Snow: Love it or hate it, Delmarva has plenty

Despite the treacherous weather Saturday, Daisey’s Healthy Hair Salon was open along North Salisbury Boulevard, and two of its chairs were occupied.

Owner Daisey Batson said she doesn’t let a little weather come between her and her customers.

“Make sure you let them know that, ladies, if you need your hair done on a rainy, sunny, snowy, sleety, tornado-y, flooded day, Daisey will be open,” she said with a laugh. “As long as they’re coming out, we’re coming out with them.”

For her part, Tina Waters drove from Frankford, Delaware, for her appointment. She had to drive 25 mph the whole way and missed one of her turns, but she made it.

“I gotta keep my hair done,” Waters said.

Sunday Update: Advisory until 10 a.m.

Snow began falling on Delmarva on Saturday and was expected to finish with accumulation totals north of 8 inches.

Snow is expected to end between 6 and 7 p.m. Saturday between north of Salisbury and Tidewater, Virginia, says the National Weather Service. Total accumulation expected: 8-12 inches of snow – or more. The storm should diminish in west-to-east direction.

Although the heaviest snowfall was to taper by mid-afternoon Saturday, the weather service warned of continued dangerous travel and hazardous conditions into Sunday and Monday, with blizzard-like conditions for a period in some coastal sections.

A bone-chilling, 15-degree low overnight Saturday means that despite plowing, untreated roads were expected to remain snow-covered and especially dangerous in below-freezing temperatures. Daytime temperatures reached the low 20s.

Sunday’s high of 25 degrees under sunny skies drops to a whopping 9 degrees at night.

The storm set no single-day snowfall record. In Princess Anne for instance, 20 inches of snow fell Feb. 19, 1979, an amount the weather service said was about average for snowfall records. The region's average annual snowfall the last 30 years is about 9.3 inches, which is 13.1 inches fewer than the national average of 22.4 inches, the weather service also said.

Dylan Assadi and William Hall, workers for a property management company, did their work by hand, scraping snow shovels along a concrete sidewalk in front of the new Aspen Dental office off North Salisbury Boulevard. Both knew their efforts, though rigorous, were in vain.

“It’s not that bad, but there’s so much snow we’ll have to come back later,” Hall said. “This is just a rough one.”

Though not technically a blizzard, the snowstorm felt like one to Assadi.“This is the most snow I’ve seen in Salisbury in a while,” he said.

Batson said the severity of the snowfall caught her by surprise. When she initially looked outside in the pre-dawn darkness, she saw only a dusting of snow. By the time she got on the road for her commute from Delmar, Delaware, she realized her error.

“This is one of the worst ones I’ve seen yet,” Batson said. “I usually can come on the highway about 50 mph, but today, this morning, I was driving about 30 and I drive a GMC Yukon.”

For many, including Batson, the snowstorm seemed to be the heaviest the region had weathered since 2010’s “Snowmageddon.”

During a two-week span, three separate storms battered the Delmarva Peninsula, dumping in succession 10 inches, more than a foot and then another foot of snow between Jan. 30 and Feb. 10.

A winter storm warning remained in effect for the region until 1 a.m. Sunday, says the National Weather Service which warns of winds gusting to 30 mph, and in coastal sections, even higher. Subsequent power outages could result while daytime temperatures were expected to stay below freezing, in the low-to- mid-20s, the national service also said.

“A winter storm warning means significant amounts of snow, sleet and ice are expected or occurring,” explains the weather service. “Strong winds are also possible. This will make travel very hazardous or impossible.”

Either stay in, or embrace the snow

Many businesses closed for this snowy Saturday, but there is at least one chain store that consumers can expect to be open come hell or high water – Royal Farms.

“We are always open,” said a clerk at the Princess Anne location late Friday night when asked if the convenience store would open Saturday as a foot of snow threatened the region. “We’ll be open.”

Bethany Beach buzzed with some locals who wanted to get out to see the first real snowstorm of the winter.

Tom Litzau and his wife had just stopped and got their morning coffee at Wawa before braving the chilling winds at the boardwalk in Bethany Beach.

“This kind of snow is perfect because you can clean our steps with a broom,” Litzau said. “This is perfect. What a great way to put the Christmas stuff behind us.”

