1 heavy snow, as filed by the National Weather Service.
Every event with a place to put it; 1 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.
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 Marquette, MI wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Dec 2, 4:30 AM EST, 2 hours 30 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION...CORRECTION FOR WARNING INFORMATION. NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MARQUETTE MI 430 AM EST MON DEC 2 2002 ONGOING LES AND SNOW AMOUNTS ARE THE MAIN CONCERN FOR THIS FORECAST PACKAGE. WATER VAROR IMAGERY AND RUC DEPICTING A CLOSED LOW OVER WESTERN ONTARIO EMBEDDED IN A LONGWAVE TROUGH BLANKETING MUCH OF EASTERN CANADA. A REX BLOCK REMAINS ALONG THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST AND THE WEST COAST OF CANADA. THIS RIDGE SEPERATE THE EASTERN CANADIAN TROUGH FROM ANOTHER LONGWAVE OVER THE ALUETIAN ISLANDS. A CLOSED LOW IS NEARLY STATIONARY OVER SOUTHERN NEVADA. SURFACE ANALYSIS PROTRAYS A CLOSED LOW OVER EXTREME EASTERN ONTARIO...WITH A COLD FRONT STRETCHING WEST THROUGH LOWER MICHIGAN AND INTO NEBRASKA. A 1026MB RIDGE IS EXPANDING OVER CENTRAL CANADA AND IS PUSHING INTO THE UPPER GREAT LAKES. KMQT-88D SHOWING LAKE EFFECT SNOW BANDS ALONG THE LAKE SUPERIOR SHORE FROM BIG BAY TO SKANDIA. SURFACE REPORTS SHOWING NOT MUCH HAPPENING ELSEWHERE AT THIS TIME. EVENING RAOBS SHOWING LAKE-850MB DELTA-TS OF 22C. ANTI-CYCLONIC FLOW AHEAD OF THE CANADIAN RIDGE KEEPS THE WINDS OUT OF THE NORTH ACROSS THE LAKE. CWPL AND KINL RAOBS SHOWING AN INVERSION SETTING UP AROUND 4K FEET. KAPX SOUNDING SHOWING QUITE MOISTURE BELOW THE INVERSION...WHILE THE OTHERS SHOWING A LITTLE DRIER CONDITION. MODELS INITIATED QUITE WELL IN RESPECT TO THE STRENGTH AND POSITION OF THE LOW OVER ONTARIO...THE TROUGH ACROSS CENTRAL CANADA...AND THE LOW OVER SOUTHER NEVADA. MODELS AGREE FAIRLY WELL WITH THESE FEATURES AND HAVE A DECENT RUN TO RUN CONSISTENCY. MODELS ALSO AGREE FAIRLY WELL WITH THE TRACKING OF THE SURFACE FEATURES...IN PARTICULARLY THE RIDGE DROPPING OUT OF CENTRAL CANADA. VARIATION ARE MINOR ENOUGH THAT AN AVERAGE OF SOLUTIONS APPEAR TO BE THE BEST BET. MID LEVEL LOW WILL RELOCATE TO SOUTHERN QUEBEC. A SHORTWAVES WRAPPING AROUND THIS LOW WILL SHIFT ACROSS THE FORECAST AREA TODAY. SURFACE RIDGE WILL PUSH INTO THE AREA. BOUNDARY LAYER WINDS AHEAD OF THIS RIDGE WILL KEEP THE WINDS OUT OF THE NORTH TODAY ACROSS THE LAKE. WITH THE WEAKENING OF THE GRADIENT...WINDS WILL REMAIN FAIRLY LIGHT. 