First snow of season makes travel tricky for a time

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Highways became icy in northern Delaware as snow edged out a wintry mix. 

The original forecast had called for a wintry mix, but north of the C&D Canal, temperatures stayed below freezing. Complaints began to appear regarding a lack of salting and snow plows. DELDOT stated that 100 plows were dispatched. 

Wilmington’s Public Works Department deployed additional staff and equipment, taking note of the weather forecast that seemed to catch crews off guard. 

The DEOS snow monitoring system   from the University of Delaware posted snowfall totals of more than three inches in a few locations, with smaller accumulations to the south.  Southern New Castle County had little accumulation.

The Delaware Department of Transportation continued to plow and salt roads across New Castle County  DelDOT maintenance & operations yards are fully staffed and more than 100 plow trucks are active on the roads.

DelDOT advises motorists that the evening rush hour is likely to be difficult as snow continues to fall and numerous accidents have been reported across the county. 

In addition, plow trucks and staff from Kent and Sussex counties have also been deployed to assist in New Castle County, as the storm has primarily been a rain event in the southern part of the state.

Mixed precipitation was expected with snow accumulations of up to one inch followed by ice on top and later rain. As of early afternoon, it appeared that snow was turning to an icy mix.

Unlike some early storms, snow did stick to roads, creating slick conditions.

Once again, predicting snow along the I-95 corridor remained  a tricky task. Often snow totals do not materialize. But a degree or two below freezing can bring accumulations.

Mixed precipitation moved in around 7 a.m. over Delmarva and reaches the Greater Philadelphia area around mid-morning. A briefing package can be found here: https://t.co/JiD09By93X

The rain came to the southern part of the state. To the north, the snow changed to rain and much of the snow was gone by Friday morning

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