Molly Murray, and Karl Baker

The News Journal

Snow is in the forecast for northern Delaware this week, and some estimates predict more than 8 inches will fall on Wilmington on Friday and Saturday.

In addition, the storm, expected to form to our south, could bring strong winds, higher-than-normal tides and shoreline erosion along the coast.

AccuWeather says 5.3 inches of snow will fall on Wilmington on Friday, most of it coming after dark. An additional 3.5 inches will fall Saturday, AccuWeather predicts.

But Mitchell Gaines, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Mount Holly, New Jersey, said it is still too early to project potential snowfall totals. If we get snow, how much depends largely on the track of the storm, he said.

Forecasters should have a better handle on that by Wednesday, he said. But right now, it appears that northern Delaware and southeastern Pennsylvania, including Philadelphia and northern New Jersey, will get some snow as will inland areas west of the coast.

Meanwhile, coastal communities could see strong north and northeast winds with higher-than-normal tides, he said.

Light snow is also in the forecast for Wednesday.

This week marks the first prolonged stretch of below-freezing nighttime temperatures for Delaware this winter. Daytime highs in Wilmington aren't expected to rise about freezing until Wednesday and then, just barely to 33 degrees. Nighttime temperatures Monday night are forecast to drop to 14 degrees.

Meanwhile, December was the warmest on record for the state with average temperatures far exceeding the normal range for the month. It was also the warmest on record for the contiguous United States. The previous average December temperature was 37.7 degrees set in 1939. The average for December 2015 was 38.6. In the eastern United States; 29 states had the warmest December on record.

As for January, it's common for temperatures to drop below freezing and stay there for days at a time. The average low for Wilmington is typically around 25 degrees, and the average high is typically around 40 in January. January of 2014 was well below average – ranking as the 34th coldest on record. January of 2015 wasn't that much warmer, ranking as the 51st coldest on record.

Gaines said that the forecast weekend storm will grow out of a low pressure system in the southern United States. It is expected to move northeast on Friday and be off shore by Saturday.

By Sunday, he said, the weather should get better. As for now, he suggested people in the region keep an eye on the forecast.

Northern Delaware residents expressed commuting concerns about the expected Friday snow accumulation.

Isaac Mitchel, a freight broker from New Castle, said he expects to see some vehicles "in the ditch" as they fail to acclimate to changing driving conditions. Luckily, he said, his daily commute to work is short and stays within the New Castle area.

"There's going to be accidents caused by people that don't know how to drive in the snow," Mitchel said.

Black ice makes roads, like U.S. 40, become hazardous when temperatures creep below the freezing level, said Greg McKay of Elkton, Maryland. He takes the highway to work at Wawa in Bear, he said, and it is that hard-to-see ice that causes most of the problems.

"I've seen people not be able to stop at red lights," McKay said.

Contact Molly Murray at (302) 463-3334 or mmurray@delawareonline.com. Follow her on Twitter @MollyMurraytnj.

Contact Karl Baker at kbaker@delawareonline.com or (302) 324-2329. Follow him on Twitter @kbaker6.

What is your guess for snowfall in Delaware this weekend?