It’s been nearly two full years since an inch of snow hit Wilmington, and as the flakes flew Monday afternoon, so did the wreck count in the First State.
DelDOT reported at least 35 crashes in a 30-minute period in the 4 p.m. hour on Monday, January 15, 2024, on an afternoon with reduced volume due to the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday, but plenty of ice began forming on bridges and overpasses.
I-95 had several wrecks between the Brandywine River Bridge south of Route 202 and also along the elevated viaduct near Frawley Stadium.
Delaware Route 1 had crashes on its C&D Canal crossing, along with at the Drawyer’s Creek Bridge north of Odessa, and then at the Appoquinimink Creek Bridge south of 299.
The Chesapeake City Bridge (MD Route 213) was closed for about two hours due to a crash that damaged a guardrail, but it reopened just after 5 p.m.
Officials are warning drivers to use caution on bridges and overpasses through the evening, as they will freeze quicker than regular roadways.
Delaware Weather Network meteorologist Matt Powell is continuing to predict 1-3″ of snow for New Castle and Kent Counties, with about an inch closer to the coast.
There will likely be a changeover period to sleet or freezing rain Tuesday morning before it ends.
Winter Weather Advisories are up for New Castle County until 1 p.m. Tuesday, and Kent and inland Sussex County until 4 a.m. Tuesday.
If Wilmington officially gets an inch of snow at the Airport, it would be the first time since March 12, 2022, a stretch of 674 days, the third-longest stretch since record keeping began in Wilmington in 1942.
- 757 days – Jan. 11, 1991 – Feb. 6, 1993
- 701 days – Feb. 28, 1949 – Jan. 30, 1951
- 674 days – March 12, 2022 – Present
- 662 days – Feb. 23, 1972 – Dec. 16, 1973
- 654 days – Mar. 3, 2019 – Dec. 16, 2020
- 631 days – Apr. 1, 1997 – Dec. 23, 1998
Precipitation is expected to stop late Tuesday afternoon, and things will remain dry, but below freezing, going into potential another snow event on Thursday night into Friday night.
