Michigan, 2002

Heavy Snow in Michigan, February 1, 2002

February 1, 2002 · NWS APX · 4 events in 4 counties and zones

A low pressure system moved across the lower Great Lakes region on the 1st. A period of heavy snow fell across eastern Upper and far northern Lower Michigan on the back side of the low.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 2 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
4

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 APX wrote it up.

A low pressure system moved across the lower Great Lakes region on the 1st. A period of heavy snow fell across eastern Upper and far northern Lower Michigan on the back side of the low. 12 hour snowfall totals by the evening hours were 6 to 10 inches across eastern Upper and 6 to 8 inches across far northern Lower Michigan.

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 Gaylord, MI wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Feb 1, 6:50 AM EST, 3 hours 10 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Feb 1, 6:50 AM EST, 3 hours 10 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GAYLORD MI
650 AM EST FRI FEB 01 2002

UPDATED ZONES MAINLY TO UPGRADE ADVISORY FOR ERN UPR AND FAR NRN LWR
MI TO A WARNING BASED ON EARLY MORNING SPOTTER REPORTS. SPOTTERS IN
CROSS VILLAGE...CHEBOYGAN AND SAULT STE MARIE ALL REPORTED 4 TO 5
INCHES OF NEW SNOW HAS FALLEN OVERNIGHT IN THESE AREAS. DEFORMATION
SN IS JUST NOW REACHING THE LAKE MI SHORELINE...SO EXPECT THESE
AREAS WILL SEE ANOTHER 3-5 INCHES WITH THIS HEAVY BAND OF SNOW.

HAVE ALSO UPDATED REST OF THE ZONES TO REMOVE MIXED PRECIP FROM ALL
BUT FAR SE ZONES AS IT APPEARS PRECIP HAS SWITCHED OVER TO ALL SNOW
IN THESE AREAS. SE ZONES STILL HAS SOME PATCHY FREEZING PRECIP...BUT
EXPECT THESE AREAS WILL FOLLOW SUITE VERY SOON.

.APX...WINTER STORM WARNING...THIS MORNING...MIZ008-015>017.
       WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY...THIS MORNING...MIZ018>036-041-042.

EME

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

4 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.

Heavy Snow, Cheboygan

When
February 1, 10:00 AM EST
Where
Cheboygan forecast zone
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
45.473, -84.492 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Chippewa

When
February 1, 10:00 AM EST
Where
Chippewa forecast zone
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER

Heavy Snow, Emmet

When
February 1, 10:00 AM EST
Where
Emmet forecast zone
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
45.588, -84.981 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Mackinac

When
February 1, 10:00 AM EST
Where
Mackinac forecast zone
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER

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 2002Every state in 2002This day in weather historyWarnings in Michigan, February 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: 5283076, 5283077, 5283078, 5283079.