MAJOR WINTER STORM/EXTREME COLD TEMPS thru 2/2/26
Date Posted: Wednesday, January 21st, 2026PLEASE BE AWARE OUR AREA IS PRESENTLY UNDER A WINTER STORM WARNING
This is the latest update from the Delaware Emergency Operations Center (EOC) regarding the impending winter storm starting tomorrow night:
The state of Delaware will be imposing a state of emergency either late tonight or sometime tomorrow at a level one. A level one state of emergency relates to avoiding driving, unless there is a safety, health, or Business reason, due to hazardous conditions like snow or ice. It is not a complete ban, but it signals that drivers should exercise extreme caution and non-essential employees are encouraged to stay off the roads.
They have now changed our snow forecast to around 6 to 8 inches starting around midnight Saturday night. There will be a changeover to some freezing precipitation, including icing of around 1/10 of an inch (possibly more) and this is expected to end sometime Monday morning. Please note we will have a period of a freezing rain which will cause some of the icing. They expect extremely cold temperatures following the snow icy event going through possibly February 2.
The state of Delaware already has National Guard resources in place. Should they be necessary, as well as the Delaware state police, local fire companies, etc.
We will be getting an update tomorrow at 2 PM to see if anything has changed and it will be posted here once that meeting is concluded.
We urge all to please be safe, and pay attention to the level of the state of emergency when it is implemented. There is a chance we may have power outages, hopefully not extended; but that depends on the level of icing, etc., which they cannot predict for sure at this point
The town of Bethel has already set up for plowing as it becomes necessary.
