1 extreme cold/wind chill, 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 Detroit, MI wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Mar 3, 11:21 AM EST, 39 minutes earlier.
SOUTHEAST MICHIGAN AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DETROIT/PONTIAC MI 1121 AM EST SUN MAR 3 2002 VISIBLE SATELLITE LOOPS SHOW NUMEROUS GLIMPSES OF GROUND...AND DTX RADAR SHOWS DECREASING REFLECTIVITY RETURNS. GIVEN COLD AIR ALOFT POURING IN...STILL DECENT LOW LEVEL MOISTURE...AND STRONG LATE WINTER SUN ANGLE...DESPITE FALLING SURFACE TEMPERATURES...SHOULD STILL REALIZE STEEP LOW LEVEL LAPSE RATES THIS AFTERNOON...NEAR DRY ADIABATIC...FOR DIURNAL ENHANCEMENT OF LAKE EFFECT COMING OFF OF LAKE MICHIGAN. FOR AFTERNOON UPDATE...BELIEVE DIURNAL EFFECTS WILL REDUCE BREAKS IN CLOUDS...SO WILL CALL FOR MOSTLY CLOUDY AS OPPOSED TO PARTLY SUNNY...THOUGH WILL SEE BREAKS. INSTABILITY LOW CLOUD SCHEME DOES SUPPORT STRONG DIURNAL CLOUD ENHANCEMENT. WILL ALSO LOWER TEMPERATURES A TAD FOR AFTERNOON FALLING OFF...BASED ON CURRENT TRENDS. GENERALLY WILL CALL FOR SCATTERED SNOW SHOWERS THIS AFTERNOON. NEW ETA SHOWS 925 TO 950 MB ACTIVE CONVERGENCE SETTING UP TOWARD EVENING IN SOUTHERN FOUR COUNTIES AND LASTING THROUGH THE NIGHT...DEFINING LAKE EFFECT CONVERGENCE BANDING OFF OF LAKE MICHIGAN...SO CURRENT FORECASTS IN THAT REGARD STILL LOOK GOOD FOR POSSIBLE FEW INCHES TONIGHT. .DTX...GALE WARNING...THIS AFTERNOON...LAKE HURON. DWD
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 extreme cold/wind chill. Local standard time, as filed.
In Troy, an 84-year-old woman was found dead on the patio outside her retirement home. Hypothermia was the suspected cause of death.
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, March 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: 5281898.