Heavy Snow in Iowa, March 1 to 2, 2002

Name: Heavy Snow in Iowa, March 1 to 2, 2002
Start: 2002-03-01T17:00
End: 2002-03-02T14:00
Location: Iowa

March 1 to 2, 2002 · NWS DMX · 16 events in 16 counties and zones

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 16 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: $80,000
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 DMX wrote it up.

An Arctic cold front dropped southeast across the state on the 28th and became stationary southeast of Iowa by the morning of the first. Iowa was under a dome of Arctic air for one of the few times during this nearly record warm winter. Southwest flow aloft prevailed over the area as low pressure developed over the southern Plains. As the low intensified, strong southerly winds developed in the low levels pushing warmer and more moist air over the top of the dome of cold air that was in place over Iowa. The actual track of the surface low was well to the south of Iowa. Snow broke out during the late afternoon hours over west central Iowa and spread east during the overnight hours. A band of heavy snow about 50 to 75 miles wide developed from west central into northeast Iowa. Snowfall amounts in this band were in excess of 6 inches in most areas, however the highest totals were little more than 8 inches. The snowfall was quite uniform with little in the way of any convective elements in the snow band. Northerly winds increased during the second half of the storm. This caused considerable drifting snow, however blowing snow was quite limited owing to the fact that there was no snow on the ground prior to the storm, and there was not even any snow in the ditches. Drifting was a problem with reports of drifts of 5 to 10 feet high in places. The storm did cause some disruption in travel and activities, however as winter storms go in the central Plains, the event was not a major event.

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 Des Moines, IA wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Mar 1, 3:54 PM CST, 1 hour 6 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Mar 1, 3:54 PM CST, 1 hour 6 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DES MOINES IA
354 PM CST FRI MAR 1 2002

FCST PROBLEM RMNS SNW AMTS WITH APCHG SYS AS VRY LRG LG WV TROF
SETTLES INTO CNTRL CONUS FOR WEEKEND.  WATER VAPOR IMAGERY SHOWS
SHRT WV ACRS SRN CO WITH SHEAR AXIS PRODUCING ELONGATED DEFORMATION
ZN INTO UPR MO VLY.  SCNDRY SHRT WV WHICH WL BE ANOTHER ROUND SAT
ROUNDING BASE OF TROF INTO SWRN U.S.  HVY SNW HAS BEEN ONGOING ACRS
NE MUCH OF THE DAY IN STG WRM ADVCTN ZN WHICH IS EVIDENT IN PROFILER
DATA AND VEERING FM OK INTO NE AND IA.  RADAR MOSIAC SHOWS HEAVIER
SNW NOW CROSSING MO RVR INTO WRN IA IN ISENT LIFT...AND A BIT LGTR
SNW IN DEF ZN INTO NWRN IA.  20Z SFC ANLYS PLACES LOW FM NE INTO TX
AND OK...WITH ASSOCD WRM FNT ACRS KS TO BTWN KIRK AND KCOU.  DWPNTS
INTO 30S IN WRM SECTOR FEEDING PCPN AREA.

ALL SHRT RANGE MDLS IN GENERAL AGREEMENT BUT JUDGING FM CURRENT
WX...ETA MAY BE MDL OF CHOICE.  STILL DO NOT HAVE GREATEST
CONFIDENCE IN OUTCOME HWVR.  NE PCPN SEEMS TO BE DRIVEN MORE BY
ISENT LIFT AND FRONTOGENETICAL FORCING RATHER THAN KINEMATICS.
THESE ETA FEATURES CROSS FA 00Z-06Z WHICH HINTS AT DMSHG WINDOW OF
UVM WHICH DOES NOT SUPPORT CURRENT SNW AMTS APCHG A FOOT.  EVEN
1/HR AMTS FM 00-09Z WOULD NOT GET THAT HIGH SO WL BACK OFF A BIT
INTO 4-9 INCH RANGE ACRS ENTIRE WRNG AREA.  DO NOT SEE MUCH IN THE
WAY OF CONVECTIVE POTENTIAL THAT WOULD ACCENTUATE HIGH END OF AMTS.
ETA QPF SEEMS ON TARGET AND WITH 15/1 SNW/RAIN RATIOS ABV AMTS LOOK
GOOD. ALTHOUGH SGFNT SNWS WL BE DONE BY LATE TNGT...MID LVL QG
FORCING LINGERS ACRS SERN THIRD OF FA THRU MUCH OF SAT SO MAY BOOST
AMTS A FEW INCHES SERN SXNS.  STILL XPC CONSIDERABLE BLOWING SNW
PROBLEMS STARTING LATE TNGT AND LASTING THRU MUCH OF SAT.  NGM MOS
TEMPS SEEM TO HAVE HANDLE ON TRENDS AND FOLLOWED THRU PD.

COORDINATION W/FSD...OMA...ARX...AND DVN.

