Heavy Snow, Western Franklin
- When
- March 20, 10:00 AM EST to 10:00 PM EST
- Where
- Western Franklin forecast zone
- Reported by
- TRAINED SPOTTER
- Coordinates
- 42.583, -72.592 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Heavy Snow in Massachusetts, March 20, 2002
A late season winter storm brought heavy snow to the higher elevations of western and north central Massachusetts. Storm totals of 6 to 8 inches were widely reported in western parts of Franklin, Hampshire, and Hampden Counties.
Where it happened
Every event with a place to put it; 5 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
The toll
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- None recorded
- Crop damage
- None recorded
- Events
- 5
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 BOX wrote it up.
A late season winter storm brought heavy snow to the higher elevations of western and north central Massachusetts. Storm totals of 6 to 8 inches were widely reported in western parts of Franklin, Hampshire, and Hampden Counties. Amounts of 5 to 9 inches were observed in northern Worcester County, and totals averaged 4 to 8 inches in western Middlesex County, primarily north and west of Interstate 495. Dozens of accidents were reported as a result of slippery roads and poor visibility. Two injuries were indirectly attributed to the storm. A father and son were involved in an accident in Tewksbury, when the car they were riding in struck another vehicle head-on during the height of the storm.A strengthening low pressure system passed south of New England on the 20th, bringing 3 to 6 inches of snow to much of interior Massachusetts before an eventual change to rain. Only the higher elevations remained all snow during the storm. Rain fell from Bristol and Plymouth Counties to Cape Cod and the Islands.
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 Boston/Norton, MA wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Mar 20, 9:17 AM EST, 43 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Mar 20, 9:17 AM EST, 43 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAUNTON MA
917 AM EST WED MAR 20 2002
UPDATED ZFP EARLIER PRIMARILY FOR TIMING...AND MENTION OF ELEV
DIFFERENCES IN SNFL ACCUM.
INITIAL THINKING IS THAT CUR DISTRIBUTION OF WINTER WX ADVSY LOOKS
GOOD. INITIAL CONCERNS ARE THAT CUD REACH WRNG CRIT HIER TERRAIN
OF CHESHIRE AND FRANKLIN CNTYS. ALSO...MIGHT RCH ADVSY CRIT SRN ORH
CTY AND INTR ESSEX. WILL TAKE FIRST LOOK AT 12Z RUNS BFR
COMMITTING TO CHNGS. BUFKIT SHOWS STG UVM RCHG INTO SNOW GROWTH
AREA FOR VSF AND TO LESSER EXTENT BAF...BUT AS PRIOR SHIFT NOTED...
ETA MAY BE SOMEWHAT OVRDN WITH QPF.
.BOX...
CT...NONE.
MA...WINTER WX ADVY WRN MA.
NH...WINTER WX ADVY SW NH.
RI...NONE.
MARINE...SCA SRN COASTAL WATERS INCLDG E OF CAPE COD.
SCA MAY BE REQ ERN CSTL WATERS TNGT.
BOS HARBOR AND NARR BAY NONE.
THOMPSON/BUTTRICK/FOLEYThe radar
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
Event by event
5 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.
Heavy Snow, Northern Worcester
- When
- March 20, 10:00 AM EST to 10:00 PM EST
- Where
- Northern Worcester forecast zone
- Reported by
- TRAINED SPOTTER
- Coordinates
- 42.351, -71.908 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Heavy Snow, Western Hampden
- When
- March 20, 10:00 AM EST to 10:00 PM EST
- Where
- Western Hampden forecast zone
- Reported by
- TRAINED SPOTTER
- Coordinates
- 42.135, -72.632 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Heavy Snow, Western Hampshire
- When
- March 20, 10:00 AM EST to 10:00 PM EST
- Where
- Western Hampshire forecast zone
- Reported by
- TRAINED SPOTTER
- Coordinates
- 42.340, -72.664 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Heavy Snow, Western Middlesex
- When
- March 20, 10:00 AM EST to 10:00 PM EST
- Where
- Western Middlesex forecast zone
- Reported by
- TRAINED SPOTTER
- Coordinates
- 42.486, -71.392 (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
- Flooding in Kentucky, March 20 to 21, 2002
- Flooding in West Virginia, March 20 to 21, 2002
- Flooding in Ohio, March 20, 2002
- Flooding in Kentucky, March 20, 2002
- Winter Storm in Vermont, March 20, 2002
- Tornado in Louisiana, March 20, 2002
- Flood in Kentucky, March 20, 2002
- Flash Flooding in Kentucky, March 20, 2002
- Flash Flooding and Flooding in West Virginia, March 20, 2002
- Heavy Snow in Maine, March 20 to 21, 2002
- Winter Weather in New York, March 20, 2002
- Winter Weather in Vermont, March 20, 2002
More
Every storm in Massachusetts in 2002Every state in 2002This day in weather historyWarnings in Massachusetts, 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: 5282818, 5282819, 5282820, 5282821, 5282822.