Indiana, 2002

Winter Storm in Indiana, March 2 to 3, 2002

March 2 to 3, 2002 · NWS LOT · 2 events in 2 counties and zones

Snow began falling late on Friday March 1st and continued into the morning hours of Saturday March 2nd. The second part of this storm began Saturday afternoon and continued into the early morning hours of Sunday March 3rd.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 2 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

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The toll

Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
None recorded
Crop damage
None recorded
Events
2

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.

Snow began falling late on Friday March 1st and continued into the morning hours of Saturday March 2nd. The second part of this storm began Saturday afternoon and continued into the early morning hours of Sunday March 3rd. Storm total snowfall amounts ranged from 5 to 9 inches. Lowell in Lake county reported 8.5 inches and the Indiana Dunes in Porter county reported 6.6 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 Chicago, IL wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Mar 2, 3:40 PM CST, 4 hours 20 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Mar 2, 3:40 PM CST, 4 hours 20 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHICAGO IL
315 CST SAT MAR 2 2002

WILL KEEP ZONE GROUPINGS AND HEADLINES IN PLACE.  CONTINUE WINT STM
WRNG N CNTRL/NERN IL AS BAND OF HVYR SNOW LIFTS NEWD THIS EVENING.
SNOW HAS BEGUN TO LIGHTEN UP A BIT IN RFD AREA AND EXPECT ADDL 1 TO
3 THERE...3 TO 5 ELSEWHERE.  WIND WILL BE A PROBLEM TOO WITH BLOWING
SNW DVLPG.

KSLX RADAR LOOP SHOWS WELL DEFINED BACK EDGE TO PCPN CROSSING MS RVR
ATTM.  SATLT IMAGERY ALSO SHOWS INFLECTION ALG BACK EDGE OF CLOUD
DECK BECOMING BETTER DEFIINED WITH VORT CENTER INVOF VIH-CGI.
TIMING OF PREVIOUS FCSTS STILL LOOKS GOOD WITH MOST ACCUMULATING
SNOW ENDING FROM W-E AFT AROUND 7 OR 8 PM.  HANG BACK BAND OF SNOW
ACROSS IA/MO TO LIFT THRU AS WELL AND AVN DEPICTS THIS QUITE WELL SO
WILL KEEP FLURRIES MENTIONED THRU THE NIGHT.

CURR SFC ANALYSIS SHOWS SFC LO BECOMING WELL ORGANIZED /SFC PRES
FALLS GREATER THAN 5 MB TO NE OF CNTR NOW OVER W CNTRL IN/AND
AGAIN...AVN SEEMS TO HAVE GOOD HANDLE ON THIS WITH LO DEEPENING AND
MOVG TO LH OVERNGT.  THIS WILL FURTHER INCRS GRADIENT ALLOWING FOR
MORE BLOWING SNOW AND WIND CHILLS APCHG ADVSRY CRITERIA LATE
TNGT/ERLY SUN.

.CHI...WINTER STORM WARNING TONIGHT GARY-PONTIAC NORTHWARD
       WINTER WX ADVISORY NWRN IN-E CNTRL IL
       GALE WARNING LAKE MICHIGAN

MERZLOCK

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

2 winter storm. Local standard time, as filed.

Winter Storm, Lake

When
March 2, 8:00 PM CST to March 3, 4:00 AM CST
Where
Lake forecast zone
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
41.472, -87.376 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Porter

When
March 2, 8:00 PM CST to March 3, 4:00 AM CST
Where
Porter forecast zone
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
41.509, -87.073 (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

More

Every storm in Indiana in 2002Every state in 2002This day in weather historyWarnings in Indiana, 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: 5285670, 5285671.