Texas, 2002

Winter Storm and Extreme Cold in Texas, March 2 to 3, 2002

March 2 to 3, 2002 · NWS FWD · 24 events in 22 counties and zones

22 winter storm, 2 extreme cold/wind chill, as filed by the National Weather Service.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 24 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
2
Injuries
0
Property damage
None recorded
Crop damage
None recorded
Events
24

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 Fort Worth, TX wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Mar 1, 9:08 PM CST, 5 hours 7 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Mar 1, 9:08 PM CST, 5 hours 7 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION...AMENDED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FORT WORTH TX
908 PM CST FRI MAR 1 2002

EVENING 00Z FWD SOUNDING CONTINUES TO SHOW STEEP MID LEVEL LAPSE
RATES WITH STRONG SHEAR THROUGH THE PROFILE. SURFACE COLD FRONT
HAS BEGAN TO ACCELERATE AS IT MOVES ACROSS THE WESTERN RED RIVER
VALLEY. KFDR SHOWING SOME DEVELOPING ECHOES AND AS THIS BOUDARY
ENCOUNTERS THE STRONG LOW LEVEL JET...WARM DEWPOINTS OVER NORTH
TEXAS...WILL LIKELY SEE SOME ORGANIZATION OF CONVECTION BY MIDNIGHT.
WILL MONITOR DEVELOPMENT OF STORMS AND DETERMINE LATER IF RISK OF A
FEW SEVERE HAILERS COULD BE REALIZED. EXPECT FROPA AT DFW AROUND 06Z
AND WILL AMEND AVIATION OUTLOOK TO INCLUDE BRIEF LLWS AT TERMINALS
06-08Z.

FCSTID = 48

.FWD...WIND ADVISORY FOR ALL OF NORTH TEXAS TONIGHT AND SATURDAY.

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

22 winter storm, 2 extreme cold/wind chill. Local standard time, as filed.

Winter Storm, Tarrant

When
March 2, 2:15 AM CST to 12:00 PM CST
Where
Tarrant forecast zone
Reported by
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates
32.772, -97.291 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Hood

When
March 2, 3:00 AM CST to 11:00 AM CST
Where
Hood forecast zone
Reported by
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates
32.430, -97.832 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Comanche

When
March 2, 3:00 AM CST to 11:00 AM CST
Where
Comanche forecast zone
Reported by
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates
31.948, -98.558 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Denton

When
March 2, 3:20 AM CST to 12:00 PM CST
Where
Denton forecast zone
Reported by
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates
33.205, -97.117 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Dallas

When
March 2, 3:30 AM CST to 11:00 AM CST
Where
Dallas forecast zone
Reported by
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates
32.767, -96.778 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Stephens

When
March 2, 3:43 AM CST to 11:00 AM CST
Where
Stephens forecast zone
Reported by
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates
32.736, -98.836 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Eastland

When
March 2, 3:45 AM CST to 11:00 AM CST
Where
Eastland forecast zone
Reported by
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates
32.327, -98.832 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Young

When
March 2, 3:45 AM CST to 11:00 AM CST
Where
Young forecast zone
Reported by
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates
33.177, -98.688 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Montague

When
March 2, 4:00 AM CST to 11:00 AM CST
Where
Montague forecast zone
Reported by
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates
33.676, -97.725 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Jack

When
March 2, 4:00 AM CST to 11:00 AM CST
Where
Jack forecast zone
Reported by
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates
33.234, -98.172 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Palo Pinto

When
March 2, 4:00 AM CST to 11:00 AM CST
Where
Palo Pinto forecast zone
Reported by
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates
32.753, -98.313 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Parker

When
March 2, 4:30 AM CST to 11:00 AM CST
Where
Parker forecast zone
Reported by
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates
32.778, -97.805 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Wise

When
March 2, 5:00 AM CST to 11:00 AM CST
Where
Wise forecast zone
Reported by
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates
33.216, -97.654 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Grayson

