Heavy Snow, Houghton
- When
- March 5, 4:00 AM EST to 10:00 AM EST
- Where
- Houghton forecast zone
- Reported by
- TRAINED SPOTTER
- Coordinates
- 46.992, -88.652 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Heavy Snow in Michigan, March 5, 2002
A lake effect snow band set up over part of the Keweenaw Peninsula. Ten inches of new snow fell in Houghton and Lake Linden in 12 hours.
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
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 MQT wrote it up.
A lake effect snow band set up over part of the Keweenaw Peninsula. Ten inches of new snow fell in Houghton and Lake Linden in 12 hours.
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 Mar 4, 9:45 PM EST, 6 hours 15 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Mar 4, 9:45 PM EST, 6 hours 15 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MARQUETTE MI 945 PM EST MON MAR 4 2002 MAIN FCST CONCERN IS LES FOR WRN ZONES OVERNIGHT. IR IMAGERY THIS EVENING SHOWS WHAT CERTAINLY LOOKS LIKE THE RAPID DEVELOPMENT OF 2 SIGNIFICANT SW-NE ORIENTED PARALLEL LES BANDS ON WRN LK SUPERIOR. FIRST IS JUST OFFSHORE OF WRN U.P. FROM ONTONAGON TO KEWEENAW. THE SECOND RUNS FROM JUST OFF DULUTH TO ISLE ROYALE. IR IMAGERY INDICATES SOLID LOOKING STRUCTURE TO BOTH BANDS WITH FAIRLY CONSISTENT CLOUD TOP TEMPS AROUND -26C. 00Z KINL/KGRB SOUNDINGS SUGGEST CLOUD TOP TEMPS OF -26C CORRESPOND TO ABOUT 12.5KFT. SO THESE BANDS ARE PROBABLY PRODUCING SOME MDT OR HVY SNOW. NO RADAR EVIDENCE AS OF YET...WHICH WOULD BE EXPECTED UNLESS CONVECTION WAS VERY DEEP. HOWEVER...KDLH RADAR FOR THE LAST COUPLE OF HRS HAS BEEN SHOWING THE BEGINNINGS OF CONVECTION IN THE CONVERGENCE AREA BTWN KDLH AND THE BAYFIELD PENINSULA. THIS CONVECTION MAKES UP THE SECOND LES BAND WHICH RUNS NE TO ISLE ROYALE. 00Z RUC AND ESPECIALLY 18Z/00Z ETA SHOW DEFINITIVE INCREASE IN 950MB CONVERGENCE OVER THE WRN LK THIS EVENING AS SFC TROF APPROACHES FROM MN. WITH 850MB TEMPS RUNNING AROUND -18C...INSTABILITY IS QUITE STRONG OVER THE LK AND WILL SUPPORT VIGOROUS CONVECTION. HOWEVER... HEAVIER SNOW SHOULD NOT LAST VERY LONG AT ANY ONE POINT AS DIRECTION OF DRIFT OF THE BANDS IS NEARLY PERPENDICULAR TO THEIR ORIENTATION. SNOW INTENSITY WILL ALSO DIMINISH AS BANDS DRIFT E AND ONSHORE INTO TERRAIN IN WRN FA OF THE SAME SW-NE ORIENTATION. THUS...LOSS OF HEAT/MOISTURE SOURCE FOR THE ENTIRE BAND ONCE IT IS ONSHORE. SO ACCUMULATIONS SHOULD NOT GET OUT OF HAND...BUT WILL HAVE TO KEEP AN EYE ON IT. IN THIS SITUATION...IT MAY BE THE SHORELINE LOCATIONS ON THE W SIDE OF THE KEWEENAW THAT SEE THE HEAVIEST SNOWFALL. UNTIL LES IS ONSHORE AND SFC REPORTS ARE RECEIVED...WONT KNOW JUST WHAT THE INTENSITY OF THE SNOW IS. FOR NOW...WILL BUMP UP ACCUMULATIONS TO A MAX OF 4 INCHES ON THE KEWEENAW TONIGHT. MINOR CHANGES ON UPDATE FOR REST OF FA. .MQT...NONE. ROLFSON
The radar
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
Event by event
1 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.
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
- Heavy Snow in Montana, March 5 to 7, 2002
- Winter Storm in Montana, March 5 to 6, 2002
- Heavy Snow in Idaho, March 5 to 7, 2002
- Heavy Snow in Montana, March 5, 2002
- Frost and Freeze in Florida, March 5, 2002
- Heavy Snow in Oregon, March 5 to 6, 2002
- Heavy Snow in Nevada, March 5 to 7, 2002
- Flash Flood in Hawaii, March 5, 2002
More
Every storm in Michigan in 2002Every state in 2002This day in weather historyWarnings 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: 5285945.