The combination of a high pressure system over nearby Canada and a pair of low pressure systems - one that moved into the Great Lakes before dissipating and another that formed over the Virginia coastal waters gave Delaware a wintry mix of freezing rain, sleet and snow. Light freezing drizzle fell throughout most of the day on the 27th in New Castle and Kent Counties. Daytime temperatures in Sussex County were above freezing and temperatures in Kent County rose to the freezing mark late in the afternoon on the 27th. Late that same afternoon as a low pressure system was forming over the Virginia coastal waters, precipitation intensity increased and freezing rain and sleet began falling across New Castle County and rain elsewhere in the state.  As colder air moved in from the north, the rain changed to freezing rain and sleet during the evening in Kent and Sussex Counties. Precipitation then changed to snow from north to south before it ended around midnight EST. Accumulations ranged from a trace in Sussex County to up to 3 inches in New Castle County. Untreated roads were slippery. Delaware State Police reported about 160 crashes, most of them single vehicle crashes. Three poles were knocked down in Sussex County. Two overtured dump trucks on ramps to Delaware State Route 1 in Smyrna and Dover snarled traffic in Kent County. State and county offices worked on two hour delayed openings on the 27th and New Castle County followed the same procedure on the 28th.Specific accumulations included 3.0 inches in Wilmington (New Castle County), 2.5 inches at the New Castle County Airport, 2.2 inches in Bear (New Castle County), 1 inch in Smyrna (Kent County) and traces in Milford and Greenwood (Sussex County). While the first low pressure system was heading off the North Carolina coast around sunrise on the 26th, another low pressure system was already in Arkansas. This low pressure system moved northeast into the lower Ohio Valley during the afternoon of the 26th and reached Ohio around sunrise on the 27th. The low moved north into Michigan during the afternoon of the 27th and remained nearly stationary as it slowly weakened during the evening and overnight. This low pressure system brought a wedge of warmer air aloft across the region. What made precipitation fall as either freezing rain or sleet in New Castle County was a large high pressure system over nearby Canada that fed cold air south near the surface. The high pressure system's influence weakened farther south in Delaware. During the late afternoon of the 27th, a second low pressure system formed over the Virginia coastal waters. By 7 p.m. EST when it was located near the Virginia Capes, its central pressure was already as strong as the Michigan low pressure system. The Virginia low pressure system moved northeast and intensified and by 1 a.m. EST on the 28th, was located about 120 miles east of Atlantic City, New Jersey and by 7 a.m. EST it was about 240 miles east of Atlantic City, New Jersey. As this second low pressure system intensified and its upper air support moved across the Middle Atlantic States, precipitation intensity increased and the precipitation changed to snow.

Winter Weather in DELAWARE BEACHES / X E SUSSEX, DELAWARE
From 27-JAN-04 21:00:00 to 28-JAN-04 00:00:00 (EST)
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER

Winter Weather in INLAND SUSSEX, DELAWARE
From 27-JAN-04 21:00:00 to 28-JAN-04 00:00:00 (EST)
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER

Winter Weather in KENT, DELAWARE
From 27-JAN-04 20:00:00 to 28-JAN-04 01:00:00 (EST)
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER

Winter Weather in NEW CASTLE, DELAWARE
From 27-JAN-04 18:00:00 to 28-JAN-04 00:00:00 (EST)
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER