Ice Storm in Ohio, January 31, 2002

Name: Ice Storm in Ohio, January 31, 2002
Start: 2002-01-31T03:00
End: 2002-01-31T14:00
Location: Ohio

January 31, 2002 · NWS IWX · 3 events in 3 counties and zones

3 ice storm, as filed by the National Weather Service.

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 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 Northern Indiana wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jan 30, 7:16 PM EST, 7 hours 44 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jan 30, 7:16 PM EST, 7 hours 44 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION...UPDATED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORTHERN INDIANA
716 PM EST WED JAN 30 2002

UPDATED DISCUSSION...

GOING FCST HAS THINGS WELL IN HAND. WL HAVE A MINOR UPDATE IN ZONES
TO ACCOUNT FOR FREEZING RAIN ALREADY MOVING INTO CENTRAL AND WESTERN
PORTIONS OF ICE STORM WARNING AREA. SOME MINOR ACCRUAL HERE AT IWX
AT 00Z WITH 6FT TEMP OF 31F AND 2IN GROUND TEMP OF 34F. AREA 88D/S
SHOW LARGE AREA OF MODERATE TO HEAVY RAIN OVER IL AND HEAVIEST
PCPN SHLD CONT TO TRAIN OVR WRN HALF OF CWA MOST OF NIGHT. LATEST
RUC...LAPS AND MESOETA SOUNDINGS STILL SUPPORT FREEZING RAIN CENTRAL
AND A CHANGE OVER AT SBN AFTER MIDNIGHT. TEMPS IN NRN AREAS HOVERING
AROUND 30F. MODELS STILL PROG THESE TO DROP A FEW DEGREES OVERNIGHT
WHICH WILL AID IN ICE ACCRUAL.

AFTERNOON DISCUSSION...

...SHORT TERM...
OBVIOUS PROBLEMS OF DAY ARE FREEZING RAIN AND ACCUMULATING SNOW
POTENTIAL FOR MUCH OF CWA. WENT WITH ETA MDL AS IT INITIALIZED WELL
AND HAS BEEN FAIRLY CONSISTENT. WENT WITH COOLER AVN TEMPS AS IT
SEEMS TO HANDLE INITIAL SHALLOW COLD POOL BEST...AND SHUD CONT TO
DO SO.

LO LVL POOL OF CD AIR GRADUALLY SPREADING SEWD THIS EVENING WHILE
WARM AIR SURGING NWD AT MID LVLS. PLENTY OF DYNAMICS AS SERIES OF
S/WS MOV OVR CWA TONIGHT THRU THURSDAY NIGHT. PLENTY OF MSTR
AVAILABLE SO QPFS ARE HI. THEREFORE...ICE ACCRUAL COULD BE
TREMENDOUS... ALREADY HAVE 2 TO 4 INCHES ON GRND SBN AREA AND SHUD
GET ANOTHER 1 TO 3 INCHES THIS EVENING BEFORE CHANGING OVER TO
FREEZING RAIN.

SYSTEM MOVS OUT ON THURSDAY NIGHT. THEN LAKE EFFECT A POSSIBILITY
ON FRIDAY.

...EXTENDED...
5H VORT SWINGS THRU THE GRT LKS SUN ALONG WITH SFC LO. THE GREAT
BULK OF THE SYSTEMS MSTR STAYS N OF THE CWFA SO WL CONFINE CHC POPS
TO THE NORTHERN ZONES. RDGING AT THE SFC AND ALOFT MOVS IN ON MON. ON
TUE HEALTHY MID-LVL VORT AND SFC LO DIG TO OUR W AND THEN S THRU TN
VLY...WITH DEEP MSTR MOVG THRU CWFA...FOR CHC OF SNO. DRY WX WITH
RDG RETURNS FOR WED.

.IWX...WINTER STORM WARNING TONIGHT THRU THURSDAY NIGHT NRN 2/3RDS
       OF IN COUNTIES OF CWA ALL OF MI COUNTIES IN CWA AND WILLIAMS
       OH AND FULTON OH
       WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY TONIGHT AND THURSDAY MORNING FOR
       MOST OF THE REMAINING IN CWA COUNTIES AND OH CWA COUNTIES.

EDDY/12/LASHLEY

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

3 ice storm. Local standard time, as filed.

Ice Storm, Williams

When: January 31, 3:00 AM EST to 2:00 PM EST
Where: Williams forecast zone
Reported by: EMERGENCY MANAGER
Coordinates: 41.560, -84.588 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

The first major winter storm of the season brought an ice storm to much of Southwest Lower Michigan, Northern Indiana, and extreme Northwest Ohio with ice accumulations from one quarter to over one half inch on trees and power lines, with accumulations of one and one half inches in some locations. Roads were ice covered mainly along and north of the Indiana and Michigan state line. Over 250,000 homes were without power at some point during the storm with widespread trees and power lines down. AEP electric reported the most outages ever for the Michiana region, surpassing any any previous severe weather event. Some customers did not have power restored for over 3 days. Several communities issued state of emergencies for over 48 hours, with the Red Cross and local churches opening several shelters. Despite the widespread ice accumulation, actual property damage was limited to isolated minor vehicle damage.

Ice Storm, Fulton

When: January 31, 3:00 AM EST to 2:00 PM EST
Where: Fulton forecast zone
Reported by: EMERGENCY MANAGER
Coordinates: 41.602, -84.130 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Ice Storm, Defiance

When: January 31, 3:00 AM EST to 1:00 PM EST
Where: Defiance forecast zone
Reported by: EMERGENCY MANAGER
Coordinates: 41.324, -84.490 (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 Ohio in 2002 Every state in 2002 This day in weather history Warnings in Ohio, 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: 5277871, 5277872, 5277873.