ONLY LGT PCPN XPCD FOR START OF NEXT WEEK AS WE BRIEFLY GO INTO ZNL
FLOW.  WRM ADVCTN PUSH MAY PRODUCE LGT SNW NRN PTNS MON.  HWVR AS
TROF DVLPS ACRS W CST TWRD MIDWEEK LEE SIDE CYCLONGENESIS AND WEAK
SHRT WVS WL EJECT INTO NRN PLAINS PRODUCING MINOR SFC WV WHICH WILL
TRACK FM IA NWD.  MDLS DO NOT AGREE WITH PLACEMENT RANGING FM UK S
TO 12Z AVN NOW FARTHEST N.  DO NOT XPC MUCH PCPN WITH THIS PASSAGE
FM ANY OF THE MDL SOLUTIONS BUT WL KEEP GOING MENTION TUE ACRS NRN
PTNS.  HWVR TRAILING FNTL BNDRY SETTING UP JUST TO THE S LATE
WEDNESDAY INTO FRI MAY PRODUCE SVRL PDS OF ISENT LIFT AND PCPN.
PARTIAL THICKNESSES SUPPORT RAIN...SNW OR POSSIBLY FRZG RAIN...BUT
WL JUST STICK WITH RAIN OR SNW WORDING ATTM.  TEMP WISE...WL STAY AT
OR JUST BLO COOLER OF GUID SETS DUE TO SNW CVR AND RELATIVELY
SEASONAL PTN.

.DSM...WINTER STORM WRNG TNGT AND SAT ALL BUT NRN TWO TIERS OF
        COUNTIES
       WINTER WX ADVY TNGT AND SAT NRN TWO TIERS

SMALL

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

16 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.

Heavy Snow, Audubon

When: March 1, 5:00 PM CST to March 2, 2:00 PM CST
Where: Audubon forecast zone
Property damage: $5,000
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 41.685, -94.906 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Black Hawk

When: March 1, 5:00 PM CST to March 2, 2:00 PM CST
Where: Black Hawk forecast zone
Property damage: $5,000
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 42.470, -92.309 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Boone

When: March 1, 5:00 PM CST to March 2, 2:00 PM CST
Where: Boone forecast zone
Property damage: $5,000
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 42.037, -93.932 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Bremer

When: March 1, 5:00 PM CST to March 2, 2:00 PM CST
Where: Bremer forecast zone
Property damage: $5,000
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 42.775, -92.318 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Butler

When: March 1, 5:00 PM CST to March 2, 2:00 PM CST
Where: Butler forecast zone
Property damage: $5,000
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 42.732, -92.790 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Dallas

When: March 1, 5:00 PM CST to March 2, 2:00 PM CST
Where: Dallas forecast zone
Property damage: $5,000
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 41.685, -94.040 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Franklin

When: March 1, 5:00 PM CST to March 2, 2:00 PM CST
Where: Franklin forecast zone
Property damage: $5,000
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 42.733, -93.262 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Greene

When: March 1, 5:00 PM CST to March 2, 2:00 PM CST
Where: Greene forecast zone
Property damage: $5,000
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 42.036, -94.397 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Grundy

When: March 1, 5:00 PM CST to March 2, 2:00 PM CST
Where: Grundy forecast zone
Property damage: $5,000
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 42.402, -92.791 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Guthrie

When: March 1, 5:00 PM CST to March 2, 2:00 PM CST
Where: Guthrie forecast zone
Property damage: $5,000
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 41.684, -94.501 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Hamilton

When: March 1, 5:00 PM CST to March 2, 2:00 PM CST
Where: Hamilton forecast zone
Property damage: $5,000
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 42.384, -93.707 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Hardin

When: March 1, 5:00 PM CST to March 2, 2:00 PM CST
Where: Hardin forecast zone
Property damage: $5,000
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 42.384, -93.240 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Marshall

When: March 1, 5:00 PM CST to March 2, 2:00 PM CST
Where: Marshall forecast zone
Property damage: $5,000
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 42.036, -92.999 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Story

When: March 1, 5:00 PM CST to March 2, 2:00 PM CST
Where: Story forecast zone
Property damage: $5,000
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 42.036, -93.465 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Tama

When: March 1, 5:00 PM CST to March 2, 2:00 PM CST
Where: Tama forecast zone
Property damage: $5,000
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 42.080, -92.532 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Webster

When: March 1, 5:00 PM CST to March 2, 2:00 PM CST
Where: Webster forecast zone
Property damage: $5,000
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 42.428, -94.182 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

What these are

Heavy Snow: Snowfall reaching the local warning threshold without the other hazards of a winter storm.

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

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Iowa in 2002 Every state in 2002 This day in weather history Warnings in Iowa, 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: 5281481, 5281482, 5281483, 5281484, 5281485, 5281486, 5281487, 5281488, 5281489, 5281490, 5281491, 5281492, 5281493, 5281494, 5281495, 5281496.