Vermont, 2002

Winter Storm in Vermont, March 20, 2002

March 20, 2002 · NWS BTV · 7 events in 7 counties and zones

A late season winter storm moved northeast from the Tennessee Valley early Wednesday, March 20th passing across southern New England Wednesday night. Snow spread across the area during the morning and became steadier and heavier during the afternoon and first part of the night, before tapering off to flurries.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 6 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

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The toll

Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
$110,000
Crop damage
None recorded
Events
7

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 late season winter storm moved northeast from the Tennessee Valley early Wednesday, March 20th passing across southern New England Wednesday night. Snow spread across the area during the morning and became steadier and heavier during the afternoon and first part of the night, before tapering off to flurries. Accumulations of the heavy wet snow ranged from 6 to 12 inches, with greater than 7 inches generally falling by about 6 PM on the 20th. Numerous accidents were reported, especially in the counties of Rutland, Washington, Orange and Orleans. Portions of I-89 were closed for a short time in Washington county. A few specific accumulations included: In Caledonia county, Groton had 12 inches while East Burke had 7.7 inches. In Orleans county, East Albany had 9 inches as well as Eden in Lamoille county. In East Wallingford (Rutland county) and Worcester (Washington county) received 8 inches. In Orange county, Brookfield reported 10 inches. In Windsor county, Springfield had 12 inches while Ludlow had 8 inches.

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 20, 4:38 PM EST, 2 hours 22 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Mar 20, 4:38 PM EST, 2 hours 22 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BURLINGTON VT
438 PM EST WED MAR 20 2002

...WELCOME TO SPRING...

THATS RIGHT...IF YOU CAN SEE IT PAST THE FALLING SNOWFLAKES.

BIG STORIES: BIG BATTLE BTWN WINTER AND SPRING ACRS THE N CNTRY.

WWA UPGRADED TO WSW FOR NC-NE AND SRN VT TNGT. WWA STL IN EFFECT
FOR CHMPL VLY AND ADRNDKS TNGT.

ARCTIC FNT AND WAVE MV ACRS FA LATE THU/THU EVE WITH SQUALLS AND MUCH
COLDER AIR. HVY SNOW SQUALLS...WHITE-OUT CONDS FOR SOME PTNL QUICK
AND LOCALIZED HVY SNOWFALL.

CRNT/SHORT TERM: ROUND 1 - SNOW FALLING ACRS ALL FA WITH BACKEDGE
ALG S/W AXIS BACK ACRS ONTARIO PROVINCE AND DEPICTED NICE BY
CONVECTIVE LINE ORIENTATION BY BUFCAN. AS MNTD IN ERLR DISC...MUCH
BROADER AND BETTER ORGANIZED WAA PATTERN AHD OF SFC LOW TO TRANSPORT
MOISTURE NORTHWARD.

AGAIN...MDLS CONSISTENT WITH TWO SFC LOWS AND SRN LOW BEING DOMINANT
BUT NRN LOW ALG WITH NRN S/W AND DVLPG NRN LW TROF ASSOC WITH POLAR
VORTEX WL ACCNT FOR SLGTLY NEG TILT SYSTEM TO THROW MOISTURE NW INTO
FA. THIS MOISTURE COMBINED WITH DFLNT FLOW AHD OF INTENSIFYING S/W
MVG ACRS FA ALG WITH STG UVM THRU SNOW GROWTH LYR SHLD ACCNT FOR
HVY SNOW AT TIMES UNTIL IT ENDS. S/W AXIS ENTERS ST LWRNC VLY JUST
AFT 00Z...CHMPL VLY 04-05Z AND CT VLY ARD 06Z AND THUS PROVIDES NICE
PCPN DIMINISHING/CUT-OFF TIMEFRAME.

ELEVATED TYPE SNOWS FOR ACCUM THUS FAR...BUT AS SUN SETS ALL ROAD
SFCS WL BCM SNOWCOVERED AND SLICK.

