Winter Storm, Benson
- When
- March 8, 3:35 PM CST to March 9, 4:40 AM CST
- Where
- Benson forecast zone
- Reported by
- AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
- Coordinates
- 48.069, -99.366 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Winter Storm in North Dakota, March 8 to 9, 2002
Strong winds and snow combined to produce visibilities between a quarter mile and a half mile across the area. The Fargo airport reported a 46 mph wind gust and the Grand Forks airport reported a 40 mph wind gust.
Where it happened
Every event with a place to put it; 16 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
- 16
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 FGF wrote it up.
Strong winds and snow combined to produce visibilities between a quarter mile and a half mile across the area. The Fargo airport reported a 46 mph wind gust and the Grand Forks airport reported a 40 mph wind gust. Three to five inches of new snow were common across the area.
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 Forks, ND wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Mar 8, 2:30 PM CST, 1 hour 5 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Mar 8, 2:30 PM CST, 1 hour 5 minutes before
FORECAST DISCUSSION FOR EASTERN NORTH DAKOTA AND NORTHWEST MINNESOTA NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EASTERN ND/GRAND FORKS ND 230 PM CST FRI MAR 8 2002 FCST CONCERNS THE UPCOMING STORM AND HEADLINES. COORD WITH MPX/DLH/ABR/BIS. .CURRENT... WATER VAPOR SHOWS 50H VORT MAX MOVING NNE INTO WRN NE...WITH ENHANCED SNOWS JUST TO ITS NORTH AND WEST FROM ERN WY...ACROSS WRN SD INTO SCNTRL ND. THIS AREA UNDERNEATH 70H TROUGH AS WELL. MODELS HAVE HAD A GOOD HANDLE ON THIS SYSTEM SINCE THE 12Z RUNS. MAJOR CONCERN IS HOW MUCH SNOW TO EXPECT WITH THIS SYSTEM AND THEN WIND AND BLOWING SNOW/VSBY PROBLEMS EXPECTED LATER TONIGHT INTO SATURDAY MORNING AS SFC LOW CRANKS UP OVER WISCONSIN. .SHORT TERM... WILL USE BLEND OF ETA/AVN THIS FCST. PREFER STRONGER AND MORE NORTHERLY DIRECTION SFC WINDS FROM AVN VERSUS WEAKER ETA. ETA INITIALIZED 5 MB TOO WEAK ON HIGH IN SRN ALBERTA AT 12Z. THUS THINK ETA WINDS NOT STRONG ENOUGH. AVN 85H WINDS OF 40-45 KTS WITH COLD ADVECTION SAT AM SHOULD BE ENOUGH TO BRING BLOWING SNOW PROBLEMS TO THE VALLEY...SPCLY WITH ENHANCED NORTHERLY VALLEY COMPONENT. ALL MODELS FROM MESO ETA (12Z AND 18Z) ...MM5...GGEM...NGM AND ETA ALL BRING IN 0.10 TO 0.20 LIQUID EQUIV OVERNIGHT. WILL HOIST WINTER STORM WARNINGS ALL CWFA...EXCEPT DEVILS LAKE AREA WHERE ADVISORIES WILL BE ISSUED. EXPECT 2-4 DVL...3-5 GFK/FAR TO 4-6 BJI-FFM. 4 INCH/24 HR WITH 25 MPH SUSTAINED/FREQ GUSTS CRITERIA FOR WARNINGS IN OUR CWFA. SOME OF WARNING AREA TO BE BORDERLINE WITH SNOW AMTS (MAY NOT GET 4 INCHES)...BUT FEEL JUSTIFICATION TO GO WARNINGS DUE TO POTENTIAL BLIZZARD CONDITIONS EARLY SATURDAY. .LONGER TERM... SNOW TO QUICKLY MOVE EAST ON SATURDAY...ENDING IN ERN ZONES BY AFTN. THEN CLEARING. WINDS WILL DIMINISH SLOWLY. WILL EXTEND WARNINGS INTO SATURDAY FOR VALLEY INTO MN AS WINDS WILL BE HOWLING AT LEAST THROUGH MIDDAY/EARLY AFTN. LATER SHIFTS CAN REFINE TIMING. WITH CLEAR SKY AND DIMINISHING WINDS SAT NIGHT WENT BLO GUIDANCE...AND THEN BROUGHT NEXT CLIPPER IN SUN NIGHT INTO MONDAY ALONG WITH CHC OF -SN. .TUE-FRI...WESTERLY FLOW ALOFT TO TEMPORARILY REPLACE HIGH AMPLITUDE PATTERN FOR MIDDLE OF NEXT WEEK BEFORE RETURNING A TROUGH OVER ROCKY MOUNTAINS BY FRI. ASSOCIATED PRIMARY STORM TRACK THEN WOULD BE NORTH OF CN/U.S. BORDER WHILE KEEPING ARCTIC AIR BARELY A THREAT. FMR/MEX TEMPERATURES (SEASONAL) LOOK SOLID AND WILL KEEP THEM...SO SLIGHT MELTING OF SNOW COVER EXPECTED. EXPECT DOMINATING WESTERLY FLOW TO KEEP SNOW MINIMAL AND WILL NOT MENTION ANY EXCEPT TUE THEN ON FRI IN RE-AMPLIFYING PATTERN. .FGF...WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY TONIGHT AND SATURDAY MORNING FOR THE DEVILS LAKE AREA. WINTER STORM WARNING FOR THE REMAINDER OF EXTREME EASTERN NORTH DAKOTA AND NORTHWEST AND WEST CENTRAL MINNESOTA FOR TONIGHT AND SATURDAY. RIDDLE
The radar
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
Event by event
16 winter storm. Local standard time, as filed.
