Winter Storm in Illinois, January 30 to 31, 2002

Name: Winter Storm in Illinois, January 30 to 31, 2002
Start: 2002-01-30T19:00
End: 2002-01-31T05:30
Location: Illinois

January 30 to 31, 2002 · NWS LOT · 16 events in 16 counties and zones

A strong winter storm moved into the Ohio Valley on January 30th. especially along and south of Interstate 80 where 2 to 5 inches fell.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 14 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: 16

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 LOT wrote it up.

A strong winter storm moved into the Ohio Valley on January 30th. Snow began falling during the morning hours...especially along and south of Interstate 80 where 2 to 5 inches fell. Heavier snow began falling north of Interstate 80 during the evening hours and continued into the early morning hours of January 31st. Snowfall totals were mainly between 6 and 10 inches from Interstate 80 north. The heaviest snow fell in Dupage and Cook counties. Downers Grove in Dupage county received the most snow with 13.1 inches. Ohare Airport received 12.0 inches. The snow caused numerous car accidents.Across Livingston, Kankakee, southern Will, and southern Grundy counties, snowfall amounts were lighter, generally 2 to 5 inches. However, these areas received one quarter inch of ice from freezing rain during the early morning hours of January 31st. Many utility poles, power lines, trees and tree limbs were knocked down by the ice causing several power outages.

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 Chicago, IL wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jan 30, 1:49 PM CST, 5 hours 11 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jan 30, 1:49 PM CST, 5 hours 11 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHICAGO IL
149 PM CST WED JAN 30 2002

EARLIER CHANGE TO SNOW S PORTIONS HAS LEAD TO 2-5 INCH SNOW AMOUNTS S PORTION
OF AREA TO N OF RAIN AREA. ALL PRECIP BEEN FROM UPPER LIFT 600MB AND ABOVE AS
SUBSIDENCE 700MB AND BELOW. AT MID AFTERNOON  SNOW HAS ONLY BEEN CREEPING N.
BUT RADARS OVER IA NOW SHOWING INCREASING SNOW DEVELOPING N AS MORE ENERGY
ENTERS MIDWEST WITH FLOW BACKING AND RESULTANT ISENTROPIC LIFT INCREASES. ALL
MODELS STILL PREDICTING STRONG ISENTROPIC LIFT TO DEVELOP LATE AFTERNON THRU
TONIGHT OVER AREA SO SNOW WILL SURGE N EARLY TONIGHT.

THE MAIN UPPER SWIRL NOW S OF AZ NOT OVERHEAD UNTIL FRIDAY MORNING SO LOOKS
LIKE ANOTHER SHOT OF SNOW THURSDAY NIGHT. ALL MODELS SHOW THIS AS STRONG
UPPER WAVE NR MS RIVER AT 12Z FRIDAY. ALL MODELS SHOW VERY STRONG Q-VECTOR
CONVERGENCE ALONG WITH DECENT 700 OMEGA. THIS HOWEVER WILL BE BEHIND MAIN
MOISTURE WHICH WILL HAVE MOVED OFF TO OH BY THAT TIME. SO WILL INDICATE SOME
MINOR ACCUMULATION POSSIBLE.

FOR TONIGHT...STILL LOOKS LIKE GOOD SLUG OF QPF TO FALL BETWEEN 00Z AND 12ZZ
MAINLY SE 2/3 AREA WITH AMOUNTS 1/2 TO 1 INCH. AT ORD MODELS AT .6 OVERNIGHT.
BIG DIFFERENCE ON THURSDAY WITH ETA AT .06 AND NGM .65 WHICH LOOKS OVERDONE.
WOULD RESULT IN 6-8 INCHES SNOW IN ALL SNOW AREA AND LESS IN CHANGE ZONE.

TEMP GUIDANCE CONTINUES TO LOOK TOO COLD TONIGHT AND THURSDAY.

CORD WITH IWX DVN

.CHI...WNTER STORM WARNING SW-NE THRU CENTRAL AREA WITH SNOW ADVISORY NW
PART.

AF

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

16 winter storm. Local standard time, as filed.

Winter Storm, Grundy

When: January 30, 7:00 PM CST to January 31, 5:30 AM CST
Where: Grundy forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 41.285, -88.418 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Du Page

When: January 30, 11:00 PM CST to January 31, 5:30 AM CST
Where: Du Page forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 41.852, -88.086 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Will

When: January 30, 11:00 PM CST to January 31, 5:30 AM CST
Where: Will forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER

Winter Storm, Cook

When: January 31, 3:00 AM CST to 5:30 AM CST
Where: Cook forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER

Winter Storm, De Kalb

When: January 31, 3:00 AM CST to 5:30 AM CST
Where: De Kalb forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 41.894, -88.770 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Kankakee

When: January 31, 4:00 AM CST to 5:30 AM CST
Where: Kankakee forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 41.138, -87.862 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Livingston

When: January 31, 4:00 AM CST to 5:30 AM CST
Where: Livingston forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 40.892, -88.558 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Boone

When: January 31, 4:00 AM CST to 5:30 AM CST
Where: Boone forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 42.323, -88.823 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Kane

When: January 31, 4:00 AM CST to 5:30 AM CST
Where: Kane forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 41.939, -88.429 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Kendall

When: January 31, 4:00 AM CST to 5:30 AM CST
Where: Kendall forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 41.591, -88.429 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, La Salle

When: January 31, 4:00 AM CST to 5:30 AM CST
Where: La Salle forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 41.344, -88.886 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Lake

When: January 31, 4:00 AM CST to 5:30 AM CST
Where: Lake forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 42.349, -87.862 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Lee

When: January 31, 4:00 AM CST to 5:30 AM CST
Where: Lee forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 41.746, -89.300 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, McHenry

When: January 31, 4:00 AM CST to 5:30 AM CST
Where: McHenry forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 42.324, -88.452 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Ogle

When: January 31, 4:00 AM CST to 5:30 AM CST
Where: Ogle forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 42.043, -89.321 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Winnebago

When: January 31, 4:00 AM CST to 5:30 AM CST
Where: Winnebago forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 42.336, -89.161 (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, January 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: 5278471, 5278470, 5278480, 5278468, 5278469, 5276437, 5276438, 5278467, 5278472, 5278473, 5278474, 5278475, 5278476, 5278477, 5278478, 5278479.