2 heavy snow, as filed by the National Weather Service.
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.
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 Northern Indiana wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Mar 3, 4:10 AM EST, 6 hours 50 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORTHERN INDIANA
333 AM EST SUN MAR 3 2002
LAKE EFFECT MAIN FEATURE TODAY INTO TONIGHT WITH DELTA T NEAR 25C BY
THIS EVENING AND MEAN LLVL FLOW GOING FROM NW TO WNW TODAY AND
TONIGHT. INVERSION HEIGHTS AROUND 8K THIS AFTERNOON THEM GRADUALLY
COME DOWN TONIGHT. WITH DECENT WIND FIELD AND LLVL MOISTURE BANDS
SHOULD MAKE HEADWAY WELL INLAND AND WILL EXPAND WARNING TO PLYMOUTH
ELKHART AND ST JO MI BUT WITH LESSER AMOUNTS. REMAINDER OF CWA
SOME LIGHT SNOW SHOWERS WITH LITTLE ACCUMULATION TODAY AND SOME
FLURRIES TNGT. FLOW TURNS WEST TO SW ON MONDAY. WEAK SYSTEM FLIES BY
WITH WAAD MONDAY NIGHT AND WILL ADD A CHC FOR LIGHT SNOW NW CWA.
FAIRLY QUICK WARMUP BY TUESDAY BUT WITH SNOW COVER CUT BACK A CAT
FROM MOS.
LONG RANGE DISCUSSION
ZONAL MID-LVL FLO WITH WK RIPPLES PASSING THRU WED-THU-FRI...THEN
SIG 5H TROF MOVS IN FOR THE WKND. AT THE SFC...WK CDFNT STRUGGLES
SWD INTO THE CWFA WED THEN BCMS STNRY E-W ACRS CWFA THU-FRI. NOT
MUCH MSTR FOR MST OF WED BUT WL INCRS WED NGT-THU INTO FRI FOR CHC
OF PRECIP. TEMPS AND THICKNESSES SUPPORT MSTLY RA BUT A LTL SN MAY
MIX IN AROUND TIME OF DAILY MIN TEMP. FOR THE WKND...HEALTHY LO
PRES TO MOV FRM PLAINS INTO UPR GRT LKS...BOTH OLD MRF AND ECMWF KP
US WELL ON WRM SIDE OF SYS FOR ALL RA.
.IWX...LAKE EFFECT SNOW WARNING TODAY AND TONIGHT
BERRIEN...CASS...ST JOSEPH COUNTIES MICHIGAN
LAPORTE...ST JOSEPH...MARSHALL...AND ELKHART COUNTIES INDIANA
RES/12INZ003>009-012>018-020-022>027-032>034-MIZ077>081-OHZ001-002-004-005- 015-016-024-025-031815- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORTHERN INDIANA 523 AM EST SUN MAR 3 2002 ...HEAVY LAKE EFFECT SNOW INTO TONIGHT FOR EXTREME SOUTHWEST LOWER MICHIGAN AND PARTS OF NORTHERN INDIANA... HEAVY LAKE EFFECT SNOW SQUALLS WILL DEVELOP TODAY AND CONTINUE INTO TONIGHT FROM BENTON HARBOR TO ST. JOSEPH MICHIGAN...SOUTH TO ELKHART ...PLYMOUTH AND LAPORTE. SNOWFALL BY MONDAY MORNING WILL RANGE FROM 9 TO 16 INCHES IN LOCATIONS SUCH AS BENTON HARBOR...SOUTH BEND...CASSOPOLIS AND LAPORTE...TO 5 TO 9 INCHES IN ST. JOSEPH MICHIGAN...ELKHART...AND PLYMOUTH. NORTHWEST WINDS OF 15 TO 25 MPH WILL ALSO CAUSE SOME BLOWING AND DRIFTING SNOW TODAY. ELSEWHERE LIGHT AMOUNTS ARE EXPECTED WITH 1 TO 3 INCHES FROM COLDWATER TO LAGRANGE...WARSAW AND KNOX. AN INCH OR LESS IS EXPECTED IN HILLSDALE...ANGOLA...NAPOLEON...FORT WAYNE AND LIMA. BUT IN THESE LOCATIONS FALLING TEMPERATURES MAY CAUSE WATER ALREADY ON ROADWAYS TO FREEZE. MOTORISTS SHOULD USE EXTRA CAUTION WHILE TRAVELING. STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO AND OTHER LOCAL MEDIA FOR FURTHER DETAILS OR UPDATES. FOR ADDITIONAL WEATHER INFORMATION, CHECK OUR WEB SITE AT HTTP://WWW.CRH.NOAA.GOV/IWX
2 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.
An area of low pressure moved across Northern Indiana, bringing with it a mixed bag of precipitation. While only light to moderate accumulations of snow fell across the area as the low moved through, heavy lake effect snow bands set up, bringing from 6 to 8 inches of snow to the area by the morning of the 4th.
An area of low pressure moved across Northern Indiana, bringing with it a mixed bag of precipitation. While only light to moderate accumulations of snow fell across the area as the low moved through, heavy lake effect snow bands set up, bringing from 6 to 8 inches of snow to the area by the morning of the 4th.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Indiana in 2002Every state in 2002This day in weather historyWarnings in Indiana, March 2002
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: 5281708, 5281709.