A Snow Blast to the Past: Locals compare past winter storms to 2026 blizzard

SALISBURY, Md. – Living on Delmarva, Linda Twilley has experienced her fair share of winter storms.

She remembers the blizzard of 2010 that shut down schools and grocery stores and brought 13 inches of snow to Salisbury. But she said nothing stacks up to the snowstorm of 1979.

“It was a pretty good dump of snow, but the thing that made it significantly more hazardous and more difficult to deal with was the drifting. Some of the drifts were going above the cars; they were blowing so hard,” Linda said.

James Urie’s memory is ingrained with the snow blast that hit the peninsula in the late 90s.

“The one back in ’96 was the biggest one I remember,” James said. “I was in 10th grade at Parkside and we had just got back from Christmas break, and it still hit, so we were off for another week.”

In just two days, Salisbury got 21 inches of snow, a clear marker for one of the biggest blizzards in the city’s history.

“Us kids were playing, snowball fights and sledding. Even the ones that weren’t getting along with everybody, we all banded together and it was kids vs. adults at the trailer park,” James remembered.

While Sunday’s winter storm downed power lines and dumped nearly a foot of snow on Salisbury, Linda said it was more manageable than storms of the past.

“This is better,” Linda said. “I mean, my road is plowed outside. The city of Salisbury came around in the morning and came through and plowed it, and goodness gracious I didn’t expect that.”