Watch a timelapse of people sledding at Glasgow Park in Glasgow Wednesday. Daniel Sato/The News Journal
A spring nor’easter is going to leave a slushy mess in its wake.
Beginning as light snow and icy rain throughout the state late Tuesday, the fourth nor’easter to hit the East Coast in four weeks dumped significant snow on northern parts of the state, but did not have the perfect timing to turn into the storm some forecasters thought the First State might see.
Tuesday afternoon forecasts calling for up to 18 inches for northern New Castle County and 2-3 inches of snow per hour fell a little short as the two-day storm strengthened on Wednesday.
“It’s a very complicated system,” said Delaware State Climatologist Daniel Leathers. “You have to get the perfect timing between the lower and upper atmosphere working together to get an exceptionally strong storm. The timing may be a little off.”
The two-day storm – a swirling mass of two low-pressure systems covering about one-third of the eastern United States – dropped heavy, wet snow on much of the state north of Dover, while most of Sussex County had little more than a dusting before 5 p.m.
In Milford, the storm picked up its pace around dinner time, with heavy, wet flakes flying sideways in the wind.
Leathers said a lot of the snow in the southern portion of the state may not be sticking because of higher road and ground temperatures.
And now that spring has arrived and the sun is high in the sky, most of the snow the First State did get will likely melt in a day or so, Leathers said.
Snow begins to fall on day one of a two day snow event passing through Delaware. Jennifer Corbett/The News Journal
“That’s something for people to look forward to,” he said. “It’s unusual to have a storm this late in March, but it’s not unprecedented. Spring has to be coming around the corner pretty soon.”
People throughout the state woke up on Wednesday to find extreme predictions of heavy snowfall had not yet come to pass. Most flakes did not start falling until about 10 a.m. and continued throughout the day and into the evening.
On Wednesday morning, it was too icy to go outside, but New Castle County parent Stephanie Hart had a way to keep the kids occupied.
"Netflix," she said. "Lot of Netflix. I can't complain about snow days because I can work from home very easily."
By 6 p.m. Wednesday, the Blackbird area had received the most snow, where the Delaware Environmental Observing System recorded the maximum of 5.9 inches at the monitoring site.
On Wednesday at least a dozen school districts throughout the state told students and staff to stay home, while government offices in Kent and New Castle counties were closed for business. Some schools also announced Thursday closures as snow continued falling.
The severe forecasts also prompted Gov. John Carney to issue a state of emergency and mobilize the Delaware National Guard – including soldiers, Humvees, a wrecker in Wilmington and tactical vehicles down south. A low-level driving warning also was issued for Kent and New Castle counties, where all evening bus routes were canceled.
Parents and others were glad school administrators and public officials were being cautious.
"Appreciate they made the decisions early for the safety of the children," Ronnie Williams, who is running for a spot on the Colonial school board, said on Facebook. "But not too excited for another day off as I think they have exhausted the allocation that's built-in for snow days."
In Sussex, the worst has come from wind and waves, but additional damage from the late-night high tide will need to be assessed Thursday.
“It would appear as if we have been fortunate enough that the forecast wasn’t quite as bad,” Joe Thomas, director of the Sussex County Emergency Operations Center, said on Wednesday afternoon. “All in all, we’re in pretty good shape compared to what we thought.”
But strong north-northeast winds – gusting at nearly 40 mph along the Atlantic coast – along with waves up to 8 feet crashing on the shores have led to some beach erosion in vulnerable places like Bethany Beach.
In Bethany, the beach and dune system has never fully recovered from a January 2016 nor’easter. The town, along with South Bethany and Fenwick Island, is slated for a beach nourishment project by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers starting in May, said Michael Powell, the state Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control’s flood program manager.
“We did not have significant impacts in a lot of areas, and Bethany was just more vulnerable than other locations,” he said. However, the ocean washed right up to the dune line in many places along the coast. Some minor dune damage also occurred to the dunes at the north end of the Boardwalk in Rehoboth Beach.
“We didn’t get out to the bay beaches today, but I’m told they made out pretty well,” he said. Any additional damages will heavily rely on the late-night tide, as well as the direction and strength of overnight winds.
