High Wind in Vermont, March 10, 2002

Name: High Wind in Vermont, March 10, 2002
Start: 2002-03-10T01:30
End: 2002-03-10T02:30
Location: Vermont

March 10, 2002 · NWS BTV · 1 event in 1 county or zone

A storm system moved into southern Canada Saturday, March 9th. The associated strong cold front moved across the area during the early morning hours of March 10th.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 1 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: $30,000
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 1

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 BTV wrote it up.

A storm system moved into southern Canada Saturday, March 9th. The associated strong cold front moved across the area during the early morning hours of March 10th. Strong winds were associated with this low pressure system and strong cold front during the early morning of March 10th. Trees were blown down in the Middlebury area with about 1000 people without power. At Middlebury Union High School, the wind was measured at 45 mph. In Ferrisburgh, a large tree (3 feet in diameter) was uprooted by the wind and fell on a house resulting in structural damage.

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 Burlington, VT wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Mar 10, 1:20 AM EST, 10 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Mar 10, 1:20 AM EST, 10 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BURLINGTON VT
120 AM EST SUN MAR 10 2002

BIG STORY IS STG CD FNT PASSING THRU FA ATTM. TEMPS DROP 25-30 DEGS
WITHIN 2 HRS OF FROPA WITH WND GUSTS OF 40-60KTS WITH FROPA. WNDS
BHND FNT RMN GUSTY AND RN CHGS OVR TO SNW. WL DROP HIGH WND WRNG FOR
SUN MRNG AS GUSTS SHUD STAY BLO WRNG CRITERIA (MAINLY 35-40KTS).

LK EFFECT SNW WL GET CRANKING SHORTLY AND MAY AFFECT PORTIONS OF SRN
ST LAW CTY INITIALLY BFR FLOW BCMS MR WSTRLY AND LK EFFECT SHIFTS
SWD. ALWAYS DIFFICULT TO DETERMINE THE EFFECT ON SRN ST LAW CTY. WL
KEEP SCT SNW SHWRS IN FCST THERE. LKLY POPS IN NRN ADRNDCKS TDY AS
INSTBLY AND PROXIMITY OF LK EFFECT WL CONT SHSN THRU TDY.

GRDNT STARTS TO RELAX TNT AND BY MON MRNG WNDS WL BE MUCH LGTR AS
HIGH PRES OVR MID ATL STATES BUILDS IN.

NXT SYS WILL COME ON TUES AS A CLIPPER MVS ACRS THE GRT LKS. LOOKS
LIKE A RN/SN MIX IN THE CHMPLN VLY AS TEMPS WL GET UP TO ARND 40
WITH MAINLY SNW ELSEWHERE. ANTHR CLIPPER PROGGED TO AFFECT FA WED
NGT.

.BTV...NONE.

MCGILL

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.

High Wind, Addison

When: March 10, 1:30 AM EST to 2:30 AM EST
Where: Addison forecast zone
Property damage: $30,000
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 44.031, -73.141 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

What these are

High Wind: Sustained non-thunderstorm winds of 40 mph or more for an hour, or gusts of 58 mph or more.

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

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Vermont in 2002 Every state in 2002 This day in weather history Warnings in Vermont, 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: 5284738.