925MB FORECAST WINDS INDICATE CONVERGENCE OVER LAKE SUPERIOR THIS MORNING...MAINLY EAST OF THE KEWEENAW PENINSULA. THE CONVERGENCE WILL DISAPPEAR BY NOON TODAY. 700MB OMEGA FORECAST SHOWING PRETTY MUCH THE SAME THING. 280K ISENTROPIC ANALYSIS SHOWING MAINLY SUBSIDENCE AS WELL. DELTA-TS WILL STILL BE AROUND 24C ACROSS THE LAKE TODAY. SURFACE-850MB RELATIVE HUMIDITY WILL BE 80 PERCENT OVER THE CENTRAL LAKE THIS MORNING...DRYING OUT TO AROUND 70 PERCENT BY THIS AFTERNOON. THUS THE AIR MASS WILL LOSE SYNOPTIC SUPPORT BY THIS AFTERNOON...AND THE LOSS OF SOME OF THE LOW LEVEL MOISTURE AND WIND...ONLY THE ADIABATIC INSTABILITY DUE TO THE COLD AIR ADVECTION IS ALL THAT WILL KEEP THE LAKE EFFECT SNOWS GOING. MEANWHILE...THE SHORTWAVE TROUGH OVER CENTRAL CANADA WILL BE ROTATING INTO SOUTHERN MANITOBA AND SOUTHERN SASKATCHEWAN. NVA ASSOCIATED WITH A WEAK UPPER LEVEL RIDGE WILL SLIDE OVER THE FORECAST AREA TONIGHT. THE CANADA SHORTWAVE WILL SETTLE OVER NORTHERN NORTH DAKOTA BY SUNRISE. THE SURFACE RIDGE OVER SOUTH CENTRAL CANADA WILL SPREAD INTO MINNESOTA...AND THE UPPER GREAT LAKES...WHILE THE POCKET OF COLD AIR ALOFT WILL SAIL INTO THE LOWER GREAT LAKES. THE DELTA-TS OVER LAKE SUPERIOR WILL STILL BE AROUND 22C. THE BOUNDARY LAYER WINDS WILL HAVE SOME WEAK CONVERGENCE OVER THE NORTH PART OF LAKE SUPERIOR AROUND MIDNIGHT. MOSTLY NUETRAL CONDITIONS WILL TAKE PLACE BY SUNRISE. SCATTERED LAKE EFFECT SNOWS SHOULD KEEP GOING...DUE TO THE STRONG DELTA-TS OVER THE LAKE...BUT SYNOPTICALLY THERE IS LITTLE OR NO SUPPORT FOR ANY HEAVY SNOWS. A WEAK SHORTWAVE WILL MOVE INTO CENTRAL ONTARIO ON TUESDAY. THIS SHORTWAVE WILL BE FAR ENOUGH NORTH OF THE FORECAST AREA NOT TO HAVE MUCH AN IMPACT ON STABILITY ACROSS THE FORECAST AREA. SURFACE RIDGE WILL EXPAND ACROSS INTO THE UPPER GREAT LAKES REGION. THE SURFACE WINDS WILL BACK WEST. DELTA-TS WILL BE REDUCED TO 20C OVER LAKE SUPERIOR. LOW LEVEL WINDS WILL HAVE WEAK CONVERGENCE ACROSS THE CENTRAL LAKE. THIS WILL BE ADEQUATE TO KEEP SOME LAKE EFFECT GOING...ESPECIALLY OVER THE SPINE OF THE KEWEENAW PENINSULA AND OVER EASTERN COUNTIES ADJACENT TO LAKE SUPERIOR. THE SHORTWAVE WILL SHIFT ACROSS OVER UPPER MICHIGAN TUESDAY NIGHT. SURFACE RIDGE WILL SETTLE INTO NORTH CENTRAL CONUS. WINDS WILL REMAIN OUT OF THE WEST. DELTA-TS WILL BE AROUND 20C. LOW LEVEL CONVERGENCE WILL INCREASE A BIT OVER EASTERN LAKE SUPERIOR. LOW LEVEL RELATIVE HUMIDITY WILL ALSO BE THE HIGHEST OVER THE EAST PART OF THE LAKE. THE INSTABILITY AND UPPER LEVEL SUPPORT WILL HELP PRODUCE MORE LAKE EFFECT SNOWS. THE SHORTWAVE WILL MEANDER INTO NORTHERN LOWER MICHIGAN ON WEDNESDAY. NVA ON THE BACK SIDE OF THIS SHORTWAVE WILL HELP