Along with strong winds, the heavy, wet snow was difficult to shovel and weighed heavier on trees and power lines.
On Wednesday at 6 p.m., Delmarva Power reported 83 outages affecting more than 3,500 customers, mostly between Middletown and Smyrna.
Airlines had canceled more than 4,390 U.S. flights Wednesday afternoon, according to flight tracker FlightAware.com. That number was expected to rise significantly.
Newark Liberty International in Newark, New Jersey, had the most cancellations Wednesday afternoon – 969 flights, or 74 percent of its total, according to FlightAware.com.
Each of this month's previous three nor'easters resulted in more than 3,000 cancellations. In total, more than 10,000 flights were canceled because of March weather, according to FlightAware. It's been the worst March for flights since 2013, when tracking began.
The roads were not much better.
In New Castle County, state police responded to 87 crashes, five with injuries, between 2 p.m. Tuesday and 4 p.m. Wednesday. State police responded to 18 disabled vehicles and nine traffic hazards in the county during those hours.
In Kent County, state police responded to 39 roadway crashes, 10 with injuries, between 2 p.m. Tuesday and 4 p.m. Wednesday. State police responded to 15 disabled vehicles and 24 traffic hazards in the county during those hours.
State police reported five crashes, one with injuries in Sussex County as of 4 p.m. Wednesday.
The speed limit on both spans of the Delaware Memorial Bridge was reduced to 25 mph due to reduced visibility and poor driving conditions. Several back roads in Kent County closed because of fallen trees.
Flooded roads in Sussex County were minimal compared with other similar storms. After Wednesday’s first high tide, only River Road in Oak Orchard was reported to be closed because of high water. Along Del. 1 north of Dewey Beach, bay water reached the shoulder but did not get far enough to warrant any lane closures.
While the impacts of the last high tide in the lingering storm had not yet unfolded by press time, Leathers said there is some hope on the horizon.
Temperatures in the high 40s on Thursday will melt a good portion of the snow, and next week’s forecasts show a return to normal spring temperatures in the low 50s.
“There is light at the end of the tunnel,” he said. “Although this time of year is always amazing. If you get outside, even when it’s in the 40s, and stand in the sun, it feels pretty good.”
Staff reporters Meredith Newman, Jessica Bies and Josephine Peterson contributed to this story.
As snow began to accumulate Wednesday morning across Delaware, state workers were told they could go home early. 3/21/18 Jerry Smith & Jason Minto/The News Journal
Watch a timelapse of people sledding at Glasgow Park in Glasgow Wednesday. Daniel Sato/The News Journal
Snow fall around Greenville and Elsmere. Jennifer Corbett/The News Journal
Raw video: Snow fall in Dover Jason Minto/The News Journal/USA TODAY
The Delaware National Guard began preparing Wednesday to help the state with any ice, snow, or flooding issues that may arise during this latest nor'easter. 3/21/18 John J. Jankowski Jr. & Damian Giletto
Snow started to fall from the nor'easter passing over Delaware Wednesday morning. Jennifer Corbett/The News Journal
Traffic flows on I-95 North at about 10am Wednesday. Daniel Sato/The News Journal
Residents in Trolley Square spend the morning chipping ice of vehicles from nor'easter. Jennifer Corbett/The News Journal
Delaware braces for the coming storm as the fourth nor'easter is forecast to drop snow totals in New Castle County around 12-18 inches, Kent County could see 6-8 inches and Sussex County may see 4-6 inches. Suchat Pederson/The News Journal
A nor'easter on the first full day of spring could dump as much as a foot of snow in parts of Delaware on Wednesday. Jerry Habraken, Jennifer Corbett & Damian Giletto/The News Journal
Snow sends state workers home early
Timelapse of sledding at Glasgow Park
Raw snow video Greenville and Elsmere
Raw video: Snow fall in Dover
Raw Video: Delaware National Guard to aid in snowstorm
Snow begins to fall raw video
Raw video: Morning traffic flows on I-95
Motorist chipped off first round of nor'easter
Delaware braces for coming snowstorm
Freezing rain to change to all snow on Wednesday