Winter Storm in North Carolina, January 2 to 4, 2002

Name: Winter Storm in North Carolina, January 2 to 4, 2002
Start: 2002-01-02T20:00
End: 2002-01-04T04:00
Location: North Carolina

January 2 to 4, 2002 · NWS MHX · 6 events in 6 counties and zones

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 6 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: 2
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 6

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 MHX wrote it up.

The coastal plain of North Carolina experienced a one two punch of winter weather on January 2nd and again on the 3rd. Snow, sleet and freezing rain blanketed inland areas with one to two inches of accumulation late on January 2nd. Gusty winds of 20 mph on the morning of the 3rd caused numerous trees and power lines to fall casing minor damage and numerous power outages. A second snow event began on the evening of the 3rd and dropped anywhere from 4 to 8 inches of snow across the region. Snowfall rates of over 2 inches per hour were observed in many locations. Two injuries occurred in a head- on collision between two vehicles in Pitt county due to ice covered roads.

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 Newport/Morehead City, NC wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jan 2, 3:50 PM EST, 4 hours 10 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jan 2, 3:50 PM EST, 4 hours 10 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION...CORRECTION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NEWPORT/MOREHEAD CITY NC
350 PM EST WED JAN 2 2002

AVN PREFERRED MODEL DUE TO BETTER INITIALIZATION BUT MAY BE A BIT
FAST BEYOND 24 HRS. WILL CONTINUE CURRENT WARNINGS AND ADVISORIES
BUT EXTEND INTO THU NIGHT WITH WRAP AROUND AND UPR LOW GIVING BEST
CHC OF SNOW ALONG COAST AT THAT TIME. STILL THINKING 3-6 INCHES FOR
COASTAL PLAINS...2-4 FOR NEW BERN TO PLYMOUTH...1-3 COAST. WILL
HEADLINE OUTER BANKS FOR WWA MAY BE NEEDED THU NIGHT AS DO EXPECT
CHANGEOVER TO SNOW THERE AS WELL. MODELS NOW INDICATING MID LEVEL
WARMING TONIGHT INTO COASTAL PLAINS AND WILL ADD MIX OF FRZG
RAIN/SLEET AS WELL.

CLEARING LATE THU NIGHT...FAIR FRI AND SAT...THEN NEXT SYSTEM COMING
IN SUN. SHOULD BE ALL RAIN BASED ON CURRENT AVN/MRF TIMING.
POST-FRONTAL WRAP-AROUND SHOULD HOLD TO W OF AREA AND NO ADDITIONAL
POPS DURING PERIOD AFTER RAIN LIKELY SUN AND CHC SUN NIGHT.

MOS CONSENSUS REASONABLE TONIGHT AND THU...THEN GOING ABOUT A CAT
BELOW MOS TEMPS FRI-SAT DUE TO EXPECTED SNOW COVER.

CONSIDERED COASTAL FLOOD WATCH FOR SRN PAMLICO SOUND...BUT DOES NOT
APPEAR WINDS WILL BE STRONG ENOUGH OR LONG ENOUGH DURATION TO CAUSE
MAJOR PROBLEMS. WILL ISSUE MWS AND MENTION WATER LEVELS POSSIBLY 2-3
FEET ABOVE NORMAL.

MARINE FCST...FAVOR AVN STRENGTH OF WINDS EVEN THOUGH MOVEMENT OF
SYSTEM MIGHT BE A LITTLE FAST. PER ILM COORD..WILL RAISE GALE
WARNING COASTAL WATERS THIS PACKAGE AS GALE FORCE WINDS WILL BE
LIKELY BY MORNING. STRONG SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY FOR SOUNDS. WINDS
GRADUALLY BACK AROUND TO NW THU NIGHT THEN DECREASE IN SPEED FRI
AFTERNOON TO 15-20 KT AS LOW PULLS AWAY TO THE NE.

.MHX...WINTER STORM WARNING NCZ029-044>045-079>080-090>093.
       WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY NCZ046>047-081-094>095-098.
       GALE WARNING COASTAL WATERS
       SCA SOUNDS.

PUBLIC/FIRE...JBM
MARINE/AVIATION...WS

CORRECTED WATCH/WARNING LINE FOR GALE/SCA AREAS AND ADDED CSTL FLOOD
DISCUSSION.

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

6 winter storm. Local standard time, as filed.

Winter Storm, Pitt

When: January 2, 8:00 PM EST to January 4, 4:00 AM EST
Where: Pitt forecast zone
Injuries: 2 direct, 0 indirect
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 35.594, -77.375 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Martin

When: January 2, 8:00 PM EST to January 4, 4:00 AM EST
Where: Martin forecast zone
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 35.842, -77.107 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Lenoir

When: January 2, 8:00 PM EST to January 4, 4:00 AM EST
Where: Lenoir forecast zone
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 35.239, -77.641 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Duplin

When: January 2, 8:00 PM EST to January 4, 4:00 AM EST
Where: Duplin forecast zone
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 34.936, -77.933 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Jones

When: January 2, 8:00 PM EST to January 4, 4:00 AM EST
Where: Jones forecast zone
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 35.022, -77.355 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Greene

When: January 2, 8:00 PM EST to January 4, 4:00 AM EST
Where: Greene forecast zone
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 35.485, -77.676 (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

Every storm in North Carolina in 2002 Every state in 2002 This day in weather history Warnings in North Carolina, January 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: 5277343, 5277344, 5277345, 5277346, 5277347, 5277348.