Delaware
Delaware does not get much snow, and the snow it gets is the worst kind. Wilmington averages about 20 inches a year, Dover 13, and the Sussex beaches barely 10. Contractors here plan on six to eight plowable events in a normal season. Then February 2010 drops nearly four feet on New Castle County in a single month.
Because Delaware sits on the rain/snow line for almost every coastal storm, what falls is dense, wet and near freezing, the stuff that makes a shovel feel full of wet sand. Zippy Snow puts a self-driving Yarbo snow blower on your property and clears in layers as the storm falls, so the heavy snow never has a chance to get deep.
Routes grow every season. If your town isn't listed, ask anyway — we'll tell you honestly whether we can reach you this winter.
Delaware sits on the rain/snow line for nearly every coastal storm, so temperatures hover near freezing and the snow lands dense and water-laden. In the January 2016 blizzard Wilmington got 16 inches while southern Delaware got half that. The gradient across this small state is remarkable.
Delaware is one of only a few states where the state maintains close to the entire road network — about 89 percent of it, including many subdivision streets. DelDOT reaches those only once accumulation passes four to six inches depending on location, and only if the community is not enrolled in its Snow Removal Reimbursement Program, which pays 75 percent of a qualifying community’s contractor cost instead. Either way it never plows driveways, and it will not clear the berm it leaves across yours.
New Castle County subdivisions are HOA country, and in Sussex most communities are private, so the HOA hires the plowing. That contract typically triggers at 2 to 4 inches and finishes hours after the storm. It has never covered your driveway or your walk.
Coastal storms here arrive with wind, surge and outages as often as accumulation. A robot is usually fully charged before a storm, and one charge clears a normal driveway several times over, so a dark dock for a few hours is not the end of the plan.
| Where | Time to clear |
|---|---|
| Ellendale | 2 hours* |
| Elsmere | 8 daylight hours |
| Milford | 12 daylight hours |
| Wilmington | 24 hours |
| Newark | 24 hours, 3–5 ft |
| New Castle | 24 hours, 3 ft |
| Smyrna | 24 hours, 3 ft |
| Dover | 24 hours |
| Middletown | 24 hours |
| Georgetown | 24 hours |
| Seaford | 24 hours |
| Lewes | 24 hours |
| Rehoboth Beach | No ordinance |
| Bethany Beach | No ordinance |
Measured from when the snow stops, except in Milford and Elsmere, where only daylight hours count against the clock. *Ellendale’s two hours comes from the town’s own website; its code is not published anywhere online, so treat that one as guidance rather than a citation. Wilmington’s code asks for 24 hours, half the sidewalk and a two-foot path to the gutter — the 36-inch path within six hours that the city publicises is advice, not the enforceable rule. Newark bills the actual cost plus 50 percent overhead, 12 percent interest and a $100 minimum. Dover’s $50 applies if the walk is still uncleared 24 hours after a notice is posted. Rehoboth Beach and Bethany Beach have no ordinance at all: both charters grant the power and neither town has ever used it. No Delaware county regulates sidewalk snow — it is municipal only, statewide.
Same people who install and service robotic mowers for Zippy Lawnz. One crew, one app, both seasons.
Yes, through two crews. Our Pennsylvania and Delaware crew covers New Castle County and northern Delaware, and our Delmarva crew in Easton covers Kent and Sussex. Map your driveway and whichever crew is closest will tell you honestly whether they can reach you.
We will give you the straight answer: on plow-contract savings alone it takes longer to pay back here than in Erie or Boulder. Two things tilt it. Those few storms are the heavy, wet, hospital-visit kind, and the same Yarbo Core mows your lawn all summer, so the machine is not sitting idle nine months a year.
Almost certainly DelDOT, which maintains about 89 percent of Delaware roads including many subdivision streets, or your HOA if the community is private. DelDOT only reaches subdivision streets once four to six inches have fallen, and skips them entirely if your community takes its reimbursement programme, which covers 75 percent of a qualifying contractor bill. Neither DelDOT nor an HOA plows driveways, and both leave a berm across your apron. We map that apron as its own zone and time a pass for it.
We have not met one yet. It replaces a gas snow blower with something quieter, and it runs in a quiet mode overnight. If your association asks, we will give you a one-page description of the system to bring to the board.
The Yarbo hardware lists at $4,999 for snow only, or $7,199 for the mow-and-snow combination. Installation depends on your property, and there is a fully managed plan if you would rather pay a seasonal fee than own the machine.
No. Delmarva Power does offer instant discounts on electric push mowers, chainsaws and snow blowers, but that programme is funded by Maryland’s EmPOWER scheme and is limited to Maryland customers buying at Maryland retailers. We checked the Delaware electric co-ops, the municipal utilities, Energize Delaware and DNREC, and none of them offers a consumer rebate on outdoor power equipment. Watch out for the District of Columbia’s mower rebates, which search engines like to return for Delaware.