ROUND 2 - AS ELUDED TO YDY AND ERLR TDY...SFC WAVE DVLPG ALG ARCTIC
BNDRY HAS BASICALLY DELAYED ARRIVAL OF ARCTIC FNT BY 12+ HRS FM
MON FCST. THEREFORE...SFC WAVE AND ARCTIC FNT ENTER NRN NY BY ERLY
AFTN AND LATE AFTN/EVE IN VT. SNOW AND SQUALLS ARE LKLY WITH THESE
FEATURES FOR ANTHR FUN RIDE ON THE FIRST FULL DAY OF SPRING.

STG UVM AND LARGE SFC-H8 LAPSE RATES ALG/AFT STG BAROCLINIC ZONE
WITH AMPLE LLVL MOISTURE ACCNTG FOR BIG WINDEX EVENT. MDL QPF OF
0.15-0.4 ACRS PTNS OF FA (GRTST NRN BDR AND LEAST SRN VT) SHLD
YIELD CRNT FCST AMTS. BUFKIT SNDGS OF UNI-DIRECTIONAL NW FLOW WITHIN
STG UNSTABLE LLVLS AND STG UVM WITHIN SNOW GROWTH LYR ACRS LAKE
CHAMPLAIN ALL ADD UP TO LCLZD VRY HVY SNOWS. WS-ETA SUPPORTS THIS
WITH LCLZD >0.5 QPF. SO...COMR FRI MRNG...IT WL DEFINITELY NOT LOOK
OR FEEL LIKE SPRING.

LONGER TERM: BACKING FLOW AHD OF ANTHR S/W AND ROTATING UPR LOW WITH
WEAK SFC WAVE AND WAA PTRN WL BRG ABT SOME -SN ACRS FA FRI NGT/ERLY
SAT. THEREAFTER...S/W ROTATES ACRS FA LATE SAT/SAT NGT WITH
REINFORCING ARCTIC FNT MVG ACRS FA AS WELL...THUS TMPS WL BE AOB
SAT LVLS.

AFTERWARDS...ARCTIC HIGH SITS ACRS FA MON-ERLY TUES WITH MODERATING
TMPS AND THEN AS THIS EVENTUALLY SLIDES OFFSHORE...MILDER TMPS FOR
TUE/WED WITH CHC -SHRA.

VERNAL EQUINOX ARRIVED AT 216 PM TODAY...CANT YOU TELL?

THX TO ALY...GYX FOR COORD.

.BTV...WNTR STORM WRNG TIL MIDNIGHT VTZ003-004-006>008-010>012
       WNTR WX ADV TIL MIDNIGHT VTZ001>002-005-009-NYZ028>031-034-
       035.

SLW

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

7 winter storm. Local standard time, as filed.

Winter Storm, Caledonia

When
March 20, 7:00 PM EST to 10:00 PM EST
Where
Caledonia forecast zone
Property damage
$10,000
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
44.465, -72.102 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Lamoille

When
March 20, 7:00 PM EST to 10:00 PM EST
Where
Lamoille forecast zone
Property damage
$10,000
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
44.606, -72.641 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Orange

When
March 20, 7:00 PM EST to 10:00 PM EST
Where
Orange forecast zone
Property damage
$20,000
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
44.006, -72.377 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Orleans

When
March 20, 7:00 PM EST to 10:00 PM EST
Where
Orleans forecast zone
Property damage
$10,000
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
44.829, -72.244 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Rutland

When
March 20, 7:00 PM EST to 10:00 PM EST
Where
Rutland forecast zone
Property damage
$30,000
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
43.580, -73.037 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Washington

When
March 20, 7:00 PM EST to 10:00 PM EST
Where
Washington forecast zone
Property damage
$20,000
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
44.273, -72.615 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Windsor

When
March 20, 7:00 PM EST to 10:00 PM EST
Where
Windsor forecast zone
Property damage
$10,000
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER

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, 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: 5284740, 5284741, 5284742, 5284743, 5284744, 5284745, 5284746.