Winter Storm, Ramsey
- When
- March 8, 3:35 PM CST to March 9, 4:40 AM CST
- Where
- Ramsey forecast zone
- Reported by
- AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
- Coordinates
- 48.269, -98.720 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Winter Storm, Western Walsh
- When
- March 8, 3:35 PM CST to March 9, 4:40 AM CST
- Where
- Western Walsh forecast zone
- Reported by
- AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
- Coordinates
- 48.370, -97.721 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Winter Storm, Nelson
- When
- March 8, 3:35 PM CST to March 9, 4:40 AM CST
- Where
- Nelson forecast zone
- Reported by
- AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
- Coordinates
- 47.922, -98.192 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Winter Storm, Eddy
- When
- March 8, 3:35 PM CST to March 9, 4:40 AM CST
- Where
- Eddy forecast zone
- Reported by
- AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
- Coordinates
- 47.718, -98.902 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Winter Storm, Griggs
- When
- March 8, 3:35 PM CST to March 9, 4:40 AM CST
- Where
- Griggs forecast zone
- Reported by
- AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
- Coordinates
- 47.457, -98.237 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Winter Storm, Pembina
- When
- March 8, 3:35 PM CST to March 9, 11:16 AM CST
- Where
- Pembina forecast zone
- Reported by
- AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
- Coordinates
- 48.768, -97.552 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Winter Storm, Eastern Walsh
- When
- March 8, 3:35 PM CST to March 9, 11:16 AM CST
- Where
- Eastern Walsh forecast zone
- Reported by
- AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
- Coordinates
- 48.370, -97.721 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Winter Storm, Grand Forks
- When
- March 8, 3:35 PM CST to March 9, 11:16 AM CST
- Where
- Grand Forks forecast zone
- Reported by
- AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
- Coordinates
- 47.922, -97.457 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Winter Storm, Steele
- When
- March 8, 3:35 PM CST to March 9, 11:16 AM CST
- Where
- Steele forecast zone
- Reported by
- AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
- Coordinates
- 47.456, -97.725 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Winter Storm, Traill
- When
- March 8, 3:35 PM CST to March 9, 11:16 AM CST
- Where
- Traill forecast zone
- Reported by
- AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
- Coordinates
- 47.454, -97.162 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Winter Storm, Barnes
- When
- March 8, 3:35 PM CST to March 9, 11:16 AM CST
- Where
- Barnes forecast zone
- Reported by
- AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
- Coordinates
- 46.936, -98.072 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Winter Storm, Cass
- When
- March 8, 3:35 PM CST to March 9, 11:16 AM CST
- Where
- Cass forecast zone
- Reported by
- AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
- Coordinates
- 46.933, -97.248 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Winter Storm, Ransom
- When
- March 8, 3:35 PM CST to March 9, 11:16 AM CST
- Where
- Ransom forecast zone
- Reported by
- AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
- Coordinates
- 46.456, -97.657 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Winter Storm, Sargent
- When
- March 8, 3:35 PM CST to March 9, 11:16 AM CST
- Where
- Sargent forecast zone
- Reported by
- AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
- Coordinates
- 46.108, -97.631 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Winter Storm, Richland
- When
- March 8, 3:35 PM CST to March 9, 11:16 AM CST
- Where
- Richland forecast zone
- Reported by
- AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
- Coordinates
- 46.265, -96.948 (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
- Damaging Winds in Iowa, March 8 to 9, 2002
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Kansas, March 8 to 9, 2002
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Kansas, March 8, 2002
- Ice Storm in Iowa, March 8 to 9, 2002
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Missouri, March 8 to 9, 2002
- Winter Storm in Iowa, March 8 to 9, 2002
- High Wind in Kansas, March 8, 2002
- Damaging Winds and High Wind in Oklahoma, March 8 to 9, 2002
- Damaging Winds in Oklahoma, March 8 to 9, 2002
- Winter Storm in Minnesota, March 8 to 9, 2002
- Hail and Damaging Wind in Kansas, March 8, 2002
- High Wind in New Mexico, March 8, 2002
More
Every storm in North Dakota in 2002Every state in 2002This day in weather historyWarnings in North Dakota, 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: 5283942, 5283943, 5283944, 5283945, 5283946, 5283947, 5283948, 5283949, 5283950, 5283951, 5283952, 5283953, 5283954, 5284036, 5284037, 5284038.