Heavy Snow in Michigan, November 30, 2002

Name: Heavy Snow in Michigan, November 30, 2002
Start: 2002-11-30T05:00
End: 2002-11-30T23:59
Location: Michigan

November 30, 2002 · NWS GRR · 3 events in 3 counties and zones

A very strong low pressure area tracked across central Canada. Heavy lake effect snow developed across extreme southwestern lower Michigan as northerly winds advected arctic air into the area.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 3 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: 3

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 GRR wrote it up.

A very strong low pressure area tracked across central Canada. Heavy lake effect snow developed across extreme southwestern lower Michigan as northerly winds advected arctic air into the area. The heaviest snowfall report came from Paw Paw (Van Buren county), where 10 inches of snow fell from the early morning hours of November 30th to the early morning hours of December first. A band of six to eight inches of snow extended from the western sections of Kalamazoo (Kalamazoo county) northwest through the town of Allegan (Allegan county) and further northwest to near Holland. The majority of the snow fell during the daylight hours of the 30th.

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 Grand Rapids, MI wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Nov 30, 4:17 AM EST, 43 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Nov 30, 4:17 AM EST, 43 minutes before

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The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

3 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.

Heavy Snow, Allegan

When: November 30, 5:00 AM EST to 11:59 PM EST
Where: Allegan forecast zone
Reported by: NWS STORM SURVEY
Coordinates: 42.518, -85.910 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Van Buren

When: November 30, 5:00 AM EST to 11:59 PM EST
Where: Van Buren forecast zone
Reported by: NWS STORM SURVEY
Coordinates: 42.285, -86.306 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Kalamazoo

When: November 30, 5:00 AM EST to 11:59 PM EST
Where: Kalamazoo forecast zone
Reported by: NWS STORM SURVEY
Coordinates: 42.245, -85.531 (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, November 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 2026-09-30. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5321789, 5321790, 5321791.