Kansas, 2002

Winter Storm in Kansas, March 1 to 2, 2002

March 1 to 2, 2002 · NWS ICT · 20 events in 20 counties and zones

20 winter storm, as filed by the National Weather Service.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 20 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
20

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 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 Wichita, KS wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Mar 1, 6:35 PM CST, 3 hours 25 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Mar 1, 6:35 PM CST, 3 hours 25 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION...CORRECTED UPDATE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WICHITA KS
635 PM CST FRI MAR 1 2002

CALLS AND ASOS REPORTS FROM AROUND THE REGION ARE INDICATING THAT
JUST BEHIND THE ARCTIC FRONT THERE IS A BAND OF LIGHT FREEZING
RAIN.  THIS IS MAKING ROAD TREACHEROUS...AND HAVE SENT OUT AN UPDATE
TO MENTION IN THE ZONES...AS WELL AS TO PUT IN THE GRIDS.  THE LIGHT
FREEZING RAIN IS OCCURRING BECAUSE THE LIFT ACROSS OUR REGION IS
VERY SHALLOW.  ONCE THE LIFT DEEPENS LATER TONIGHT...THE
PRECIPITATION WILL CHANGE TO SNOW.

.ICT...WINTER STORM WARNING TONIGHT CENTRAL KANSAS...AND TONIGHT
INTO SATURDAY MORNING FOR SOUTH CENTRAL AND PARTS OF SOUTHEAST
KANSAS.
KSZ032-033-047>053-067>071-082-083-089-091>095-098.

WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY LATE TONIGHT AND SATURDAY MORNING FOR PARTS
OF SOUTHEAST KANSAS.
KSZ072-096-099-100.

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

20 winter storm. Local standard time, as filed.

Winter Storm, Marion

When
March 1, 10:00 PM CST to March 2, 4:00 AM CST
Where
Marion forecast zone
Reported by
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates
38.359, -97.097 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Chase

When
March 1, 10:00 PM CST to March 2, 4:00 AM CST
Where
Chase forecast zone
Reported by
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates
38.302, -96.594 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Reno

When
March 1, 10:00 PM CST to March 2, 4:00 AM CST
Where
Reno forecast zone
Reported by
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates
37.953, -98.086 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Harvey

When
March 1, 10:00 PM CST to March 2, 4:00 AM CST
Where
Harvey forecast zone
Reported by
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates
38.043, -97.427 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Butler

When
March 1, 10:00 PM CST to March 2, 4:00 AM CST
Where
Butler forecast zone
Reported by
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates
37.781, -96.839 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Kingman

When
March 1, 10:00 PM CST to March 2, 4:00 AM CST
Where
Kingman forecast zone
Reported by
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates
37.559, -98.136 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Sedgwick

When
March 1, 10:00 PM CST to March 2, 5:00 AM CST
Where
Sedgwick forecast zone
Reported by
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates
37.685, -97.461 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Harper

When
March 1, 10:00 PM CST to March 2, 4:00 AM CST
Where
Harper forecast zone
Reported by
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates
37.192, -98.075 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, McPherson

When
March 1, 10:00 PM CST to March 2, 4:00 AM CST
Where
McPherson forecast zone
Reported by
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates
38.392, -97.648 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Low pressure developed rapidly over New Mexico during the morning. As the low moved east into West Texas, it deepened considerably, allowing rich gulf moisture to surge north across East Texas and Oklahoma and into Kansas. An upper-level impulse lifting northeast across the Southern Plains induced sufficient lift to produce bands of snow across Central Kansas late in the afternoon. By evening, the snow increased in both coverage and intensity, and between 10 PM and midnight, moderate to heavy snow occurred across that part of Central Kansas generally along, and southeast, of a line from Hutchinson to McPherson. By midnight, the snow had overspread South-Central and most of Southeast Kansas. Accumulations were 3-6 inches, with the greater amounts occurring across Southeast Kansas where the snow was occasionally convective. However, northerly winds of 30-40 mph whipped across the region resulting in widespread blowing and drifting snow that frequently reduced visibilities to around 1/4 mile.

Winter Storm, Greenwood

When
March 1, 11:00 PM CST to March 2, 6:00 AM CST
Where
Greenwood forecast zone
Reported by
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates
37.878, -96.233 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Sumner

When
March 1, 11:00 PM CST to March 2, 5:00 AM CST
Where
Sumner forecast zone
Reported by
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates
37.237, -97.477 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Cowley

When
March 1, 11:00 PM CST to March 2, 5:00 AM CST
Where
Cowley forecast zone
Reported by
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates
37.238, -96.837 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Woodson

When
March 2, 12:00 AM CST to 6:00 AM CST
Where
Woodson forecast zone
Reported by
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates
37.887, -95.740 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Allen

When
March 2, 12:00 AM CST to 6:00 AM CST
Where
Allen forecast zone
Reported by
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates
37.886, -95.301 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Elk

When
March 2, 12:00 AM CST to 6:00 AM CST
Where
Elk forecast zone
Reported by
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates
37.454, -96.244 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Wilson

When
March 2, 12:00 AM CST to 6:00 AM CST
Where
Wilson forecast zone
Reported by
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates
37.559, -95.743 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Neosho

When
March 2, 12:00 AM CST to 6:00 AM CST
Where
Neosho forecast zone
Reported by
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates
37.559, -95.307 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Chautauqua

When
March 2, 12:00 AM CST to 6:00 AM CST
Where
Chautauqua forecast zone
Reported by
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates
37.150, -96.245 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Montgomery

When
March 2, 12:00 AM CST to 6:00 AM CST
Where
Montgomery forecast zone
Reported by
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates
37.193, -95.743 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Labette

When
March 2, 12:00 AM CST to 6:00 AM CST
Where
Labette forecast zone
Reported by
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates
37.191, -95.298 (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 Kansas in 2002Every state in 2002This day in weather historyWarnings in Kansas, 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: 5282512, 5282513, 5282514, 5282515, 5282516, 5282590, 5282591, 5282592, 5282601, 5282587, 5282593, 5282594, 5282588, 5282589, 5282595, 5282596, 5282597, 5282598, 5282599, 5282600.