Vermont, 2002

Winter Storm in Vermont, January 6 to 7, 2002

January 6 to 7, 2002 · NWS ALY · 2 events in 2 counties and zones

A compact low pressure area developed across the Gulf States on Sunday, January 6. This storm loaded up with Gulf of Mexico moisture, then swiftly tracked up along the Atlantic seaboard, and was already in the Gulf of Maine by the following Monday morning.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 2 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
2

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 ALY wrote it up.

A compact low pressure area developed across the Gulf States on Sunday, January 6. This storm loaded up with Gulf of Mexico moisture, then swiftly tracked up along the Atlantic seaboard, and was already in the Gulf of Maine by the following Monday morning. The upper level support to this system moved across the region during the day Monday and brought another round of lighter snow. While the two systems never really did evolve into an especially powerful storm, they did manage to produce a swath of snow in excess of a foot across southern Vermont. Fifteen inches of snow fell at Pownal, Bennington County and 18 accumulated at Marlboro, Windham County. The storm managed to close schools and businesses across the region, as well as producing many vehicular accidents.

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 Albany, NY wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jan 6, 2:12 PM EST, 8 hours 48 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jan 6, 2:12 PM EST, 8 hours 48 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ALBANY NY
212 PM EST SUN JAN 6 2002

.DISC...MAIN MDL DIFF IS IN DVLPMNT OF SCND LOW S OF LI WHICH IS
APPARENT ON ETA/MESOETA AND NON-EXISTANT ON AVN. WL OPT FOR HIER
ETA/MESO ETA AMNTS OVRNGHT...BUT BELIEVE ETA/MESOETA TOO STG WITH
SCND SYS ON MON. WL JST CALL FOR SOM LIGHT SNW DURG DAY MON. BUFKIT
PCPN TYPE AND PARTIAL THICKNESS VALUES HIGH ENOF TO SUPPORT SOM
MIXING OF SNOW WITH SLEET AND RAIN THIS EVNG IN FAR SE ZONES. QPF
AMTS WL GNRLY BE IN 0.50 TO 0.75 RNG IN WARNING AREA WITH AMTS
APPRCHG AN INCH IN MOR FVRD UPSLOPE AREAS OF ERN CATSKILLS AND
BERKS. QPF WL DROP OFF QUICKLY TO NW WITH SRN ADIRONDACKS LIKELY TO
SEE ONLY ONE TO TWO TENTHS OF AN INCH AND TRANSITION AREA ACRS ERN
MHWK VLY AND SARATOGA RGN UP TO A THIRD OF AN INCH.

GREATEST PRES FALL AT 18Z OVR XTRM NE NC WITH SFC LOW STL BCK OVR
WRN VA/WRN NC WITH PCPN UP TO SRN NJ. H7 DEFORMATION ZONE SETS UP THIS
EVENG ACRS SE NY AND NW PA AND THEN SHIFTS NE OVRNGHT INTO CNTRL AND
ERN NEW ENG. BST UVV AND UPPER DYNAMICS ACRS FA BTWN 03Z AND 09Z
WITH FVRBL SNOW GROWTH PROFILE FOR SOM LRG AGGREGATES OF DENDRITES
AND AMTS OF 1 TO 3 INCHES AN HR PSBL FOR SVRL HRS. SNW ON MON SHLD
BE LIGHTER WITH BASICALLY AN ADDITIONAL INCH OR TWO ACRS FA.

.ALY...WINTER STORM WARNING TONIGHT AND MONDAY
       NYZ040-047>054-058>061-063>066-VTZ013-014-MAZ001-CTZ001
       WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY
       NYZ038-039-041-043

In the hours before

Local storm report, Jan 6, 9:19 PM EST, 1 hour 41 minutes before
NEW YORK STATEWIDE POLICE INFORMATION NETWORK
TROOP F
0917PM     SUN JAN 06 2002
#1 0000001 000
FMON WLSR
00080    FILE 28   SP MONROE NY1350200                       JAN 06-02
TO       NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE

   ROAD CLOSED - ROUTE 6 FROM LONG MOUNTAIN CIRCLE TO CENTRAL VALLEY WEST
BOUND - UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE. DUE TO WEATHER CONDITIONS.

AUTH TPR JOSEPH MITCHELL                            HOROWITZ 09-20PM

OPER - HOROWITZ,ROBIN                 2117
Local storm report, Jan 6, 10:59 PM EST, 1 minute before
NEW YORK STATEWIDE POLICE INFORMATION NETWORK
TROOP F
1058PM     SUN JAN 06 2002
#1 0000001 000
FMON WLSR
00081    FILE 28   SP MONROE NY1350200                       JAN 06-02
TO       NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE

REF 080 FILE 28 01/06/02 RE: ROAD CLOSED LONG MOUNTAIN CIRCLE TO CENTRAL
VALLEY.  ROAD OPEN AT THIS TIME.

AUTH TPR JOSEPH MITCHELL                          HOROWITZ 11-00PM

OPER - HOROWITZ,ROBIN                 2257

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

2 winter storm. Local standard time, as filed.

Winter Storm, Bennington

When
January 6, 11:00 PM EST to January 7, 3:00 PM EST
Where
Bennington forecast zone
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
43.036, -73.093 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Windham

When
January 6, 11:00 PM EST to January 7, 3:00 PM EST
Where
Windham forecast zone
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
42.991, -72.714 (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

More

Every storm in Vermont in 2002Every state in 2002This day in weather historyWarnings in Vermont, 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: 5279672, 5279673.