When
March 2, 5:00 AM CST to 12:00 PM CST
Where
Grayson forecast zone
Reported by
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates
33.627, -96.678 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Erath

When
March 2, 5:00 AM CST to 11:00 AM CST
Where
Erath forecast zone
Reported by
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates
32.236, -98.218 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Somervell

When
March 2, 5:30 AM CST to 11:00 AM CST
Where
Somervell forecast zone
Reported by
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates
32.222, -97.774 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Collin

When
March 2, 6:00 AM CST to 12:00 PM CST
Where
Collin forecast zone
Reported by
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates
33.188, -96.572 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Fannin

When
March 2, 7:30 AM CST to 12:00 PM CST
Where
Fannin forecast zone
Reported by
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates
33.594, -96.107 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Lamar

When
March 2, 8:00 AM CST to 12:00 PM CST
Where
Lamar forecast zone
Reported by
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates
33.667, -95.571 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Delta

When
March 2, 8:30 AM CST to 12:00 PM CST
Where
Delta forecast zone
Reported by
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates
33.386, -95.672 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

A strong arctic cold front began moving into North Texas late night on March 1st, and through all of North Texas by mid morning on March 2nd. Light rain developed behind the front, and changed to a mixture of freezing rain, sleet, and snow as temperatures fell below freezing. By sunrise on the 2nd, temperatures were well below freezing, ranging from the upper teens along the Red River counties to the mid 20s in the south. Snow and ice accumulations were heaviest along the Red River. Grayson County had two inches of ice and snow, Cooke County one inch, Denton County one inch, Lamar County one half inch, Delta County one inch. The remainder of North Texas counties affected by the precipitation had from a trace to one fourth inch accumulation. Three persons died in weather related traffic accidents. Hundreds of accidents occurred across North Texas, and many flights were delayed or cancelled at the DFW airport. The arctic air lingered across the region through March 4th. Record or near record lows occurred the mornings of March 3rd and 4th. Temperatures were as low as 12 degrees at Paris and 15 at the DFW airport. There were numerous reports of water main breaks and frozen pipes due to the cold weather. Two persons died of hypothermia in Dallas County, one on the 3rd and another on the 4th. One homeless person died of hypothermia in Tarrant County on the 1st, but this occurred before the arctic front moved into the area.

Winter Storm, Cooke

When
March 2, 9:00 AM CST to 12:00 PM CST
Where
Cooke forecast zone
Reported by
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates
33.639, -97.213 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Hunt

When
March 2, 9:00 AM CST to 12:00 PM CST
Where
Hunt forecast zone
Reported by
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates
33.124, -96.085 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, Dallas

When
March 2, 4:00 PM CST
Where
Dallas forecast zone
Deaths
2 direct, 0 indirect
Reported by
NEWSPAPER
Coordinates
32.767, -96.778 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

A 73 year old woman was found dead from hypothermia on her front porch on Saturday.

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, Dallas

When
March 3, 2:00 PM CST
Where
Dallas forecast zone
Reported by
NEWSPAPER
Coordinates
32.767, -96.778 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

A 67 year old homeless man was found dead from hypothermia Sunday outside a building in east Dallas.

The people who died

As the offices recorded each death: direct deaths were caused by the weather itself, indirect ones by something it set in motion.

EventDateAgeSexWhereKind
Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, Dallas2002-03-0367MaleOutside/Open AreasDirect
Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, Dallas2002-03-0273FemaleOutside/Open AreasDirect

What these are

Winter Storm
A storm that brought snow, sleet or freezing rain at warning levels, usually over several hours or days.
Extreme Cold/Wind Chill
Temperatures or wind chills at or below the local warning criteria, or cold that caused deaths.

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

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in Texas in 2002Every state in 2002This day in weather historyWarnings in Texas, 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: 5284179, 5284193, 5284194, 5284180, 5284192, 5284181, 5284182, 5284183, 5284185, 5284187, 5284189, 5284190, 5284184, 5284188, 5284191, 5284196, 5284195, 5284197, 5284199, 5284298, 5284186, 5284198, 5284299, 5284300.