High Wind in Delaware, January 7 to 8, 1996

The Blizzard of '96, the second coined "STORM OF THE CENTURY" of this decade, brought record breaking snow to the northern half of Delaware and paralyzed the state for a couple of days and caused most municipalities to exceed their annual snow budgets during this one storm. Its high winds caused 5,000 homes to lose power, suspended operations on the Cape May-Lewes Ferry for five days, caused directly or indirectly 10 deaths and numerous injuries and produced moderate flooding with moderate to severe beach erosion along the shore. All the deaths were caused by persons shoveling, using snow blowers or trying to walk through the snow. The number of deaths and injuries was reduced by the storm starting before dawn on Sunday with blizzard conditions in full force in northern areas during the afternoon. The storm formed in the Gulf of Mexico on the morning of the 6th, moved south of Alabama the evening of the 6th, reached Savannah Georgia the morning of the 7th, Cape Hatteras the evening of the 7th, moved just to the west of the Delaware Bay Buoy the morning of the 8th before reaching the Southern New England Coastal Waters the evening of the 8th. This was a classic track for a Nor'easter. Precipitation was mainly snow in New Castle County; fell as snow and sleet through sunset on the 7th, then some freezing rain the night of the 7th before changing back to snow before ending on the 8th in Kent County; it started as snow, but changed to sleet and freezing rain and then rain for a while Sunday evening (7th) before ending as snow the morning of the 8th in Sussex County. Snow began falling around Midnight in Sussex County and spread through the rest of the state during the predawn hours on the 7th and became heavy at times by sunrise. Blizzard conditions developed during the afternoon and evening in New Castle County as strong northeast winds developed around the intensifying low. Precipitation was lighter after midnight on the 8th, before some wraparound snow returned during the daylight hours.A state of emergency was declared by Governor Carper on the 7th, was replaced by a limited state of emergency the morning of the 9th and was not lifted completely until the evening of the 10th. The state was also declared a disaster area with storm related costs topping 4 million dollars, $725,000 within Wilmington. This damage estimate did not include the amount of sand lost by erosion. Some colleges started opening on Wednesday the 10th with some elementary schools opening on the 11th. The National Guard helped with snow removal and four wheel drive vehicles were used to transport medical personnel and patients to and from hospitals. The high winds and powdery snow made it very difficult for road crews to keep roadways open. Drifts reached around 6 feet. The weight of the snow caused several building collapses, one of the worst was the roof collapse of the Talleyville Shopping Center on the 10th.Snowfall accumulations averaged 18 to 24 inches in New Castle County, 12 to 20 inches in Kent County and 6 to 16 inches in Sussex County with the highest amounts well inland. The 22.7 inches of snow that fell at the New Castle County Airport set a new 24 hour snowfall and all-time single storm snow record. Other accumulations from around the state included 24 inches in Odessa and Prices Corner, 22 inches in Middletown and Newark, 20 inches in Pennyhill and Smyrna, 18 inches in Newark and Harrington, 11.5 inches in Georgetown, 10 inches in Lewes and Bridgeville and 8 inches in Dewey Beach. In addition to the heavy snow, wind gusts reached hurricane force along the coast during the evening of the 7th. An 84 mph gust was recorded at the Pilot Tower at Cape Henlopen and wind gusts reached 60 mph in Bethany Beach. The strong winds helped topple power lines in Sussex County and the freezing rain caused some power outages in Kent County. The Delaware Electric Cooperative reported about 5,000 homes without power mainly between 7 pm and midnight on the 7th. The wind was strong enough to overturn a tractor trailer in Sussex County. While accumulations were lighter along the shore, the strong northeast flow around the low produced moderate tidal flooding around the high tide the evening of the 7th. Tides were three to four feet above normal. Luckily this did not coincide with spring tides or the higher of the two high tides for the day. Dunes were breached in Dewey Beach, South Bethany Beach and along "the curve" just north of Fenwick Island. In Dewey Beach there was a washover onto Delaware State Route 1. Debris clogged the roadway. Flooding from both the ocean and Assawoman Bay closed both Delaware State Routes 1 and 54. Tidal flooding from Assawoman Bay flooded side streets on Fenwick Island and South Bethany Beach. Two feet of water was reported along side streets in Bethany Beach. Northwest winds Monday morning prevented tidal flooding from getting worse. The worst problem was the severe beach erosion, especially on the ocean side of Sussex County. In Dewey Beach, 75 percent of a $3 million dollar beach replenishment project was washed away. In South Bethany the erosion rivaled the January 1992 storm. In Bethany Beach a $23,000 plastic mesh fence was ruined. Seven staircases and two wave bulkheads were damaged. The sea wall in Rehobeth Beach was damaged and a set of stairs were washed away. The state was declared a disaster area on the 16th.