Second helping for Delaware from storm

Delaware was hit with another blast of winter early Friday morning as the second storm system this week blew into the state.

The snowfall, which ended by 10 a.m. Friday, left Smyrna with the most snow at 4.2 inches, according to the Delaware Environmental Observing System. Greenville had 3.2 inches; Newark, 2.7 inches; and Dover, 2.9 inches.

Most parts of Sussex had received little snow, but Lewes had the most with 1.2 inches.

Despite getting the most snow, precipitation stopped falling in Smyrna by about 7:30 a.m. or a little earlier. By 8 a.m., plows had cleared most roads but some streets still had slush or snow that had blown back across the roadway.

As a result of the storm, schools across New Castle and Kent counties closed Friday, and DART buses in the areas operated on a delayed schedule.

Roads were mostly clear in downtown Wilmington by 6:30 a.m., but people parked outside still had a good amount of snow scraping to do before driving anywhere. Grassy areas looked only a few inches deep.

Snowfall in Dover was relatively light, though it piled on top of the snow that struck Delaware on Monday. Multiple snow plows – including one stylized with a design of large teeth on the front – patrolled around Legislative Hall in the morning.

But this was not Monday’s storm, meteorologist Alex Staarmann said. Where Monday saw massive traffic build-ups, power outages and snowfall greater than a foot, most of Delaware was expected to get only 3 or 4 inches of snow this time – and the forecast played out accordingly.

“This is not nearly as strong of a system, so there’s not really any potential for it to put down anything close to like what we saw on Monday,” Staarmann said.

Monday’s storm:‘It’s pretty if you can stay inside.’ Delaware digs out from ‘incredible amount’ of snow

The storm was also slated to move “much faster” than the one earlier this week, Staarmann said, and skies were clear and sunny by early Friday afternoon.

Still, it took crews a few hours to clear off the roads as many across the state got a slow start to the day.

Delaware snow totals:Here are the latest inch counts

Temperatures stayed about freezing throughout the day, though some snow began to melt into slush in the sun. Forecasters warned that the dip into the teens overnight would likely lead to icing over on the roads, making for a slippery Saturday morning.