Heavy Snow in Michigan, March 21, 2002

Name: Heavy Snow in Michigan, March 21, 2002
Start: 2002-03-21T00:00
End: 2002-03-21T12:00
Location: Michigan

March 21, 2002 · NWS APX · 1 event in 1 county or zone

An area of low pressure moved across Lower Michigan on the 21st, bringing locally heavy 6 inch snowfall totals.

Where it happened

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.

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: 1

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.

An area of low pressure moved across Lower Michigan on the 21st, bringing locally heavy 6 inch snowfall totals.

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 Mar 20, 10:14 PM EST, 1 hour 46 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Mar 20, 10:14 PM EST, 1 hour 46 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GAYLORD MI
1014 PM EST WED MAR 20 2002

SFC LOW IS NOW OVER S CENTRAL WI...AND IS MAKING STEADY E/NE
PROGRESS TOWARD LWR MI. LARGE AREA OF SN CONTINUE TO INCREASE IN
AREAL COVERAGE AND INTENSITY JUST N OF THE SFC LOW CENTER...AS IT
INTERACTS WITH THE NOSE OF AN APPROACHING UPPER LEVEL JET MAX.
ALSO...CAA IS CURRENTLY TAKING PLACE ACROSS THE NW GREAT LAKES
REGION...WITH 850 MB TEMPS DROPPING FROM -7 C DURING LATE AFTERNOON
TO -13 C BY 06Z...AND THEN TO THE NEGATIVE UPPER TEENS/LWR 20S BY
12Z THU. SOME SN IS ALREADY REACHING THE GROUND ACROSS PORTIONS OF
ERN UPR AND FAR NRN LWR MI...BUT COVERAGE IS VERY SPOTTY ATTM.
HOWEVER...DO EXPECT SN WILL CONTINUE TO INCREASE DURING THE
OVERNIGHT HOURS WITH THE ARRIVAL OF THE UPSTREAM SHORTWAVE...THE
FAVORED LFQ OF THE APPROACHING JET MAX AND THE SFC SYSTEM ITSELF.
RESULTING PRECIP WILL BECOME INCREASINGLY LAKE ENHANCED AS CAA
PROGRESSES OVERNIGHT.

WILL MAKE ONLY MINOR ADJUSTMENTS TO THE WORDING OF THE FORECAST FOR
THE OVERNIGHT HOURS...BUT MAKE VERY FEW CHANGES TO THE FORECAST
CONTENT. ALSO APPEARS THE HARDEST HIT AREAS WILL BE SW PORTIONS OF
THE CWA WHERE BEST Q-VECTOR CONVERGENCE WILL RESIDE...AS WELL AS
BEING TARGETED BY N/NW FLOW LAKE ENHANCEMENT. WILL MAKE NO CHANGES
TO THE WINTER STORM WARNING THAT IS CURRENTLY IN EFFECT IN THESE
AREAS.

.APX...WINTER STORM WARNING...OVERNIGHT AND THURSDAY MORNING...
       MIZ020-025>027-031>033.

EME

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.

Heavy Snow, Leelanau

When: March 21, 12:00 AM EST to 12:00 PM EST
Where: Leelanau forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 45.152, -86.038 (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

Every storm in Michigan in 2002 Every state in 2002 This day in weather history Warnings in Michigan, 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: 5284779.