow and ice caused problems into the 16th as well with 15 reports of vehicles sustaining damage as a result of snow and ice flying off of cars and trucks. Overall, 77,724 customers lost power throughout the county during the storm at one point, with most outages occurring across the northern portion of the county. Slippery conditions on the 14th caused a DART bus to collide with a tractor-trailer on U.S. 13 north of Wilmington that sent four people to Christiana Hospital. All were treated and released.

A 48-year old homeless woman died during the early morning hours of the 14th. She had been living in a makeshift tent near a New Castle County Wal-Mart store. It was unsure if her death was directly related to the inclement weather, however foul played was ruled out.

In Kent County, State police reported 68 vehicle accidents due to slippery conditions between 3 PM and 8 PM on the 13th. At 2 PM on the 13th, the state Department of Transportation closed the Smyrna Rest Area due to a power outage. As a result, the rest area did not have electricity, heat or water. In Sussex County, state police reported 72 vehicle accidents due to slippery conditions between 3 PM and 8 PM on the 13th.

Some snow/sleet accumulations included 3.1 inches at the New Castle County Airport in Wilmington (New Castle County), 2.1 inches in Hockessin (New Castle County), 1.0 inch in Dover (Kent County), and about an inch in parts of Sussex County. Ice accumulations reached a quarter of an inch in New Castle County.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 16924. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.