Winter Storm in Vermont, March 20, 2002

Name: Winter Storm in Vermont, March 20, 2002
Start: 2002-03-20T16:00
End: 2002-03-20T20:00
Location: Vermont

March 20, 2002 · NWS ALY · 2 events in 2 counties and zones

An area of low pressure developed in the Ohio Valley early on March 20th. The low then tracked east along the Mason-Dixon line during the day, and off the mid Atlantic coast by evening.

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

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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.

An area of low pressure developed in the Ohio Valley early on March 20th. The low then tracked east along the Mason-Dixon line during the day, and off the mid Atlantic coast by evening. Moisture from both the Gulf of Mexico and Atlantic ocean was drawn into the storm. The air was just cold enough for the preciptation to fall mostly in the form of snow across southern Vermont. This snowstorm, on the first day of astronomical spring, was elevation dependent, as a swath of 6 to 12 inches accumulated across the higher terrain of Bennington and especially Windham Counties. Some specific snowfall amounts included 9.0 inches at Peru, Bennington County, 9 at Townsend Lake and a foot at West Wardsboro. With the exception of some vehicular accidents, no other significant problems were reported to the National Weather Service office at Albany, NY as a result of this early spring storm.

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 Mar 20, 3:00 PM EST, 1 hour earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Mar 20, 3:00 PM EST, 1 hour before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ALBANY NY
300 PM EST WED MAR 20 2002

WORKZONES WILL AVAILABLE SHORTLY. ALREADY ISSUED THE WSW FOR THE
EVENT. TELCO WITH BGM. ZONES WILL BE PUSHED OUT THE DOOR EARLY DUE
TO MASSIVE UPDATE.

.DISC...SPRING MIGHT HAVE ASTRONOMICALLY BEGAN AT 215 PM AND
METEOROLOGICALLY
BEGAN 21 DAYS AGO. HOWEVER...OLD MAN WINTER IS TRYING TO THROW US
SEVERAL BONES DURING THE NEXT COUPLE OF DAYS...SOMETHING THAT DID
NOT HAPPEN MUCH WHEN WE HAD WINTER. PLATTE COVE HAS ALREADY RECEIVED
7 INCHES OF THE WHITE STUFF AND THERE HAVE BEEN SEVERAL OTHER
REPORTS NEAR THAT RANGE. SINCE THERE WILL BE 6-8 HOURS OR MORE SNOW
TIME IT IS PRUDENT TO HOIST A WINTER STORM WARNING (EVEN THOUGH ITS
SPRING) FOR MY HIGHER TERRAIN (EXCEPT ADIRONDACKS). THIS IS CLEARLY
AN ELEVATION DRIVEN EVENT...WITH MOST VALLEYS AREAS ONLY RECEIVING A
SLUSH INCH OR TWO SO FAR. ALL HEADLINES WILL BE EXTENDED TO
MIDNIGHT...WITH PRECIPITATION EXPECTED TO RAPIDLY SHUT DOWN BY THEN.
WE WILL GO 6-12+ CATSKILLS...4-8+ BERKS/GREENS. ELSEWHERE WILL HAVE
THE ADVISORIES (2-6) EXCEPT FOR MY SERN PORTION OF THE CWA.

A QUIET DAY ON TAP ON THURSDAY...AT LEAST FOR THE START AS POLAR AIR
MOVES IN AT FIRST. THEN...AN ARCTIC FRONT BLASTS THROUGH LATE IN THE
DAY. THE LOW LEVEL LAPSE RATES WILL MARKEDLY INCREASE AND THE FRONT
WILL INTERACT WITH LAKE TO PRODUCE NUMEROUS SNOW SHOWERS...AND SNOW
SQUALLS...ESP DOWNWIND OF LAKE ONTARIO...AND THE HIGHER TERRAIN. THE
ETA SUGGEST THERE COULD ACTUALLY BE A DOUBLE BARRELED FRONT
STRUCTURE. EITHER WAY...THE AVN AND ETA BOTH PORTEND OF H8 TEMPS
NEARLY -25C (OUCH) FOR KALB BY 12Z FRI...AND THEY DO NOT CHANGE
MUCH DURING THE DAY. TEMPS ON FRI WILL BE MUCH BELOW NORMAL FOR A
CHANGE.

A SERIES OF WEAK DISTURBANCES WILL RIPPLE THROUGH THE FLOW TO KEEP
OUR WEATHER ANYTHING BUT SETTLED THROUGH THE WEEKEND. ADD TO THIS
THE STRENGTHENING MARCH SUN...WHICH ATTEMPTS TO HEATS THE LOWER
LAYERS UP ONLY TO HAVE IT OVERTURNED. WILL NOT FEEL PRETTY ACROSS
THESE PARTS. A CLIPPER TYPE SYSTEM MOVES TO OUR NORTH SATURDAY AND
SATURDAY NIGHT TO ULTIMATELY BRING ANOTHER REINFORCING SHOT OF COLD
AIR AND THE POSSIBILITY OF A LITTLE MORE SNOW. FINALLY...A MODEST
WARMUP MIGHT BE IN THE OFFING FOR LATER NEXT WEEK...BUT KEEP IN MIND
EACH RUN HAS POSTPONED THIS A LITTLE LATER THAN THE PREVIOUS
ONE.

WENT CLOSER TO MAV NOS THROUGHOUT...WHICH ARE MUCH COLDER THAN THE
FWC VALUES FOR FRI NIGHT.

.HYDROLOGICAL STATUS...NONE EXPECTED. MOST PRECIPITATION FROM HERE
ON IN WILL BE IN THE FORM SNOW...AND AT LEAST INITIALLY...WILL NOT
RIVERS AND STREAMS ACROSS THE HSA.

.ALY...WINTER STORM WARNING THROUGH MIDNIGHT FOR
NYZ047-048-051-058-063
       WINTER STORM WARNING THROUGH MIDNIGHT FOR VTZ013-014
       WINTER STORM WARNING THROUGH MIDNIGHT FOR MAZ001
       WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FOR NYZ032-033-038>043-
       049-050-052>054-059>061.

HWJIV

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: March 20, 4:00 PM EST to 8:00 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: March 20, 5:00 PM EST to 8:00 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

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: 5284892, 5284893.