Winter Storm in Illinois, February 25 to 26, 2002

Name: Winter Storm in Illinois, February 25 to 26, 2002
Start: 2002-02-25T20:00
End: 2002-02-26T12:00
Location: Illinois

February 25 to 26, 2002 · NWS LSX · 9 events in 9 counties and zones

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 9 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: 9

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 LSX wrote it up.

Snowfall of 1 to 4 inches fell across the area from the night of February 25 through the morning of February 26. Most of the snow had ended by sunrise on the 26th, however strong northwest winds caused some blowing and drifting snow until about Noon. Most schools across the area were closed in the 26th. The snow was blamed as the caused of numerous auto accidents.

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 St. Louis, MO wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Feb 25, 2:10 PM CST, 5 hours 50 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Feb 25, 2:10 PM CST, 5 hours 50 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ST LOUIS MO
210 PM CST MON FEB 25 2002

PLAN ON ISSUING WINTER WX ADVISORY FOR PARTS OF CNTRL IL FOR TONIGHT
AND TOMORROW.  ETA/NGM HAS SHOWN THE MOST CONSISTENCY WITH THE PAST
24 HOURS THAN THE AVN...SO WILL LEAN TOWARD THE ETA WITH THIS
PACKAGE.  PCPN HAS DEVELOPED ACROSS THE AREA PRETTY MUCH AS EXPECTED
AS SHORTWAVE TROF AND ASSOCIATED JET STREAK ARE PUSHING IN FROM THE
CENTRAL PLAINS.  MODEL DEPICTING DECENT 850-500MB FRONTOGENTICAL
FORCING AND MOISTURE CONVERGENCE.  BEST UVV MOVES E OF LSX CWA BY
06Z...BUT MESOETA SOUNDINGS STILL SHOWING A DEEP LAYER OF RH OVER
THE NRN 2/3RDS OF CWA MOST OF TONIGHT WITH SOME MODEST UVV IN
DENTRITIC IC LAYER ADDING TO SOME MINOR ADDITIONAL ACCUMULATION.
MODEL QPF HAS 0.2 TO 0.6 INCHES OF LIQUID BY 12Z TOMORROW WHICH
TRANSLATES TO 2 TO 6 INCHES OF SNOW...THE MOST BEING IN THE NE.
INITIALLY WARM GROUND AND SLEET WILL CUT THESE TOTALS DOWN BELOW AT
STL.  SO CURRENT AMOUNTS IN ZONES LOOK OK...EXCEPT WILL BUMP UP
AMOUNTS TO ADVISORY CRITERIA IN THE NE.

WINDY CONDITIONS EXPECTED TONIGHT AND TUESDAY...ESPECIALLY OVR W
CNTRL IL AND NE MO AS GRADIENT TIGHTENS AND CAA HELPS TRANSPORT 35KT
850MB WINDS TO SFC.  THIS WILL LEAD TO SOME BLSN...PARTICULARLY IN
ADVISORY AREA.  SNSH ARE A GOOD BET ON TUESDAY AS LAPSE RATES
STEEPEN AS UPR LOW STRENGTHENS AS IT MOVES OVER US.  THE SHSN WILL
END ON TUES NIGHT AS UPR LOW MOVES EAST AND SUBSIDENCE AND DRY AIR
WORKS IN BEHIND IT.

WED AND THU LOOK DRY FOR NOW AS A SERIES OF WEAK S/W TROFS MOVE S OF
AREA. WHILE RH INCREASES OVER AREA ON THURSDAY...SUBSIDENCE WILL
CONTINUE SO WILL JUST HIT THE CLOUDS.

MEDIUM RANGE MODELS ARE STILL SHOWING A GREAT DEAL OF DISPARITY
LOWERING OVERALL CONFIDENCE IN THE EXTENDED FORECAST.  GENERAL
PATTERN SHOWING A MEAN TROF OVER CONUS BY NEXT WEEKEND WITH
SHORTWAVE TROF 12Z AVN RUN CLOSER TO CANADIAN/ECMWF/UKMET IN DIGGING
A S/W FARTHER SW IN THE ROCKIES BY LATE WEEK WHEREAS THE MRF MOVES
THIS QUICKLY EWD.  MRF ENSEMBLE ALSO NOT AGREEING ON WHAT TO DO WITH
THIS ENERGY ON THE BACKSIDE OF MEAN TROF...SO WILL LEAN TOWARD THE
12Z AVN RUN.  LEE SIDE CYCLOGENESIS DEVELOPS OVER NERN NM AS A
RESULT WITH WAA PCPN DEVELOPING A FAR E AS THE MID MS VALLEY...SO
WILL CONTINUE PCPN ON FRIDAY.  AVN IS QUICKER THAN THE UKMET ON SAT
AS IT MOVES A STORM SYSTEM THRU THE LOWER MS VALLEY THAN THE UKMET
WHICH HAS A SIGNIFICANT STORM SYSTEM.  UKMET HAS HAD SOME
CONSISTENCY PROBLEMS LAST FEW DAYS.  WILL CONT PCPN ON SAT AND GO
CLOSER TO MRF MOS MEAN TEMPS THAN THE MEX.

.STL...WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY TONIGHT AND TUES FOR GREENE...
JERSEY... MACOUPIN...MONTGOMERY IL...BOND AND FAYETTE COUNTIES.

BRITT

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

9 winter storm. Local standard time, as filed.

Winter Storm, Bond

When: February 25, 8:00 PM CST to February 26, 12:00 PM CST
Where: Bond forecast zone
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 38.887, -89.436 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Calhoun

When: February 25, 8:00 PM CST to February 26, 12:00 PM CST
Where: Calhoun forecast zone
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 39.169, -90.667 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Greene

When: February 25, 8:00 PM CST to February 26, 12:00 PM CST
Where: Greene forecast zone
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 39.356, -90.390 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Jersey

When: February 25, 8:00 PM CST to February 26, 12:00 PM CST
Where: Jersey forecast zone
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 39.086, -90.357 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Macoupin

When: February 25, 8:00 PM CST to February 26, 12:00 PM CST
Where: Macoupin forecast zone
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 39.261, -89.924 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Madison

When: February 25, 8:00 PM CST to February 26, 12:00 PM CST
Where: Madison forecast zone
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 38.830, -89.905 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Monroe

When: February 25, 8:00 PM CST to February 26, 12:00 PM CST
Where: Monroe forecast zone
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 38.279, -90.177 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Pike

When: February 25, 8:00 PM CST to February 26, 12:00 PM CST
Where: Pike forecast zone
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 39.623, -90.886 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, St. Clair

When: February 25, 8:00 PM CST to February 26, 12:00 PM CST
Where: St. Clair forecast zone
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 38.470, -89.928 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

What these are

Winter Storm: A storm that brought snow, sleet or freezing rain at warning levels, usually over several hours or days.

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

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Illinois in 2002 Every state in 2002 This day in weather history Warnings in Illinois, February 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: 5283004, 5283005, 5283006, 5283007, 5283008, 5283009, 5283010, 5283011, 5283012.