Downstate Delaware slammed with 10 inches of snow

The first major storm of the season slammed into southern Delaware on Saturday bringing 10 inches of snow and winds up to 35 mph. Drivers endured little to no visibility and steadily growing snowbanks, causing dozens of vehicles to spin out through the day.

Coastal residents who stayed home Saturday may have to wait until Sunday evening to dig out their vehicles as snowplow crews, which began at 2 a.m. Saturday, focused their limited resources on primary highways. Many major roads remained treacherous into the night.

“After the snowfall end, (snowplow) crews will continue to focus on the primary roads until they’re cleared, and then shift to the secondary roads," Delaware Department of Transportation spokesman Jim Westhoff said Saturday. "We've got to get the roads in pretty good shape before that Monday morning.”

Snowfall tapered off in New Castle County by early evening while light flurries continued in parts of Sussex. Windblown snow continued to limit visibility through the night, according to the National Weather Service.

By noon Saturday, Del. 54 in Selbyville was snowed under — a pickup truck had slid off the road there. Vehicles moved cautiously along Del. 1 at the Delaware beaches, where a gale warning was in effect offshore about wind speeds up to 40 mph.

Gov. Jack Markell issued a limited state of emergency in Sussex County, urging drivers to stay off the roads. State officials said even those in New Castle County, should drive only if they must.

“The silver lining is this came on a weekend, so we don’t have a giant morning commute tomorrow,” Westhoff said.

DelDOT encouraged drivers who have to be on the road to stay at least 10 car lengths behind and not try to pass them. Driving closer risks the trailing vehicle getting hit by salt, ice or brine.

One car near Claymont collided with a plow during the early morning Friday on Governor Printz Boulevard. In total, Delaware State Police officers responded to 94 crashes and 23 disabled vehicles statewide during the heaviest hours of the storm between 7 a.m. and 3 p.m. Saturday.

BY THE NUMBERS: Delaware snowfall totals

The storm, by mid-afternoon Saturday, stretched from North Carolina to Maine.

While Sussex County is often spared heavy snowfall that hits northern Delaware, the highest state totals occurred near the southern border with Maryland.

One monitoring station in Selbyville measured 10 inches of snow around 4:30 p.m. A station in Bethany Beach counted 7.1 inches.

Further inland, a station in Laurel measured 8 inches of snow.

About 5 inches of snow had fallen on the Dover area by 4:30 p.m. Smyrna had 6.2 inches.

Northern New Castle County snow totals reached 2.5 inches.

RELATED: Live winter storm coverage 

RELATED: Snow arrives on Delmarva, more than 6 inches expected

RELATED: DelDOT traffic cams

Near the coast, many businesses closed, and several events were canceled.

Dogfish Head Brewery closed its tasting room, brewpub and Chesapeake & Maine restaurant. Sen. Brian Pettyjohn, R-Georgetown, postponed a constituent meet-and-greet with Gov.-elect John Carney.

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."

A group of women held on to each other, giggling as they fought the giant snowbank blocking the path to the beach.

The five were part of a group of 16 that comes to Rehoboth annually for a spa weekend.

A little – or a lot in this case – of snow wasn't going to stop them from seeing the 5- to 6-foot waves. Farther offshore, waves were forecast to top out at 19 feet Saturday night.

"We've been doing this for 15 years now, and it's fantastic," said Diane Hollingsworth of Baltimore. "Now, we just want to see the ocean."

The talk at Abbott's Grill in Milford: Was Saturday's storm a blizzard? The crowd agreed on three factors: 35-mph winds, three hours long and snow.

By those measures, Saturday's event didn't cut it, as forecasts call for north winds peaking at 18 mph in the Sussex County town.

Some residents went out Saturday morning before conditions got too rough to see the winter's first serious snow.

Sam Irwin moved to Bethany Beach two years ago from Pennsylvania, hoping to get away from the harsh winter weather. But there was no escape Saturday 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 we would be able to see the ocean better.”

The sand and snow whipping across anything standing on the beach didn’t make it a pleasurable experience. Still, Irwin and his family spent a few minutes watching until around 9 a.m., when then they were greeted by Louie, a black poodle, and his 5-month-old goldendoodle friend, Otis.

The dogs flew around the beach and boardwalk chasing each other and rolling around in the snowy sand.

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 minutes Saturday morning because of the dense snow and road conditions. But there was one positive to her venture out.

“Oh, the dogs love it,” she said.

This is not the worst that Athan has seen in her time on the coast.

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

Tom Litzau and his wife had just gotten their morning coffee at Wawa before braving the chilling winds at the boardwalk.

“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.

The snow had canceled several events and closed some businesses.