Name: Heavy Snow in Michigan, December 25, 2002
Start: 2002-12-25T06:00
End: 2002-12-25T12:00
Location: Michigan

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 4 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: 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 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 Northern Indiana wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Dec 25, 3:01 AM EST, 2 hours 59 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Dec 25, 3:01 AM EST, 2 hours 59 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORTHERN INDIANA
301 AM EST WED DEC 25 2002

OF COURSE MAIN CHALLENGE IS HOW MUCH SNOW WILL FALL TODAY AND WHEN
IT WILL STOP. MODELS IN GOOD AGREEMENT WITH SFC AND MID-LVL FEATURES
AND RH AND UVV FIELDS. CONSENSUS IS TO CONTINUE LIGHT TO MODERATE
SNOW THIS MORNING...AND JUST LIGHT SNOW THIS AFTERNOON AS STORM
SYSTEM PULLS AWAY AND REFOCUSES OFF THE EAST COAST. AT 07Z STLT AND
88D SHOW DEFORMATION ZONE SETTING UP FROM S MI INTO N IN. MODELS
TAKE THIS E ACROSS THE NE CWFA THIS MORNING. LOCATIONS UNDER THIS
BAND OF HEAVIER SNOW CAN SEE ANOTHER 2 TO 4 INCHES THIS
MORNING...WITH W AND S PARTS OF THE CWFA MORE IN LINE WITH 1 TO 3.
THERE MAY BE SOME LAKE ENHANCEMENT IN THE FAR W THIS MORNING WITH
NNW FLOW...AND IN THE NW THIS AFT WITH NW FLOW...AND DELTA T IN
LO-MID TEENS AND INVERSION STARTING OUT AROUND 4300 FT THIS MORNING
BEFORE LOWERING TO 3000 FT BY 00Z THIS EVENING.

LOW LEVEL MOISTURE STICKS AROUND TONIGHT FOR CLOUDY SKIES...AND THEN
LOW RH FOR THE REST OF THE SHORT TERM SHOULD RESULT IN PC SKIES WITH
LTL IF ANY PRECIP.

WITH N/NW FLOW...CLOUDY SKIES...SNOWFALL...AND FRESH SNOWCOVER WILL
TEMPER MOS MAXES FOR TODAY.  WILL LOWER MOS MINS TONIGHT SLIGHTLY
BUT CLOUDS SHOULD KEEP TEMPS FROM FALLING DRASTICALLY.

WINTER STORM WARNING ALL ZONES UNTIL NOON.

THANKS TO KIND/KDTX FOR COORD.

MED RANGE MODELS IN FAIR AGREEMENT.  S/WV XPCD TO MOVE ACRS AREA
EARLY SAT. AMS DRY SO NO PRECIP XPCD WITH THIS SYSTEM. UPR LVL RIDGE
XPCD TO BUILD INTO AREA LATE SAT AND SUN. GOOD WAA ASSOCD WITH THIS
FEATURE BUT LIKELY STILL SOME SNOW COVER ARND SO WL GO CONSERVATIVE
WITH WARMUP.  ECMWF CONSIDERABLY SLOWER THAN GFS WITH CDFNT MOVG
INTO/THRU AREA EARLY NEXT WEEK. WILL CONT WITH A CHC OF RN SHWRS MON
AS FRONT SHD BE APCHG AND A CHC OF RAIN/SNOW SHWRS TUESDAY AND A LTL
COOLER AS FRONT MAY STILL BE LINGERING IN AREA PER ECMWF.

.IWX...

IN...WINTER STORM WARNING FOR THIS MORNING FOR ZONES INZ003>009...
INZ012>018...INZ020...INZ022>027...INZ032>034.

MI...WINTER STORM WARNING FOR THIS MORNING FOR ZONES MIZ077>081.

OH...WINTER STORM WARNING FOR THIS MORNING FOR ZONES
OHZ001>002...OHZ004>005...OHZ015>016...OHZ024>025.

