Winter Weather — Inland Sussex, Delaware

2013-03-25 · Inland Sussex, Delaware

Wider weather episode

A nor'easter that moved off the Delaware coast on the 25th dropped 1 to 4 inches of snow across the state with the highest snowfall in New Castle County. Most of the snow fell during the day and had difficulty accumulating when the intensity decreased later in the morning through the afternoon and early evening. Nevertheless, the heaviest snow fell during the morning commute and caused slushy roadways and numerous traffic accidents. Delaware State Police responded to nearly 100 traffic accidents, the most in Kent County. There were also nearly 20 disabled vehicles and 5 accidents resulting in injuries in Sussex County. A school bus crashed (without injuries) near U.S. Route 13 in Seaford. Dozens of schools were closed for the day or announced plans to close early and cancel afternoon and evening activities. The precipitation started as rain (briefly in New Castle County) before sunrise on the 25th and changed over to snow from north to south between 5 a.m. and 8 a.m. EDT. The snow fell at its heaviest during the rest of the morning. While snow fell during the afternoon, it did not accumulate efficiently. As precipitation intensity lessened, the snow changed to light rain during the late afternoon and early evening of the 25th and the rain ended later that evening.

Representative snowfall included 4.3 inches in Glasglow (New Castle County), 3.3 inches in Hockessin (New Castle County), 3.1 inches in Greenville (New Castle County), 2.8 inches in Viola (Kent County) and Odessa (New Castle County), 2.5 inches in Magnolia (Kent County), 2.4 inches in Newark (New Castle County), 2.3 inches in Dover (Kent County), 1.5 inches in Bridgeville (Sussex County), 1.3 inches in Ellendale (Sussex County), 1.1 inches at the New Castle County Airport and 0.8 inches in Georgetown (Sussex County).

The low pressure system responsible for the late season snow moved from Alabama on the morning of the 24th northeast and passed just east of Norfolk, Virginia at 8 a.m. EDT on the 25th. It proceeded to move northeast and by 8 p.m. EDT on the 25th it was about 175 miles east of the New Jersey coast.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 439953. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.