DELAWARE - The "Deep Freeze" of January 2026 has officially entered the record books, leaving the First State divided by a sharp north-south snow line. While the beaches saw a slushy mix, New Castle County was hit with a bona fide blizzard, recording its highest accumulations in a decade.
According to official storm reports from the National Weather Service and the Delaware Environmental Observing System (DEOS), the highest recorded snowfall total in the state belongs to Bear in New Castle County, which measured a solid 10.0 inches of snow.
The Top Contenders
Northern Delaware was the clear "jackpot zone" for this storm, with several towns along the I-95 corridor reporting near-double-digit totals. Here is who topped the charts:
- Bear: 10.0 inches
- Wilmington: 9.0 inches
- Newark: 9.0 inches
- Pike Creek: 8.5 inches
- New Castle: 8.0 inches
Regional Breakdown: A Tale of Two States
As is often the case in Delaware, the C&D Canal acted as a dividing line for the weather conditions.
- New Castle County (The Snow Zone): Residents here saw a "pure snow" event for most of the storm's duration. The 9.0 inches at Wilmington is particularly significant, marking the city's highest single-storm total since the major blizzard of January 2016.
- Kent County (The Mixing Bowl): Just a few miles south, totals dropped significantly as warm air intruded. Dover and Smyrna managed a respectable 6.0 to 6.5 inches, but the snow was heavy and wet, compacting quickly due to sleet.
- Sussex County (The Slush Line): The southern beaches were largely spared the shovel-breaking work. Areas like Georgetown and Rehoboth Beach saw totals ranging from 2 to 4 inches before the precipitation flipped to rain and freezing drizzle.
Why Bear?
Bear's victory—edging out Wilmington by a full inch—was likely due to a persistent heavy snow band that pivoted over the central part of New Castle County on Sunday morning. While the coast warmed up, the inland air over Bear stayed just cold enough to maximize the "fluff factor" before the sleet arrived.
With a State of Emergency still technically in effect for driving restrictions and temperatures refusing to budge above freezing, that ten-inch blanket in Bear is going to stick around for quite a while.