Litzau was worried about the roads, but he felt safe in his four-wheel drive vehicle during the early morning hours of powdery snow.

But, Litzau said, he was worried about other drivers because the area is not used to this much winter weather.

It didn’t slow the couple as they drove down Atlantic Avenue to the boardwalk – a perfect morning, he said.

“Getting our coffee, going up to the boardwalk to check it out, click on the fire (later) and life is good,” Litzau said.

Sam Irwin moved to Bethany Beach two years ago from Pennsylvania.

He wanted to get away from the harsh winter weather. On Saturday in Bethany, there was no escape from the powdery snow blanketing the beach town.

Irwin wanted to experience what it was like on the boardwalk and beach in the snow – something he has never seen.

“It’s different, weird but cool,” he said. “Thought he would be able to see the ocean better.”

But the sand and snow whipping across anything standing on the beach didn’t make it a pleasurable experience.

Irwin and his family gutted it out for a few minutes at least around 9 a.m., and then they were greeted by another set of companions who could not have been happier rolling around in the snowy sand.

A black poodle Louie and his 5-month-old golden doodle friend, Otis, flew around the beach and boardwalk chasing one another.

Jean Athan, of Ocean View, brought the dogs to the beach because it seemed like the spot to burn off the pups’ energy.

“Well, one of them is a puppy and he’s 5 months old, and I don’t know if any of you have might of experienced having two dogs cooped up in your house for a whole day,” she said. “I want them to sleep for the rest of the day.”

Athan has lived in Ocean View for 13 years and the normal 10-minute drive to the beach took 20 this morning because of the dense snow and road conditions.

But it’s not the worst that she has seen in her time on the coast.

“Oh gosh, I’d say this is one of the worst but not the worst,” Athan said. “Because this snow nice and light and it’s easy to deal with.”

But there was one positive to her venture out.

“Oh, the dogs love it,” she said.

Elsewhere in Maryland, folks over at Food Lion supermarket in Princess Anne waited for a 10 a.m. delivery of more milk. Crowds at the store late Friday and early Saturday morning bought all the milk, although there were other staples as bread and eggs still on hand mid-morning Saturday for streams of shoppers.

“We are very busy,” a store worker said about 9:30 a.m. “People are coming in for mostly peanut butter, bread and eggs. We ran out of milk and we’re waiting for the truck coming today.”

Tammy Warren is prepared to work overtime Saturday at the Royal Farms convenience store in Princess Anne.

Top-selling items: “Coffee and gas,” Warren said about 9 a.m. Saturday.

“I got here at 5 a.m. when it wasn’t as much snow on the ground,” said the customer service leader. “I’m supposed to get off at 1 p.m., but I can’t get out from here now and nobody may be able to come to work now, so I may be here through the storm.”

In Ocean City, the billowing winds and near-white out conditions left the roads all but barren during the sleepy Saturday morning hours. Despite the blistering cold and snowfall, some residents didn't see what the fuss was all about.

"This is nothing when you look at what the western shore, Pennsylvania and the Baltimore area get," resident and veteran Ray Smith said.

Smith said the biggest danger was not in the snow itself, but in the people not keen on commuting in the slick conditions.

"We just have to be safe," Smith said. "Yeah, it's cold, but the problem is a lot of people here have enough trouble just driving in the rain."

Fellow Ocean City resident Jeffrey Taylor echoed Smith's sentiment, saying the snow was modest compared to what other places receive.

"They shut everything down here like it's the end of the world," Taylor said. "But we've had storms like this before, I remember us getting a couple feet three years or so ago."

Taylor said that, having traveled extensively around the globe, the type of blizzards he's seen dwarf the storm hitting Delmarva.

"There are places where you'll get two, three feet in a couple hours, those are real storms," Taylor said.

Taylor, with a smile, looked off into the barrage of snowflakes drifting south down Coastal Highway.

"It's a beautiful day if you ask me," Taylor said.

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Work and play

Early Saturday morning, while much of Delmarva was still in the warm comforts of their homes, Mike Murphy was working.

While the snow and wind swirled around him, Murphy, owner of a Chincoteague Landscaping company, was out in a Bobcat machine, scraping snow from parking lots of Virginia businesses. He planned to keep it up though the day.

Does he like snow?

"Yeah, at times," he said, hood up and face covered to protect him from the elements.

