Winter Storm and Winter Weather in Delaware, December 23 to 24, 1998

A series of weak low pressure systems moving northeast along a slow moving cold front over the western Atlantic Ocean brought the Delmarva Peninsula its first wintry precipitation of the season. Precipitation started as snow around 5 p.m. EST on the 23rd in Kent and New Castle Counties and as sleet in Sussex County. The precipitation changed over to sleet and freezing rain across the central part of the state during the evening of the 23rd and then to mainly freezing rain across Sussex County. The heaviest precipitation occurred before midnight. Light snow lingered through the early morning of the 24th in New Castle County. A mixture of freezing drizzle and sleet fell through the morning of the 24th in central and southern Delaware before the latest low pressure system pulled far enough offshore to end the precipitation. The heaviest snowfall accumulations occurred in New Castle County where precipitation fell mainly as snow and averaged between 2 and 4 inches. Farther south accumulations were 1.0 inch or less. The greatest accretion of ice (between 1/4 and 1/3 of an inch) was in the northern half of Sussex County. This first wintry precipitation of the season caused many accidents, mainly fender benders during the evening of the 23rd. In New Castle County, there were 65 reported crashes between 4 p.m. EST and midnight EST on the 23rd. Most occurred between Smyrna and Odessa. The trip from Wilmington to Dover that normally takes one hour, took four hours. United States Route 13 was closed as vehicles were cleared from the road. Fourth Street in Wilmington was also closed. Minor accidents also occurred throughout Kent and Sussex County with the greatest concentration around the Georgetown area.