Missouri, 2002

Winter Storm in Missouri, March 2, 2002

March 2, 2002 · NWS SGF · 24 events in 24 counties and zones

A late winter storm brought a variety of winter weather across southeast Kansas and portions of southwest, west central and central Missouri, during the morning and afternoon hours of March 2nd. Strong low pressure developed over Arkansas the evening of March 1st, which moved copious amounts of moisture northward across the region.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 24 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
24

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 SGF wrote it up.

A late winter storm brought a variety of winter weather across southeast Kansas and portions of southwest, west central and central Missouri, during the morning and afternoon hours of March 2nd. Strong low pressure developed over Arkansas the evening of March 1st, which moved copious amounts of moisture northward across the region. An arctic air mass moved through the area that early morning, dropping temperatures 20 to 30 degrees in six hours. Before the snow started, a shallow layer of warm air aloft provided an hour or two of freezing rain, mixed with heavy sleet at times. Between one tenth and one quarter of an inch of ice accumulated on roadways before the heavy snow began. Between four to nine inches of snow fell northwest of a line from Stone County, northeast across Greene, Webster, Laclede, Pulaski and Phelps counties in less than eight hours. The heaviest snow fell in a band 30 miles wide from near Columbus, Kansas, eastward across Joplin, Greenfield, Bolivar and Buffalo. Whiteout conditions were common over southwest and west central Missouri during the morning as northerly winds up to 40 mph caused considerable blowing and drifting snow. Numerous car accidents and indirectly related weather injuries were reported during the storm.

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 Springfield, MO wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Mar 1, 10:00 PM CST, 4 hours earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Mar 1, 10:00 PM CST, 4 hours before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION...UPDATED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SPRINGFIELD MO
1000 PM CST FRI MAR 1 2002

QUICK ZONE UPDATE IS OUT BEEFING UP SNOW TOTALS TO JUST UNDER
WARNING CRITERIA. LATEST MODEL RUNS SHOW POSSIBILITY OF CONVECTIVE
SNOWS TOMORROW MORNING...WITH DEEP LAYER ABOVE 750 MB CONVECTIVELY
UNSTABLE WELL INTO THE MORNING. CHANGEOVER TO SNOW WILL OCCUR AS
COUPLED 400MB JET STREAKS MOVE IN OVER THIS CONVECTIVELY UNSTABLE
LAYER. JET COUPLING PRODUCES AN AMPLIFIED AGEOSTROPHIC CIRCULATION
OVER THE AREA AND RESULTANT STRONG UVV MAY PRODUCE LOCAL TSSN AND
HEAVY BURSTS OF SNOW. NONE OF THE MODELS CONVECTIVE SCHEMES KICK IN
UNLESS INSTABILITY IS ROOTED IN LOWEST 200MB...SO QPF MAY BE WAY
UNDERDONE.

WILL OPT AT THIS POINT TO INCREASE SNOW TOTALS AND BEEF UP WORDING
IN ZONES AND WSW. IF LIGHTNING PICKS UP OVER KS AND OK
OVERNIGHT...THEN MIDNIGHT SHIFT CAN PULL THE PLUG ON A WARNING.

.SGF...
MO...SNOW AND BLOWING SNOW ADVISORY FOR LATE TONIGHT MOZ055-056-
066>068-077-078-088-093-101
SNOW AND BLOWING SNOW ADVISORY FOR SATURDAY FOR MOZ057-058-069>071-
079>081-089>092-094-095-102-103
KS...SNOW AND BLOWING SNOW ADVISORY FOR LATE TONIGHT AND
SATURDAY FOR KSZ073-097-101

BROWNING

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

24 winter storm. Local standard time, as filed.

