Delaware is a weird place for weather. You’ve got the Atlantic Ocean on one side and the Delaware Bay on the other, which basically means the state is a giant wrestling ring for air masses. One day it's 60 degrees in Wilmington, and the next, you’re digging your car out of a drift in Dover.
Honestly, if you're looking for consistent snowfall totals for delaware, you're going to be disappointed. The averages are all over the place.
The North-South Divide is Real
Most people think because Delaware is small, the weather is the same everywhere. It isn't. Not even close.
Northern New Castle County, especially up near the Pennsylvania line, gets the lion's share of the white stuff. We’re talking an average of about 20 inches a year. But head south toward the beaches in Sussex County? You’re lucky to see 9 or 10 inches most seasons.
Why the massive gap? It’s the "rain-snow line."
In almost every major Nor’easter, that invisible boundary sits right over the middle of the state. It’s a running joke for locals. You’ll see 8 inches of powder in Newark while people in Georgetown are just getting slapped with cold, miserable rain.
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Recent Winters Have Been... Quiet
If you feel like you haven't used your shovel much lately, you aren't imagining things. The 2024-2025 season was historically dry. In January 2025, the state was actually 5.6°F colder than usual, but we had almost no moisture. It was the 4th driest January since 1895.
There was one decent "thump" of snow on January 6, 2025. Interestingly, that storm flipped the script. Northern Sussex County actually got hammered with over 10 inches, while the northern part of the state saw much less.
Fast forward to the current 2025-2026 season. It’s been a bit more active. Early reports from the Delaware Environmental Observing System (DEOS) show that we’ve already had a few "clippers" move through in December 2025 and early January 2026.
Let’s Talk About Snowmageddon
You can't talk about snowfall totals for delaware without mentioning February 2010. It was the "Big One."
Most of the state saw 30 inches of snow fall in a single week. To put that in perspective, that’s more than some parts of Delaware get in three years combined.
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- Wilmington: Hit 57 inches total for that 2009-2010 season.
- Kent County: Recorded 25 inches in a single 24-hour period (a state record).
- Cost: The state spent nearly $9 million just trying to clear the roads.
National Guard Humvees were the only things moving on Route 1 for a while. It was total chaos, but also kinda beautiful if you didn't have to go to work.
Breaking Down the Local Numbers
If you’re trying to plan for the rest of the 2026 season, here is the "normal" breakdown based on long-term data from the Office of the State Climatologist:
New Castle County (Wilmington/Newark)
This is the snow belt. You can usually expect a few 2-4 inch events and maybe one big storm. The average here stays around 18-20 inches.
Kent County (Dover/Smyrna)
The transition zone. It’s hit or miss. One year they’ll get 15 inches, the next they’ll get 2. The average hovers around 14 inches.
Sussex County (Georgetown/Rehoboth)
The ocean is the enemy of snow here. The salt air and warmer water temperatures usually turn snow into sleet or rain. Average? About 10 inches, though 2025 proved that outliers definitely happen.
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Why the Forecasts Are Always Wrong
Meteorologists hate forecasting for Delaware. Seriously.
Because the state is so flat and narrow, a shift of just 10 miles in a storm’s track changes everything. If a low-pressure system stays tucked close to the coast, we get "warm air intrusion." That’s code for: "Sorry kids, school is back on because the snow turned to slush."
If the storm tracks further out to sea, we stay in the "cold sector," and that's when the snowfall totals for delaware actually start to climb.
What to Do Next
Keep an eye on the "Delaware Environmental Observing System" (DEOS) real-time maps. They have sensors all over the state that give way better data than the generic weather apps on your phone.
If you're a homeowner, don't wait until the "Bread and Milk" panic hits at the Newark ShopRite. Buy your salt in November.
Check your tire tread now. Delaware drivers aren't exactly known for their winter driving skills, and the "black ice" on I-95 is no joke when the sun goes down. Stay safe out there.