Early season storm brings wet snow to Delmarva; some welcome it, some not so much

Delmarva residents awoke Saturday morning to a soft blanket of snow — the first of this year. While some look forward to it and some despise it, few had much of an opportunity to enjoy it.

The serene beauty of the accumulation — which ranged from 2.3 inches in Bethany Beach, to 4.5 in Laurel and at least 7 in Salisbury, Fruitland and Delmar — was quickly dulled by a cold, biting rain up and down the Shore.

Theresa Maggio, lead groundskeeper at Salisbury University, was piloting a tractor through campus lots, clearing grimy slush from the pavement as the chilly rain fell Saturday afternoon. Up to then, she said, it hadn’t been too bad.

“The grounds crew has been in since 2 a.m. keeping things clean,” she said. “The problem is everything’s melting and temperatures are going to plummet tonight. You'll see us out here all day."

The National Weather Service in Wakefield seemed to agree with Maggio’s prediction.

Eric Seymore, a meteorologist with the weather service, said to expect another burst of snow in the early evening on Saturday with conditions improving from there, but that the dropping overnight temperatures would create slippery problems on Sunday.

“Anything wet is going to refreeze (Saturday night), and untreated roadways are going to be iced back over,” he said. “(Sunday) morning, it could definitely be a little slick and anyone driving should be paying attention.”

An additional 1 to 3 inches of snow were expected to wrap up Saturday in Wicomico, Somerset and Dorchester counties, according to the weather service.

MORE:The latest road conditions and more

The unpredictable storm ‘typical’ for the region

The storm the Eastern Shore experienced on Friday and Saturday was the result of a combination of factors impacting one another, Seymore said.

“A cold front moved in earlier in the week that allowed cooler air to move in from the central plains and the Atlantic,” he said. “At the same time, you had a system that developed over Texas and moved its way eastward and upward.”

When the two combined, Delmarva experienced the weather that fell on it this weekend, the conditions of which were less than certain — opinions on how much snow would fall varied between 1-3 to 6-11 inches in Salisbury, for example, depending on which weather source you asked.

On the Mid-Atlantic, Seymore said, this sort of uncertainty is not at all unusual.

“Snow needs the right conditions to happen in the first place, but if you had a slightly different situation — more sleet or more rain, for example — that changes the snowfall predictions drastically,” he said. “That’s particularly common on the Mid-Atlantic, where warm offshore weather affects temperatures a great deal.

“Predicting what’s going to happen there, especially a few days out, is always going to get you a range of opinions.”

Some area residents were, of course, put off by the wintery burst, but others relished the uncertainty.

Denise Williams, 61, falls into the first category. She owns and operates Williams Market on Nanticoke Road in Salisbury. 

"I don't like snow or cold weather," said Denise. "It is pretty, maybe if i didn't have to work it would be better. It might help tree sales, though. This was supposed to be the biggest day of the season for tree sales."

Her daughter Danielle, 37, landed on the other side. She was working with her mother Saturday and loved the surprise storm.

"I think it's like a winter wonderland. It's beautiful, like a picture postcard," she said. "Coming before Christmas makes it magical."

Sharing Danielle’s delight was Darla Hardy, 39, of Nanticoke, who was “shocked” by the storm.

"I didn't think it was coming, but it's good to see it. It sure puts me in the holiday spirit,” she said.

In Salisbury, Kevin Tatum was scooping snow Saturday morning off his sidewalk outside his Lakeside Drive home with his two high-school-age sons, Ondre and Izayah. It looked like hard work, but it didn’t feel that way, he said.

“It’s a little easier to push than I thought it would be,” he said. “It didn’t really stick to the roads and the sidewalk the way I thought it would.”

In his case, shoveling snow is a matter of the law. The city requires property owners to clear a 4-foot path off sidewalks within 24 hours after ice or snow has stopped falling.

More:Dumping snow in street could bring hefty fine

In a neighborhood off Dagsboro Road in the county’s jurisdiction, that wasn’t the case. But June Gillespie was heaving sheets of snow anyway outside the home of a friend whom she takes care of.

“She can’t get out, but I’m shoveling in to get in,” Gillespie said with a laugh.

She found one auspicious note in the extra work, though.

“It’s beautiful,” she said. “It’s like a postcard.”

Similarly, in West Ocean City, others refused to shirk their duties due to the weather. Less snow had fallen there than in Salisbury but, by early Saturday morning, the area was seeing fairly heavy rain.

Nonetheless, “it’s perfect,” said Floyd Bassett, an Ocean City resident since 1940 and self-described snow lover, who was bell-ringing for the Salvation Army at the White Marlin Mall. His dog, Sugar, was loyally at his side.

“It’s beautiful out, absolutely beautiful," he said, paying no heed to the cold rain or the few potential donors braving the weather. “There’s a light dusting covering everything, but the roads are clear.”

MORE: Closings list

Outages, delays and crashes

Marcus Beal, a spokesman for Delmarva Power, said Saturday at about 10:30 a.m. that there were about 51 customers throughout the Salisbury area affected by power outages, but the issues were not expected to be long-term.

“We have plenty of crews available,” he said. “They’re working all those orders.”

Drivers should be careful on the roadways, he said, and watch for any power company employees who were out working on those outages.

Additional crews were ready to respond in the event that any more outages were reported, Beal said, and there were tree trimmers available should they be needed.

“We just encourage customers to be prepared and monitor weather conditions and report any outages to us,” he said.

As is inevitable, the first snow of the season gave some people real trouble.

On their Facebook page, Salisbury Police said the department had responded 10 snow-related crashes since Friday night. "If you have to go out, plan lots of extra time due to slippery, icy road conditions," police said.

The Maryland State Police also responded to a two-vehicle crash in the snow on Business Route 50 which left a 95-year-old man dead and seven hospitalized, although police did not cite the snow as a cause of the crash.

Overnight, emergency crews were kept busy. A report of a wire down was reported on Thorogoods Road in Dagsboro at about 5:30 a.m. Saturday, according to a department tweet. In Salisbury, lines were also reported down on Camden Avenue at about 4:30 a.m. There were transformer fires on Riverside Drive and Ashworth Court, according to fire department tweets.

Debris in the road was also commonly reported.

Although roads were open, a snow emergency plan remained in effect Saturday morning for Somerset County until further notice, according to the Maryland State Police in Princess Anne. 

In what was likely a more joyous announcement — for students at least — the first day of final exams was canceled Saturday at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore, said campus spokesman Bill Robinson. 

"No exams were administered, however, out of an abundance of caution over travel concern for those who live off campus and have to drive," he said. 

Robinson gave no information about when any exams might be rescheduled.

At Salisbury University, some students would have likely been jealous of those cancellations.

“Why couldn’t this have happened like Monday or Tuesday,” freshman Abigail Gutierrez asked. “I’ve never really liked the snow, but at least come on a day where we can get off class.” 

Staff writers Liz Holland, Susan Parker, Jeremy Cox, Rose Velazquez and Richard Pollitt contributed to this story.