Winter Storm, Barry

When
March 2, 2:00 AM CST to 2:00 PM CST
Where
Barry forecast zone
Reported by
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates
36.710, -93.829 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Barton

When
March 2, 2:00 AM CST to 2:00 PM CST
Where
Barton forecast zone
Reported by
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates
37.502, -94.347 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Benton

When
March 2, 2:00 AM CST to 2:00 PM CST
Where
Benton forecast zone
Reported by
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates
38.295, -93.288 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Camden

When
March 2, 2:00 AM CST to 2:00 PM CST
Where
Camden forecast zone
Reported by
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates
38.027, -92.766 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Cedar

When
March 2, 2:00 AM CST to 2:00 PM CST
Where
Cedar forecast zone
Reported by
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates
37.724, -93.857 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Dade

When
March 2, 2:00 AM CST to 2:00 PM CST
Where
Dade forecast zone
Reported by
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates
37.432, -93.850 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Dallas

When
March 2, 2:00 AM CST to 2:00 PM CST
Where
Dallas forecast zone
Reported by
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates
37.680, -93.024 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Greene

When
March 2, 2:00 AM CST to 2:00 PM CST
Where
Greene forecast zone
Reported by
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates
37.258, -93.342 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Hickory

When
March 2, 2:00 AM CST to 2:00 PM CST
Where
Hickory forecast zone
Reported by
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates
37.941, -93.321 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Jasper

When
March 2, 2:00 AM CST to 2:00 PM CST
Where
Jasper forecast zone
Reported by
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates
37.204, -94.341 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Laclede

When
March 2, 2:00 AM CST to 2:00 PM CST
Where
Laclede forecast zone
Reported by
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates
37.658, -92.590 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Lawrence

When
March 2, 2:00 AM CST to 2:00 PM CST
Where
Lawrence forecast zone
Reported by
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates
37.106, -93.833 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Maries

When
March 2, 2:00 AM CST to 2:00 PM CST
Where
Maries forecast zone
Reported by
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates
38.162, -91.925 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, McDonald

When
March 2, 2:00 AM CST to 2:00 PM CST
Where
McDonald forecast zone
Reported by
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates
36.629, -94.348 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Miller

When
March 2, 2:00 AM CST to 2:00 PM CST
Where
Miller forecast zone
Reported by
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates
38.215, -92.428 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Morgan

When
March 2, 2:00 AM CST to 2:00 PM CST
Where
Morgan forecast zone
Reported by
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates
38.424, -92.886 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Newton

When
March 2, 2:00 AM CST to 2:00 PM CST
Where
Newton forecast zone
Reported by
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates
36.906, -94.339 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Phelps

When
March 2, 2:00 AM CST to 2:00 PM CST
Where
Phelps forecast zone
Reported by
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates
37.877, -91.792 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Polk

When
March 2, 2:00 AM CST to 2:00 PM CST
Where
Polk forecast zone
Reported by
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates
37.617, -93.400 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Pulaski

When
March 2, 2:00 AM CST to 2:00 PM CST
Where
Pulaski forecast zone
Reported by
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates
37.825, -92.208 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, St. Clair

When
March 2, 2:00 AM CST to 2:00 PM CST
Where
St. Clair forecast zone
Reported by
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates
38.037, -93.776 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Vernon

When
March 2, 2:00 AM CST to 2:00 PM CST
Where
Vernon forecast zone
Reported by
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates
37.851, -94.342 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Webster

When
March 2, 2:00 AM CST to 2:00 PM CST
Where
Webster forecast zone
Reported by
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates
37.281, -92.876 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Stone

When
March 2, 2:00 AM CST to 2:00 PM CST
Where
Stone forecast zone
Reported by
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates
36.747, -93.456 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

What these are

Winter Storm
A storm that brought snow, sleet or freezing rain at warning levels, usually over several hours or days.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in Missouri in 2002Every state in 2002This day in weather historyWarnings in Missouri, 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: 5285915, 5285916, 5285917, 5285918, 5285919, 5286029, 5286030, 5286031, 5286032, 5286033, 5286034, 5286035, 5286036, 5286037, 5286038, 5286039, 5286040, 5286041, 5286042, 5286043, 5286044, 5286045, 5286046, 5286047.