A major winter storm dropped 15 to 25 inches of snow across most of Delaware from the afternoon of the 5th into the afternoon of the 6th. The 25.8 inches of snow that fell at New Castle County Airport was the largest single snowfall event on record breaking the previous record of 22.7 inches set during the blizzard of January 1996. Snow overspread Delaware between 2 p.m. EST and 4 p.m. EST on the 5th and fell at its heaviest during the first half of the day on the 6th. The snow ended from south to north between 3 p.m. EST and 7 p.m. EST on the 6th.
Governor Jack Markell declared a state of emergency and travel restriction for the whole state of  Delaware that started at 8 p.m. EST on the 5th. The travel restriction was lifted at 8 p.m. EST on the 6th. The governor ordered nonessential state employees not to report to work on the evening of the 5th and anytime on the 6th. The National Guard was deployed to assist with stranded vehicles. Sussex County was hit the hardest with about 14,000 power outages and Harbeson had widespread outages as trees were knocked down and poles were snapped.
Because of the state of emergency and travel ban as well as the snow starting on a Friday (the 5th) and fell at its heaviest on a Saturday (the 6th), the number of reported accidents and disabled vehicles was relatively lower. State Police reported about 50 accidents with four injuries throughout the state. There were nearly 300 disabled vehicles that were stuck in the snow as many major roadways became impassable. In Sussex County, the strong winds also knocked down about 60 trees, tree limbs and wires onto roadways.
The onshore flow around the low pressure system also caused some minor tidal flooding around the times of both high tides during the early morning and again during the afternoon on the 6th in Sussex County. The highest tide at Breakwater Harbor reached 6.29 feet above mean lower low water on the afternoon of the 6th. Minor tidal flooding starts at 6.0 feet above mean lower low water.
Representative snowfall included 25.8 inches at the New Castle County Airport, 25.0 inches in Bridgeville (Sussex County), 24.3 inches in Newark (New Castle County), 22.0 inches in Milton (Sussex County) and Dover (Kent County), 20.6 inches in Lewes (Sussex County), 17.7 inches in Harrington (Kent County) and 15.6 inches in Delmar (Sussex County).
The winter storm was caused by a low pressure system that moved west to east across northern Mexico and emerged in the Gulf of Mexico near Brownsville, Texas on the morning of the 4th. The low pressure system moved east and was located near New Orleans, Louisiana at 7 p.m. EST on the 4th and Mobile, Alabama at 7 a.m. EST on the 5th. The low pressure system then started to move northeast and was near Wilmington, North Carolina at 7 p.m. EST on the 5th; Elizabeth City, North Carolina at 1 a.m. EST on the 6th; the Virginia coastal waters at 7 a.m. EST on the 6th and then drifted slowly east off the lower Delmarva Peninsula the rest of the day on the 6th. The storm track was perfect for heavy snow for Delaware.

Winter Storm in DELAWARE BEACHES, DELAWARE
From 05-FEB-10 14:00:00 to 06-FEB-10 19:00:00 (EST-5)
Property damage: 500.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Trained Spotter

Winter Storm in INLAND SUSSEX, DELAWARE
From 05-FEB-10 14:00:00 to 06-FEB-10 19:00:00 (EST-5)
Property damage: 500.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Trained Spotter

Winter Storm in KENT, DELAWARE
From 05-FEB-10 15:00:00 to 06-FEB-10 17:00:00 (EST-5)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Trained Spotter

Winter Storm in NEW CASTLE, DELAWARE
From 05-FEB-10 16:00:00 to 06-FEB-10 15:00:00 (EST-5)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Trained Spotter