Winter Weather — Inland Sussex, Delaware

2014-02-18 · Inland Sussex, Delaware

Wider weather episode

Snow in New Castle County and a wintry mix in Kent and Sussex Counties during the morning of the 18th caused slippery and hazardous traveling conditions on untreated roadways. Delaware State Police responded to approximately 65 accidents, 14 of them with injuries as well as about 25 disabled vehicles. Most of the disabled vehicles were vehicles that skidded off of roadways. The majority of the accidents were in Kent and New Castle Counties, but the majority of the injuries were in Sussex County. Snowfall averaged 1 to 2 inches in Kent and New Castle Counties and less than one inch in Sussex County. Ice accumulations were less than one tenth of an inch in Kent and Sussex Counties. Many school districts had delayed openings as did the city of Wilmington.

In New Castle County, snow fell between 2 a.m. and 7 a.m. EST on the 18th. In Kent and Sussex Counties, the snow started around 2 a.m. EST on the 18th also, but changed briefly to sleet and then freezing rain between 5 a.m. EST and 6 a.m. EST that morning. Precipitation transitioned to plain rain around 6 a.m. EST in Sussex County, but continued to fall as freezing rain in Kent County until it ended around 730 a.m. EST on the 18th.

Representative snowfall totals included 2.3 inches in Talleyville (New Castle County), 2.0 inches at the New Castle County Airport, Newport and Newark (New Castle County), 1.8 inches in Glasgow (New Castle County), 1.6 inches in Dover (Kent County) and 0.5 inches in Bridgeville and Ellendale in Sussex County.

The snow was caused by an occluded front that moved into West Virginia during the early morning of the 18th. A new low pressure system formed on a warm front over the Delmarva Peninsula around sunrise on the 18th and then tracked northeast reaching the central New Jersey coast in the middle of the morning.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 499391. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.