Heavy Snow in Arkansas, March 2, 2002

Name: Heavy Snow in Arkansas, March 2, 2002
Start: 2002-03-02T06:00
End: 2002-03-02T12:00
Location: Arkansas

March 2, 2002 · NWS TSA · 4 events in 4 counties and zones

An arctic cold front moved southeast across northwest Arkansas during the early morning hours of the 2nd. Meanwhile an upper level system moved northeast out of the desert southwest.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 4 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.

Tornadoes
Tropical storms and surge
Floods
Wind
Hail
Winter weather
Heat and drought
Cold
Fire, smoke and dust
Marine and coastal
Other

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 4

Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.

What happened

The episode as NWS TSA wrote it up.

An arctic cold front moved southeast across northwest Arkansas during the early morning hours of the 2nd. Meanwhile an upper level system moved northeast out of the desert southwest. This resulted in a large area of precipitation. The precipitation began as rain and changed to freezing rain and sleet and then to snow. Some of the snow was heavy. A few snow accumulations include: Bella Vista...6 inches, Siloam Springs...5 inches, Eureka Springs...5 inches, Berryville...5 inches, Bentonville...4 inches and Huntsville...4 inches.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS Tulsa, OK wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Mar 2, 4:10 AM CST, 1 hour 50 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Mar 2, 4:10 AM CST, 1 hour 50 minutes before

EASTERN OKLAHOMA/NORTHWEST ARKANSAS FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TULSA OK
410 AM CST SAT MAR 2 2002

ARCTIC COLD FRONT MOVING SOUTHEAST ACROSS THE AREA WILL BRING
FALLING TEMPERATURES...STRONG NORTH WINDS AND WINTRY PRECIP TO THE
AREA TODAY.  HAVE DECIDED TO EXPAND TO WINTER STORM WARNING SOUTH
AND EAST OF ITS OLD LOCATION AS SNOWFALL AMOUNTS IN THOSE COUNTIES
MAY BRING WARNING CRITERIA SNOW TO THIS AREA AND ROADS WILL LIKELY
SLICK AND HAZARDOUS ANYWAY DUE TO EARLIER PERIODS OF SLEET AND
FREEZING RAIN.  FURTHER SOUTH DO NOT EXPECTED AS MUCH PRECIP BUT THE
THREAT OF FREEZING RAIN AND SLEET IN ADDITION TO SOME SNOWFALL WILL
CAUSE TRAVEL PROBLEMS.  THUS...HAVE ISSUED A WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY
FOR THE REMAINDER OF THE FORECAST AREA.

EXPECT THE PRECIP TO COME TO AN END FROM WEST TO EAST LATE THIS
MORNING AND EARLY THIS AFTERNOON.  STRONG NORTH WINDS WILL MAY CAUSE
BLOWING AND DRIFTING OF THE SNOW AND THE UNCERTAINTY IN THE END OF
THE PRECIP MERIT HAVING THE WARNING AND ADVISORY FOR THE WHOLE DAY.

SKIES SHOULD CLEAR FROM WEST TO EAST THIS EVENING AND WINDS WILL
DIMINISH. WINDS WILL STAY UP ENOUGH FOR TEMPS NO TO BOTTOM OUT AS
MUCH AS THEY MIGHT.  THE COLD WEATHER WILL CONTINUE SUNDAY AND
SUNDAY NIGHT BEFORE A WARMING TREND STARTS NEXT WEEK.  DID NOT HAVE
MUCH TIME TO LOOK INTO THE EXTENDED BUT THE EVOLVING ZONAL FLOW
INDICATED BY THE AVN SHOULD RESULT TO A RETURN TO PEACEFUL WEATHER
MUCH OF NEXT WEEK.

FCSTID = 17
TUL   21  10  26  13 / 100  10  10   0
FSM   37  15  27  10 / 100  10  10   0
MLC   34  13  29  12 / 100  10  10   0
BVO   20   8  24  12 / 100  10  10   0
FYV   35  10  22   6 / 100  10  10   0
BYV   35  10  22   6 / 100  10  10   0
MIO   24  10  22   9 / 100  10  10   0
MKO   29  12  26  12 / 100  10  10   0
F10   21  10  26  13 / 100  10  10   0
HHW   38  16  32  15 / 100  10  10   0

.TSA...
AR...WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FOR ZONES 1/2/11/19/20/29.
OK...WINTER STORM WARNING FOR ZONES 54>67.  WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY
FOR ZONES 49/53/68>76.

ABBAS

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Mar 2, 6:00 AM CST, 0 minutes before

ARZ001-002-010-011-019-020-029-OKZ049-053>076-031200-

EASTERN OKLAHOMA/NORTHWEST ARKANSAS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TULSA OK
600 AM CST SAT MAR 2 2002

...WINTER STORM WARNING TODAY FOR MUCH OF NORTHEAST OKLAHOMA...
...WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY TODAY FOR SOUTHEAST OKLAHOMA AND
NORTHWEST ARKANSAS...

AN ARCTIC COLD FRONT WAS MOVING RAPIDLY SOUTHEAST ACROSS EASTERN
OKLAHOMA AND NORTHWEST ARKANSAS EARLY THIS MORNING. BEHIND THE
FRONT...GUSTY NORTH TO NORTHWEST WINDS WERE USHERING MUCH COLDER AIR
INTO THE AREA AND CHANGING THE RAIN TO FREEZING RAIN...SLEET AND
EVENTUALLY TO SNOW.

SEVERAL INCHES OF SNOW HAS ALREADY FALLEN TO THE NORTHWEST OF
INTERSTATE 44 AND TOTAL SNOW ACCUMULATIONS IN NORTHEAST OKLAHOMA
WILL RANGE FROM 3 TO 8 INCHES BEFORE THE SNOW TAPERS OFF AND ENDS
THIS AFTERNOON. THE HEAVIEST AMOUNTS WILL BE NEAR THE KANSAS BORDER.
LESSER AMOUNTS OF SNOW WILL BE SEEN FURTHER SOUTH AND EAST WITH 1 TO
3 INCHES COMMON IN EAST CENTRAL OKLAHOMA AND NORTHWEST ARKANSAS AND
LESS THAN AN INCH IN SOUTHEAST OKLAHOMA AND WEST CENTRAL ARKANSAS.

TRAVEL CONDITIONS WILL BE EXTREMELY HAZARDOUS TODAY AND TRAVEL IS
STRONGLY DISCOURAGED. FOR MORE INFORMATION ON THIS WINTER
STORM...PLEASE REFER TO THE WINTER WEATHER MESSAGE /OKCWSWTUL/
ISSUED EARLIER THIS MORNING.

RELATED GRAPHICAL INFORMATION CAN BE FOUND AT WWW.SRH.NOAA.GOV/TULSA.

The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

4 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.

Heavy Snow, Benton

When: March 2, 6:00 AM CST to 12:00 PM CST
Where: Benton forecast zone
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 36.339, -94.256 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Carroll

When: March 2, 6:00 AM CST to 12:00 PM CST
Where: Carroll forecast zone
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 36.341, -93.538 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Madison

When: March 2, 6:00 AM CST to 12:00 PM CST
Where: Madison forecast zone
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 36.011, -93.725 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Washington

When: March 2, 6:00 AM CST to 12:00 PM CST
Where: Washington forecast zone
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 35.979, -94.216 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

What these are

Heavy Snow: Snowfall reaching the local warning threshold without the other hazards of a winter storm.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Arkansas in 2002 Every state in 2002 This day in weather history Warnings in Arkansas, March 2002

Sources

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5286900, 5286901, 5286902, 5286903.