Sleet in Delaware, March 4 to 5, 2001

An intensifying low pressure system brought a wintry mix of precipitation to New Castle County on the 4th and 5th. Precipitation began as rain across the region around daybreak on the 4th. As precipitation intensity increased and a high pressure system built into northern New England, a mixture of rain, sleet and snow fell across the county during the afternoon and night. Toward daybreak on the 5th, enough cold air had moved south to change the rain to freezing rain, especially across the northern half of the county. As colder air moved in aloft, the freezing rain and sleet changed to all snow for several hours around midday on the 5th. As the low retrograded a bit on Tuesday the 6th, another period of light snow or flurries moved through the county during the daytime hours. Throughout this event, ground temperatures were relatively warm and the snow had a difficult time accumulating. Total accumulations were generally an inch or less.The low pressure system developed over the western Gulf of Mexico on the 3rd. By the morning of the 4th, the surface low had moved northeast into eastern Tennessee. The low continued to move northeast and was over the Delmarva coastal waters on the morning of the 5th. It then began to intensify more rapidly as it moved toward Cape Cod. An upper level low then captured the surface system and dragged it westward (retrograded) toward the coast on the 6th before it headed east for good on the 7th.