Winter Storm in Illinois, March 25 to 26, 2002

Name: Winter Storm in Illinois, March 25 to 26, 2002
Start: 2002-03-25T18:00
End: 2002-03-26T06:00
Location: Illinois

March 25 to 26, 2002 · NWS LSX · 6 events in 6 counties and zones

A winter storm brought sleet and snow to parts of southwest Illinois. Sleet began falling the evening of the 25th and accumulated to 1 inch in many areas.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 6 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: 6

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.

A winter storm brought sleet and snow to parts of southwest Illinois. Sleet began falling the evening of the 25th and accumulated to 1 inch in many areas. The sleet changed to snow during the early morning hours of the 26th and accumulated to 3 to 4 inches. The combination of sleet and snow made for extremely hazardous travel conditions across the area.

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 Mar 25, 1:30 PM CST, 4 hours 30 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Mar 25, 1:30 PM CST, 4 hours 30 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ST LOUIS MO
130 PM CST MON MAR 25 2002

                 ...WINTER HANGS ON TOUGH...

850 MSTR IS IN PLACE THIS MRNG FM THE SRN PLNS INTO THE OZARKS.
SGNFNT MSTR CNVGC FCST INTO THE OZARKS AND PTNS OF CNTRL/E CNTRL MO
THIS EVE.  TREEMENDOUS VERT MTN FCST AT MIDN BY ETA & NGM ACRS E
CNTRL MO/SW IL WITH VERT MTN SCOOTING OFF TO THE E BY 12Z.  NGM AND
ETAS  QPF FAIRLY SMLR WITH ETA LTL MORE GENEROUS WITH AMNTS.  AVN
FCSTS HLF INCH PLUS ALG AND S OF I-44 SINCE IT PLACES ITS STRNG VER
MTN ACRS SE MO/SRN IL AT MIDN.  AVN MAY BE UNDERESTIMATING POTENTIAL
FOR CNVCTN IN THE COLD AIR WITH NGM AND ETA BOTH FCSTG 4-8C DEWPTS
AT 850 AT MIDN.

ETA SOUNDINGS ON BUFKIT FOLLOWED FAIRLY CLOSE FOR TNGT/ERY TUE.
MODEL SUGGSTS THE FOLLOWING SCENERIO DEPENDING ON SFC TEMPS:  SFC
TEMPS BARELY ABV FREEZG IN STL AREA WITH NELY WIND THOU.

UIN AREA - ALL SNOW
COU AREA - ZR/SLT ERY EVE CHANGING TO SNOW LT EVE.
STL AREA - R/ZR ERY EVE CHANGING TO ZR MID EVE AND TO SNOW AROUND
12Z
FAM AREA - RAIN TILL AFT MIDN CHANGING TO ZR ARND 3AM AND TO S BY
ARND 8 AM
SLO AREA - RAIN THRU MIDN CHANGING TO ZR ARND 3 AM AND TO SNOW ARND
9 AM.  NOT MUCH SNOW ACCUMULATION IS EXPCTD AS SGNFNT VERT MTN
SLIDES OFF TO THE E.

.STL...WNTR WX ADVSRY NE MO/W CNTRL IL FOR TNGT
       WNTR STORM WARNING FOR CNTRL/ E CNTRL AND PTNS OF SW IL FOR
       TNGT AND ERY TUE
       WNTR WX ADVSRY LT TNGT AND TUE MRNG FOR PTNS OF ERN OZARKS
       AND SW IL
       REFER TO STLWSWSTL WHICH SHOULD BE OUT BY 330 PM

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

6 winter storm. Local standard time, as filed.

Winter Storm, Calhoun

When: March 25, 6:00 PM CST to March 26, 6:00 AM 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: March 25, 6:00 PM CST to March 26, 6:00 AM 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: March 25, 6:00 PM CST to March 26, 6:00 AM 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: March 25, 6:00 PM CST to March 26, 6:00 AM 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: March 25, 6:00 PM CST to March 26, 6:00 AM 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, Montgomery

When: March 25, 6:00 PM CST to March 26, 6:00 AM CST
Where: Montgomery forecast zone
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 39.231, -89.479 (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, 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: 5280471, 5280472, 5280473, 5280474, 5280475, 5280476.