Chris Carmine hasn’t been home since Friday.

His worked started in Sussex County at 11 p.m. Friday prepping for the storm on Saturday, he said as he cleared a Food Lion parking lot in Selbyville off of Route 54.

For Carmine, he doesn’t know when it’ll be over.

“You just keep going,” Carmine said, with an exhausted chuckle, as he got back into his truck to head to another spot.

Travelling around Sussex, Carmine noticed more cars out than he thought there would be.

It was the type of snow in coastal Delaware that required a shovel in the morning and then another in the afternoon around 12:30 p.m. as the wind covered driveways in many neighborhoods.

But it required no break for a trio of kids in one of the neighborhood behind the Food Lion.

Walker Weis, 13, Jonathan Mitchell, 12, and Ryan Kilroy, 13, played at a small jungle gym, diving off slides and into the fluffy snow.

They tried having a snowball fight, to no avail, as the powder exploded into the air after each snow.

Mitchell said he’s seen more snow than this at his young age, but he’ll take it.

The 12-year-old is hoping his luck doesn’t run out over the weekend, too.

“It’s awesome,” he said. “I hope we don’t have school Monday. That be great, too.”

While the Selbyville area accumulated its fair share of snow, that didn’t stop one resident from trying out his brand new Jeep.

Mike Rogers and his 2-year-old golden retriever Elsa were out and about Saturday afternoon. Coming from the Bayside community on Route 54, Rogers stopped to pick up a friend to go see the waves.

Even with his days living in Baltimore prior to the coastal town, Rogers said this is a lot of snow.

The most he remembers having since his move two years ago.

“We had that four inches and that was awesome because she loves the snow, so this is great,” he said. “I love it more for the dog than for me, actually.”

Rehoboth Beach resident Terry O'Brien went for a walk to see the winter wonderland and thought he'd go to the library. When he saw the first footprints to the door were his, he knew he was out of luck.

"I wasn't optimistic, but I had to check anyway," said O'Brien, who retired to Rehoboth two and a half years ago."I haven't seen a lot of snow like this here, but it's quite beautiful."

Stay off the roads

Officials Delmarva-wide, asked residents to limit their travel until roads were in better shape.

Several areas, including Salisbury, have officially implemented snow emergency plans to limit traffic to allow roads to be cleared.

The City of Salisbury issued a Winter Storm State of Emergency on Saturday afternoon, as crews worked to plow seven snow emergency routes.

The declaration makes it unlawful to park on a city street designated as a snow emergency route. Impacted streets are clearly marked with signposts.

The declaration also authorizes law enforcement agencies to take possession of, tow and impound a vehicle that is parked, stalled or left unattended on a street that is designated as a snow emergency route. Vehicle owners also can be fined and must pay costs associated with towing or storage before vehicles can be reclaimed, in accordance to the Municipal Code of the City of Salisbury.

In the resort region, poor visibility early Saturday caused a few vehicles to slide into ditches, although Maryland State Police in Berlin said there were no serious accidents or injuries.

“It’s been fairly quiet,” said David Brininger, a dispatcher for the agency. “Visibility was terrible early this morning.  They didn’t have accidents, but people were sliding off the road into ditches.”

At least 6 inches of snow had fallen in the Worcester County region around Berlin by noontime.

“It’s still snowing,” he said.

Heavy snowfall and icy conditions canceled Saturday morning Greyhound buses at the Tri-County Terminal off Route 50 east of Salisbury, as well as Shore Transit commuter buses.

“Shore Transit will re-evaluate the safety of starting to operate buses when the snow stops falling, and will run the fixed route buses as the roads are safe,” according to a Saturday statement from spokesman Brad Bellacicco.

With significant snowfall accumulating in Sussex County, Delaware Gov. Jack Markell has issued a limited state of emergency and level 1 driving warning for Delaware's southernmost county effective at 8 a.m. Saturday.

According to state law, a “Level 1 Driving Warning” means that any person operating a motor vehicle on Delaware roadways must exercise extra caution.

All nonessential employees, public and private, are encouraged not to operate a motor vehicle unless there is a significant safety, health, or business reason to do so.

With snow accumulation forecasted throughout the state, the Governor also urges all Delawareans to drive cautiously as conditions can result in poor visibility and icy roads.

The News Journal contributed to this story.