Cold Snap Forecast for Delaware: The Next Arctic Blast
In Wilmington the coldest week is usually Jan 21 to 27, with a normal low of 25°F, and the coldest night of the last 10 winters was 2°F on Jan 7, 2018.
Reading the National Weather Service forecast for Wilmington.
Normals and records at Wilmington New Castle County Airport
Coldest week
Jan 21 to 27Normal low 25°F
Coldest night, last 10 winters
2°FJan 7, 2018
First freeze
Nov 6Median of 10 winters
Record low
−14°FTwice, last on Jan 21, 1985 (records since 1931)
The week with the lowest normal low at each reference station, from NOAA’s 1991 to 2020 normals, beside the coldest night of the last 10 winters, the median first freeze and the record low.
The coldest week and the coldest nights at Delaware reference stations
Station
Coldest week
Normal low
Coldest night, last 10 winters
First freeze
Record low
WilmingtonWilmington New Castle County Airport, USW00013781
Jan 21 to 27
25°F
2°FJan 7, 2018
Nov 6
−14°FTwice, last on Jan 21, 1985records since 1931
GeorgetownGeorgetown Sussex County Airport, USW00013764
Jan 19 to 25
28°F
0°FJan 7, 2018
Nov 11
−5°FJan 30, 2014records since 1945
Normals from NOAA NCEI; nightly lows from GHCN-Daily, the winters of 2016 to 2017 through 2025 to 2026.
The panel at the top of this page sets the next 7 nights at Wilmington against the normal low for each date and adds the Climate Prediction Center outlook for the two weeks after. Enter a ZIP for your own town; it uses the nearest of the 2 Delaware reference stations.
At Wilmington it is usually Jan 21 to 27, with a normal low of 25°F. At the other reference stations: Georgetown Jan 19 to 25 (28°F). These are NOAA's 1991 to 2020 daily normals.
The normal low at Wilmington reaches 32°F around Dec 8. The first actual freeze came around Nov 6 in the median of the last 10 winters, weeks ahead of the normal, because one clear calm night can run far below the average.
The coldest night of the last 10 winters at Wilmington was 2°F on Jan 7, 2018, and the coldest night of a typical winter there was 9°F. Elsewhere: Georgetown 0°F on Jan 7, 2018. The record at the Wilmington station is −14°F, most recently on Jan 21, 1985, in daily records since 1931.
At Wilmington a typical recent winter brings 87 nights at 32°F or colder and 17 at 20°F or colder, the median of the last 10 seasons.
Each night's forecast low is compared with the NOAA normal low for that date at the nearest reference station. A night 20 or more degrees below normal is an arctic blast, and so is a night below zero where the normal low is 10°F or warmer. A night 10 to 19 below is a cold snap. A night 5 or more below, or a week that runs 3 or more below on average, is colder than normal, and a week 5 or more above is mild.
The normal lows and coldest weeks are NOAA's 1991 to 2020 daily climate normals for Wilmington New Castle County Airport (USW00013781) and Georgetown Sussex County Airport (USW00013764). The recent winters, first dates and records come from the same stations' daily lows in NOAA's GHCN-Daily archive, the winters of 2016 to 2017 through 2025 to 2026. The 7 night forecast is the National Weather Service's and the outlook is the Climate Prediction Center's.
