A strong and very fast moving cold front raced east across northwestern Pennsylvania during the early evening hours. Damaging winds occurred along and behind this front.
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.
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.
The episode as NWS CLE wrote it up.
A strong and very fast moving cold front raced east across northwestern Pennsylvania during the early evening hours. Damaging winds occurred along and behind this front. A 60 mph gust was measured at the Meadville Airport (Crawford County) at 636 pm with a 55 mph gust at Erie International Airport (Erie County) at 758 pm. Many trees and power poles were downed and scattered power outages also occurred. Several dozen buildings and homes were damaged by the strong winds.
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 Cleveland, OH wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Mar 9, 5:05 PM EST, 25 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CLEVELAND OH 505 PM EST SAT MAR 9 2002 UPDATED TO ADD SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH FOR EASTERN AREAS. .CLE... .OH...HIGH WIND WARNING THRU TNGT. .PA...HIGH WIND WARNING THRU TNGT. .LERI...STORM WARNING IN EFFECT. KIELTYKA
OHZ003-006>011-017>020-027>031-036>038-047-092215- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CLEVELAND OH 326 PM EST SAT MAR 9 2002 ...DAMAGING WINDS ARE EXPECTED LATE THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING... A LINE OF SHOWERS OVER WESTERN OHIO WILL CONTINUE TO PRODUCE DAMAGING WINDS AS IT MOVES EAST AT 50 MPH. THIS LINE WILL MOVE AS FAR EAST AS CLEVELAND AND WOOSTER BY 5 PM. DURING THE PAST 30 MINUTES A 68 MPH WIND GUST WAS MEASURED IN WESTERN LUCAS COUNTY WITH WIND GUSTS IN EXCESS OF 60 MPH IN BOTH WOOD AND HANCOCK COUNTIES. MANY TREES AND POWER POLES HAVE BEEN DOWNED IN THESE AREAS. PEOPLE IN THE PATH OF THIS LINE OF SHOWERS CAN EXPECT BRIEF HEAVY RAINS AND WIND GUSTS IN EXCESS OF 60 MPH AS THIS LINE MOVES THROUGH. THIS IS A VERY DANGEROUS SITUATION. KUBINA
OHZ010>013-020>022-030-031-092215- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CLEVELAND OH 416 PM EST SAT MAR 9 2002 ...HIGH WINDS MOVING EAST AT 65 MILE PER HOUR... HIGH WINDS WITH SPEEDS 65 TO 70 MPH ARE BEING REPORTED MOVING ACROSS NORTHERN OHIO AT THIS TIME. THESE WINDS ARE EXPECTED TO MOVE INTO LORAIN AND CUYAHOGA BY 430 PM...MEDINA...ASHLAND... STARK...SUMMIT AND LAKE BY 445 PM. STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO...RADIO OR TELEVISION FOR THE LATEST UPDATES CONCERNING THIS DEVELOPING WEATHER SITUATION. WSF
OHZ003-006>008-017-018-027-092330- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CLEVELAND OH 440 PM EST SAT MAR 9 2002 ...THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH FOR NORTHWEST OHIO HAS BEEN CANCELED... ...HIGH WIND WARNING FOR NORTHWEST OHIO REMAINS IN EFFECT THROUGH TONIGHT... THE COLD FRONT THAT BROUGHT THE THREAT OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS HAS MOVED EAST TO CENTRAL OHIO SO THUNDERSTORMS ARE NO LONGER EXPECTED. STRONG WINDS WILL CONTINUE HOWEVER AND WIND GUSTS OF 60 MPH WILL CONTINUE THROUGH THE EVENING HOURS. THE STRONG WINDS COULD BRING DOWN ADDITIONAL TREES...TREE LIMBS...POWER LINES AND POWER POLES. THIS IS A VERY DANGEROUS SITUATION. STAY INDOORS AWAY FROM WINDOWS. DO NOT TOUCH DOWNED POWER LINES.
OHZ014-023-033-089-PAZ001>003-100015- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CLEVELAND OH 513 PM EST SAT MAR 9 2002 ...DAMAGING WINDS EXPECTED THIS EVENING... ...A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH FOR EXTREME NORTHEAST OHIO AND NORTHWEST PENNSYLVANIA HAS BEEN ISSUED UNTIL 10 PM EST... ...A HIGH WIND WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT THROUGH TONIGHT... DAMAGING WINDS WILL OCCUR IN MANY PARTS OF EXTREME NORTHEAST OHIO AND NORTHWEST PENNSYLVANIA THIS EVENING. WINDS WILL GUST TO 60 MPH IN MOST AREAS AND GUSTS AS HIGH AS 75 MPH ARE POSSIBLE. TREES AND POWER LINES WILL BE DOWNED IN SOME SECTIONS AND ISOLATED STRUCTURAL DAMAGE COULD OCCUR. SOME LOCATIONS COULD HAVE A THUNDERSTORM. THE DAMAGING WINDS ARE FROM A STRONG AND FAST MOVING COLD FRONT THAT WILL CROSS THE AREA. THE STRONGEST WINDS CAN BE EXPECTED IN THE ASHTABULA WARREN AND YOUNGSTOWN AREA BETWEEN 550 PM AND 620 PM...AND IN ERIE EDINBORO AND MEADVILLE BETWEEN 630 PM AND 7 PM. STRONG WINDS WILL CONTINUE OVERNIGHT. THIS IS A DANGEROUS SITUATION. RESIDENTS OF EXTREME NORTHEAST OHIO AND NORTHWEST PENNSYLVANIA SHOULD PREPARE FOR DAMAGING WINDS. STAY INDOORS AWAY FROM WINDOWS. DO NOT TOUCH DOWNED POWER LINES. KOSARIK
OHZ009-010-019-028>030-036-037-047-092250- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CLEVELAND OH 521 PM EST SAT MAR 9 2002 ...THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH FOR NORTH CENTRAL OHIO HAS BEEN CANCELLED... ...HIGH WIND WARNING FOR NORTHERN OHIO REMAINS IN EFFECT THROUGH TONIGHT... THE COLD FRONT THAT BROUGHT THE THREAT OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS HAS MOVED EAST TO CENTRAL OHIO SO THUNDERSTORMS ARE NO LONGER EXPECTED. STRONG WINDS WILL CONTINUE HOWEVER AND WIND GUSTS OF 60 MPH WILL CONTINUE THROUGH THE EVENING HOURS. THE STRONG WINDS COULD BRING DOWN ADDITIONAL TREES...TREE LIMBS...POWER LINES AND POWER POLES. THIS IS A VERY DANGEROUS SITUATION. STAY INDOORS AWAY FROM WINDOWS. DO NOT TOUCH DOWNED POWER LINES. KIELTYKA
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
3 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Pennsylvania in 2002Every state in 2002This day in weather historyWarnings in Pennsylvania, March 2002
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: 5284861, 5284862, 5284863.