DELMARVA - Sussex County and Delaware’s coastal communities are expected to see dry, quiet weather from late Thursday evening through late Friday evening, with clear to mostly clear skies Thursday night giving way to sunshine and a noticeable warmup Friday. Overnight lows are forecast to fall into the upper 30s inland in Sussex County and the lower 40s along the Delaware beaches.
Patchy frost is possible inland after midnight Thursday night and again early Friday morning, even though the current formal Freeze Warning is set to expire at 9 a.m. Thursday and does not include the Delaware beach communities. By Friday afternoon, temperatures are expected to rebound into the upper 60s inland and the lower 60s at the coast under sunny skies and light south winds.
That means inland residents, especially gardeners and growers, should continue protecting tender plants Thursday night and early Friday. The earlier freeze warning for Inland Sussex warned that temperatures could drop as low as 28 degrees and damage sensitive vegetation and unprotected outdoor plumbing. Beach communities should avoid the harshest cold, but residents there can still expect a cool Thursday night before milder air arrives Friday.
The broader pattern remains dry, and forecasters say humidity will stay low enough to keep the landscape vulnerable. While no fire weather warning is posted for Sussex County, dry air and a lack of rainfall will continue through the end of the week, so residents should use caution with any outdoor burning or open flames.
For mariners and coastal interests, the most important concern shifts offshore by Friday. The National Weather Service says no marine hazards are anticipated Thursday, but seas off Cape Henlopen to Fenwick Island are expected to build to 4 to 6 feet Friday and Friday night, with Small Craft Advisory conditions possible into Saturday. That could make for rougher conditions for small boats even as weather on land stays fair.
By late Friday evening, skies should remain mostly clear to partly cloudy, with temperatures settling back to around 50 at the beaches and the lower 50s inland, closing out a calm but still dry spring day across Sussex County and the Delaware coast.
