Ice Storm in New York, March 26, 2002

Name: Ice Storm in New York, March 26, 2002
Start: 2002-03-26T07:00
End: 2002-03-26T23:00
Location: New York

March 26, 2002 · NWS BGM · 7 events in 7 counties and zones

A slow moving strong surface low brought abundant moisture into the area on the 26th. That morning the surface low was in West Virginia.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 7 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: $40,000
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 7

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 BGM wrote it up.

A slow moving strong surface low brought abundant moisture into the area on the 26th. That morning the surface low was in West Virginia. That evening the low was near Erie, Pennsylvania with a warm front in Pennsylvania. The low continued moving northeast to be in Maine the morning of the 27th. The storm brought rain to valleys but freezing rain to the higher elevations of the affected area. Total rainfall was one inch to two and a half inches. Temperatures of the air and the surface were both near freezing so the amounts of freezing rain were only up to an inch. During the afternoon, some locations rose to and above freezing only to fall back below freezing late in the afternoon and early evening. Trees and wires were downed by the weight of the ice. More than 10,000 residents lost power. across the six county area. Over 1,000 residents still had no power two days later on the afternoon of the 28th.

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 Binghamton, NY wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Mar 26, 4:05 AM EST, 2 hours 55 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Mar 26, 4:05 AM EST, 2 hours 55 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BINGHAMTON NY
405 AM EST TUE MAR 26 2002

WILL CONTINUE WITH ADVISORIES IN ALL ZONES.

LOCAL RADARS SHOW PRECIP NOW MOVING INTO NW PA. STATIONS ACROSS NE
OH REPORTING FZRA. EXPECT PRECIP TO MOVE INTO CNTRL/SRN ZONES BY MID
MORNING. WITH T85 ALREADY ABOVE 0C BY 12Z WILL GO WITH FZRA/IP MIX.
WILL BEGIN PRECIP ACROSS NRN/FAR ERN ZONES LATE THIS MORNING. BY THE
TIME PRECIP REACHES THIS AREA TEMPERATURE PROFILE WILL BE SIMILIAR
TO CNTRL ZONES NOW. WILL PLAY IT FZRA/IP MIX WITH SN ONLY IN NRN
ONEIDA COUNTY WITH ACCUM AROUND ONE INCH BECAUSE CHANGEOVER TO
FZRA/IP SHOULD BE QUICK. SETUP THIS MORNING FOR COLD AIR DAMMING
FAIRLY GOOD BUT BY THIS AFTERNOON SFC HIGH MOVES EAST OF NOVA
SCOTIA AND SFC LOW TRACKS RIGHT OVR FA. EXPECT PRECIP ACROSS ALL
ZONES TO BE JUST RAIN BY MID TO LATE AFTERNOON. LAST PLACES TO
CHANGEOVER WILL BE WRN MOHAWK VLY, WESTERN CATSKILLS AND NRN ONEIDA
COUNTY.

TONIGHT...FRONT SWINGS THROUGH BETWEEN 04-08Z WITH STRONG UPR LVL
DIVERGENCE IN RR QUAD OF UPR LVL JET. MODEL SOUNDINGS SHOW MID/UPR
LVL INSTABILITY SO ELEVATED CONVECTION POSSIBLE, BUT WILL NOT
MENTION TRW. EXPECT TOTAL QPF OF 1.00-1.50 WITH ISOLATED HEAVIER
AMOUNTS IF CONVECTION DOES DEVELOP. DONT ANTICIPATE ANY FLOODING
PROBLEMS ATTM WITH RECENT DRY CONDITIONS BUT LATER SHIFTS WILL NEED
TO MONITOR SMALL STREAM FLOODING POTENTIAL.

WEDNESDAY...WESTERLY FLW WILL FOLLOW FRONT WITH MODEL SOUNDINGS
SHOWING LOW LVL MST BENEATH SUB INV. LOW LVLS DRY OUT BY MIDDAY SO
WENT BECMG PS. T85 NOT COLD ENOUGH TO GENERATE ANY SHSN SO REMOVED
CHC POPS FROM NRN ZONES.

WEDNESDAY NIGHT...MAINLY CLEAR IN ALL ZONES WITH SFC HIGH OVR OHIO
VLY.

NO CHANGES TO EXTENDED.

.BGM...WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY ALL ZONES TUESDAY.

RRM

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

7 ice storm. Local standard time, as filed.

Ice Storm, Broome

When: March 26, 7:00 AM EST to 11:00 PM EST
Where: Broome forecast zone
Property damage: $5,000
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates: 42.160, -75.820 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Ice Storm, Chenango

When: March 26, 7:00 AM EST to 11:00 PM EST
Where: Chenango forecast zone
Property damage: $5,000
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 42.494, -75.612 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Ice Storm, Delaware

When: March 26, 7:00 AM EST to 11:00 PM EST
Where: Delaware forecast zone
Property damage: $5,000
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 42.198, -74.966 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Ice Storm, Madison

When: March 26, 7:00 AM EST to 11:00 PM EST
Where: Madison forecast zone
Property damage: $5,000
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 42.913, -75.670 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Ice Storm, Northern Oneida

When: March 26, 7:00 AM EST to 11:00 PM EST
Where: Northern Oneida forecast zone
Property damage: $10,000
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 43.242, -75.436 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Ice Storm, Otsego

When: March 26, 7:00 AM EST to 11:00 PM EST
Where: Otsego forecast zone
Property damage: $5,000
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 42.634, -75.033 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Ice Storm, Southern Oneida

When: March 26, 7:00 AM EST to 11:00 PM EST
Where: Southern Oneida forecast zone
Property damage: $5,000
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates: 43.242, -75.436 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

What these are

Ice Storm: Freezing rain accumulating a quarter inch or more of ice, or less where it caused significant damage.

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

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in New York in 2002 Every state in 2002 This day in weather history Warnings in New York, 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: 5284012, 5284013, 5284014, 5284015, 5284016, 5284017, 5284018.