STABILIZE THE AIR MASS. WARM AIR ADVECTION WILL LOWER DELTA-TS TO 17C OVER THE WESTERN LAKE SUPERIOR AND 19C OVER THE EAST. THE SURFACE RIDGE WILL SETTLE INTO NEBRASKA AND SOUTH DAKOTA PRODUCING MORE WESTWARD FLOW ACROSS LAKE SUPERIOR. LOW LEVEL CONVERGENCE ACROSS LAKE SUPERIOR WILL REMAIN WEAK AND DRY AIR WILL ADVECT INTO THE WEST END. THUS LAKE EFFECT SNOW SHOULD END FROM WEST TO EAST. ANOTHER WEAK SHORTWAVE WILL ROTATE INTO CENTRAL ONTARIO WEDNESDAY NIGHT. A WEAK SURFACE LOW WILL ASSOCIATED WITH THIS TROUGH WILL SLIDE INTO EASTERN LAKE SUPERIOR...WHILE THE SURFACE RIDGE SHIFTS INTO THE CENTRAL PLAINS. DELTA-TS WILL REMAIN AROUND 20C. LOW LEVEL MOISTURE IS PROGGED TO INCREASE OVER ONTARIO AND NORTHERN LAKE SUPERIOR WEDNESDAY NIGHT. LAKE EFFECT SNOW SHOULD INCREASE MAINLY OVER THE KEWEENAW PENINSULA AND ALGER AND NORTHERN LUCE COUNTY. ON THURSDAY...THE WINDS SHOULD VEER NORTHWEST AS THE SURFACE RIDGE SETTLES INTO THE SOUTHERN PLAINS. BOUNDARY LAYER WINDS ARE PROGGED TO ALSO HAVE A LITTLE MORE CONVERGENCE ACROSS THE EASTERN PART OF THE LAKE. THESE SHOULD ENHANCE LAKE EFFECT SNOW ACROSS THE AREA ON THURSDAY AND KEEP THEM GOING INTO THE WEEK-END. .MQT...LAKE EFFECT SNOW WRNG TODAY MIZ005-006. DLG
MIZ001>007-009>014-084-085-031200- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MARQUETTE MI 540 AM EST MON DEC 2 2002 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR WESTERN AND CENTRAL UPPER MICHIGAN. .DAY ONE... ...HEAVY LAKE EFFECT SNOW TO CONTINUE ALONG NORTHERN PORTIONS OF UPPER MICHIGAN TODAY... .ARCTIC AIR WILL CONTINUE TO SPREAD ACROSS LAKE SUPERIOR ON NORTHERLY WINDS TODAY...PRODUCING OCCASIONALLY HEAVY LAKE EFFECT SNOW SHOWERS OVER NORTHERN UPPER MICHIGAN. SNOWFALL AMOUNTS WILL BE EXTREMELY VARIABLE WITH SOME AREAS RECEIVING VERY LITTLE SNOW WHILE A FEW MILES AWAY SNOW MAY ACCUMULATE UP TO 6 INCHES. LOOK FOR THE GREATEST SNOW ACCUMULATIONS FROM WESTERN ALGER COUNTY INTO MARQUETTE COUNTY AND OVER THE WEST FROM WAKEFIELD AND BERGLAND TO ROCKLAND AND TWIN LAKES. DIMINISHING WINDS AND DRIER AIR WILL ALLOW THE SNOW SHOWERS TO TAPER OFF BY TONIGHT. .SPOTTER CALL TO ACTION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN... NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. VOSS
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.
Ten inches of lake effect snow fell on the Skandia area in a 24 hour period.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Michigan in 2002Every state in 2002This day in weather historyWarnings in Michigan, December 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: 5327074.