12/DJT

Hazardous weather outlook, Dec 25, 5:07 AM EST, 53 minutes before

INZ003>009-012>018-020-022>027-032>034-MIZ077>081-OHZ001-002-004-005-
015-016-024-025-261000-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORTHERN INDIANA
507 AM EST WED DEC 25 2002

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR NORTHERN INDIANA...NORTHWEST
OHIO AND SOUTHWEST LOWER MICHIGAN.

.DAY ONE...

SNOW WILL CONTINUE THIS MORNING WITH 1 TO 4 INCHES OF ADDITIONAL
ACCUMULATION BY NOON. NORTH TO NORTHWEST WINDS OF 10 TO 20 MPH WILL
CAUSE THE SNOW TO BLOW AND DRIFT.

THE SNOW WILL TAPER OFF THIS AFTERNOON.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...

NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO AND OTHER LOCAL MEDIA FOR FURTHER
DETAILS OR UPDATES.

FOR ADDITIONAL WEATHER INFORMATION, CHECK OUR WEB SITE AT
WWW.CRH.NOAA.GOV/IWX

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

5 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.

Heavy Snow, Berrien

When: December 25, 6:00 AM EST to 12:00 PM EST
Where: Berrien forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER

Low pressure tracked from Kentucky into Ohio during the overnight hours of Christmas Eve into Christmas Day morning, spreading a large area of snow across the region. Most locations received 6 to 8 inches of snow. A narrow band from southeastern Cass county into western St Joseph county had some local amounts approaching 9 inches. Gusty northwest winds created widespread blowing and drifting snow.

Heavy Snow, Cass

When: December 25, 6:00 AM EST to 12:00 PM EST
Where: Cass forecast zone
Reported by: BROADCAST MEDIA
Coordinates: 41.915, -85.993 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Low pressure tracked from Kentucky into Ohio during the overnight hours of Christmas Eve into Christmas Day morning, spreading a large area of snow across the region. Most locations received 6 to 8 inches of snow. A narrow band from southeastern Cass county into western St Joseph county had some local amounts approaching 9 inches. Gusty northwest winds created widespread blowing and drifting snow.

Heavy Snow, St. Joseph

When: December 25, 6:00 AM EST to 12:00 PM EST
Where: St. Joseph forecast zone
Reported by: BROADCAST MEDIA
Coordinates: 41.914, -85.528 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Low pressure tracked from Kentucky into Ohio during the overnight hours of Christmas Eve into Christmas Day morning, spreading a large area of snow across the region. Most locations received 6 to 8 inches of snow. A narrow band from southeastern Cass county into western St Joseph county had some local amounts approaching 9 inches. Gusty northwest winds created widespread blowing and drifting snow.

Heavy Snow, Branch

When: December 25, 6:00 AM EST to 12:00 PM EST
Where: Branch forecast zone
Reported by: BROADCAST MEDIA
Coordinates: 41.916, -85.059 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Low pressure tracked from Kentucky into Ohio during the overnight hours of Christmas Eve into Christmas Day morning, spreading a large area of snow across the region. Most locations received 6 to 8 inches of snow. A narrow band from southeastern Cass county into western St Joseph county had some local amounts approaching 9 inches. Gusty northwest winds created widespread blowing and drifting snow.

Heavy Snow, Hillsdale

When: December 25, 8:00 AM EST to 12:00 PM EST
Where: Hillsdale forecast zone
Reported by: BROADCAST MEDIA
Coordinates: 41.888, -84.593 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Low pressure tracked from Kentucky into Ohio during the overnight hours of Christmas Eve into Christmas Day morning, spreading a large area of snow across the region. Most locations received 6 to 8 inches of snow. A narrow band from southeastern Cass county into western St Joseph county had some local amounts approaching 9 inches. Gusty northwest winds created widespread blowing and drifting snow.

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

More

Every storm in Michigan in 2002 Every state in 2002 This day in weather history Warnings in Michigan, December 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: 5321575, 5321576, 5321577, 5321644, 5321645.