Name: Winter Storm in Vermont, March 26 to 27, 2002
Start: 2002-03-26T16:00
End: 2002-03-27T01:00
Location: Vermont

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: $20,000
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 late season storm system moved northeast from the Tennessee Valley on the morning of Tuesday, March 26th and passed across New England during the night of March 26th and early Wednesday morning, March 27th. Snow overspread the area during the afternoon of the 26th, becoming steadier and heavier during the mid afternoon into the early night hours. The snow mixed with then changed to sleet and freezing rain during the night. Travel conditions were hazardous with the wet snow and ice. In general, across the county between 5 and 7 inches of wet snow and ice fell.

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 26, 10:10 AM EST, 5 hours 50 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Mar 26, 10:10 AM EST, 5 hours 50 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BURLINGTON VT
1010 AM EST TUE MAR 26 2002

ZONE UPDATE FORTHCOMING TO ADD A BIT MORE DETAIL TO FORECAST WORDING.
WARNINGS AND ADVISORIES LOOK GOOD AT THIS TIME...ESPECIALLY IF 06/12
UTC ETA VERTICAL TEMPERATURE PROFILES VERIFY AND A SIGNIFICANT
PERIOD OF SLEET/FREEZING RAIN OCCURS BETWEEN 00-04 UTC IN MOST
LOCATIONS.  WORRYING FACTOR IS DETERMINING HOW FAR NORTH THE RAIN
LINE WILL PUSH THIS EVENING.  PREVIOUS FORECASTS THINKING OF THE
CHAMPLAIN VALLEY...ADIRONDACKS AND SOUTH CENTRAL VERMONT SURFACE
TEMPERATURES RISING ABOVE FREEZING AFTER 00 UTC LOOKS LIKE THE BEST
BET.  NORTHERNMOST AND NORTH-EASTERNMOST LOCATIONS WILL BE HARD
PRESSED TO REACH 32F TONIGHT BEFORE THE PRECIPITATION ENDS.  NO
CHANGES TO LATER PERIODS ANTICIPATED.

ST. JEAN

.BTV...WINTER STORM WARNING NYZ026>028-VTZ001>004-006>008-010 THIS
        AFTERNOON THROUGH TONIGHT.
       WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY NYZ029>031-034-VTZ005-009-011-012
        THIS AFTERNOON THROUGH TONIGHT.

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 winter storm. Local standard time, as filed.

Winter Storm, Orange

When: March 26, 4:00 PM EST to March 27, 1:00 AM 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)

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 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: 5285447.