Michigan, 2002

Heavy Snow in Michigan, February 2 to 3, 2002

February 2 to 3, 2002 · NWS MQT · 7 events in 7 counties and zones

An area of low pressure passed over Lake Superior during the morning of February Second. Cold arctic air pushing south across the relatively warm waters of Lake Superior caused intense lake effect convection to push onshore.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 7 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

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The toll

Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
None recorded
Crop damage
None recorded
Events
7

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 MQT wrote it up.

An area of low pressure passed over Lake Superior during the morning of February Second. Cold arctic air pushing south across the relatively warm waters of Lake Superior caused intense lake effect convection to push onshore. Periods of heavy snowfall combined with winds gusting to 45 mph reduced visibility to zero at times. Snowfall totals ranged from less than an inch over the southern Upper Peninsula to as much as 15 inches at the National Weather Service Office in Negaunee Township. Other snowfall totals from this lake effect event included 12.5 inches in Mass City, 12 inches in Houghton and Wakefield, 10 inches in Munising and Phoenix, 9 inches in Seney, and 8.5 inches in Bergland.

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 Marquette, MI wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Feb 2, 11:55 AM EST, 4 hours 35 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Feb 2, 11:55 AM EST, 4 hours 35 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MARQUETTE MI
1155 AM EST SAT FEB 2 2002

WV LOOP AND IR SATELLITE DEPICTS COMPACT VORT MAX AND AREA OF PVA
NOW ENTERING WCNTRL MN. DRY AIR NOTED ON 12Z MPX/GRB SOUNDINGS BTWN
H9-H8 CURRENTLY BEING OVERCOME AS VORT MOVES TOWARDS FA TDY.
STRENGTH OF PVA AND ASSOCIATED ISENTROPIC LIFT WL DEVELOP -SN OVR
WRN 1/2 FA BY 18Z. RETURNS FM MVX/DLH RADAR SHOW THIS IS ALREADY
TAKING PLACE WITH RETURNS FM 4KFT-10KFT PRESSING ACROSS NRN 2/3
MN...WITH SOME LOCALES REPORTING LGT SNOWS. EXPECT AS THIS DEEPER
MOISTURE ARRIVES (ALREADY BEGINNING PER MQT VWP) LGT SNOW WL BEGIN
SHORTLY AFTER. PATCHY LIGHT SNOW/FLURRIES COULD ENTER PICTURE OVR
CNTRL/ERN ZONES EARLIER AS ANY MID LEVEL UVM WL ACT ON DEEP MOISTURE
BECOMING INCREASINGLY IN PLACE. HOWEVER...MORE SIG SYNOPTIC SNOW
SHOULD REACH INTO CNTRL/ERN ZONES MID AFTN-EARLY EVENING.  ALTHOUGH
SNOW WILL START BY NOON IN WEST DON/T EXPECT ACCUMULATION UNTIL MID
AFTN WHEN PRIMARY FORCING (PVA AND H7 UVM DUE TO 285K ISENTROPIC
LIFT) SPREADS OVR FA IN ADVANCE OF CLIPPER SHRTWV.

SNOWFALL AMOUNTS WILL RANGE FM 1 TO 3 INCHES WITH HIGHEST AMOUNTS
FALLING OVR WRN 1/3 OF UPR MI IN VCTY OF DEEPEST MOISTURE/UVM. ETA
CROSS SECTIONS FOR IWD/CMX DEPICTING QUICK SHOT OF ENHANCED UVM
MOVING THROUGH THIS AFTN...WHICH COMBINED WITH DEEPER MOISTURE
ACTING ON TEMPS AROUND -15C CENTERED AROUND 8KFT WL HELP ACCELERATE
SNOW GROWTH...AND COULD PRODUCE A QUICK INCH IN THAT BRIEF WINDOW OF
TIME. OTHERWISE...LOOK FOR 1 TO 2 INCHES OF SYNOPTIC SNOW THIS AFTN
FOR WRN/CNTRL COUNTIES. OTHER CONCERN IS LK MI AND WITH EXISTING SSW
FLW AND ADEQUATE CBL INSTABILITY (DLT T/S NEAR 8C) LEADING TO LK
ENHANCEMENT SETUP FOR LATE AFTERNOON-EARLY EVENING. THINK BEST
FORCING ACTING ON SUFFICIENT MOISTURE/INSTABILITY IN CBL WL BE AFT
21Z OVER THESE ZONES. WIND DIR OF SSW REMAINS FAVORABLE FOR AT LEAST
3-5 HRS. ETA SEEMS TO LATCH ONTO THIS IDEA GENERATING COPIOUS
AMOUNTS OF UVM (7-10 MICROBARS/SEC) OVR NRN LK MI 00Z-03Z. LOCAL
GUIDANCE GIVES 2-4/6HRS FOR THIS SETUP...AS OVER WATER INSTABILITY
IS SUFFICIENT BUT MARGINAL. WITH ONLY AN INCH EXPECTED BEFORE SETUP
TAKES HOLD AND WITH AT LEAST 30 DEG OF SHEAR NOTED ON FCST SOUNDINGS
FM H95-H7 AND BEST LOW LEVEL TRAJECTORY FARTHER EAST...WL HOLD OFF
ON ADVISORY FOR SCHOOLCRAFT COUNTY ATTM.

WAA AHEAD OF SFC CLIPPER HAS ALLOWED TEMPS TO REBOUND INTO LWR TEENS
AFTR MORNINGS SUB ZERO LOWS AWAY FM LAKES...AND CURRENTLY FCST TEMPS
LOOK GOOD.

.MQT...NONE.

JLA

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

7 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.

Heavy Snow, Gogebic

When
February 2, 4:30 PM EST to February 3, 11:00 PM EST
Where
Gogebic forecast zone
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
46.496, -89.796 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Ontonagon

When
February 2, 5:30 PM EST to February 3, 11:00 PM EST
Where
Ontonagon forecast zone
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
46.778, -89.305 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Houghton

When
February 2, 6:00 PM EST to February 3, 11:00 PM EST
Where
Houghton forecast zone
Reported by
GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates
46.992, -88.652 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Keweenaw

When
February 2, 6:00 PM EST to February 3, 11:00 PM EST
Where
Keweenaw forecast zone
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
47.283, -88.212 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Alger

When
February 2, 7:00 PM EST to February 3, 10:00 PM EST
Where
Alger forecast zone
Reported by
GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates
46.451, -86.548 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Marquette

When
February 2, 8:00 PM EST to February 3, 10:00 PM EST
Where
Marquette forecast zone
Reported by
OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates
46.663, -87.573 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Schoolcraft

When
February 2, 9:00 PM EST to February 3, 11:00 PM EST
Where
Schoolcraft forecast zone
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
46.043, -86.177 (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

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: 5280711, 5280712, 5280713, 5280805, 5280807, 5280806, 5280808.