Winter Storm in Virginia, January 5 to 6, 2002

Name: Winter Storm in Virginia, January 5 to 6, 2002
Start: 2002-01-05T23:00
End: 2002-01-06T19:00
Location: Virginia

January 5 to 6, 2002 · NWS MRX · 5 events in 5 counties and zones

A winter storm brought an average of 4-7 inches of snow to southwest Virginia. The two exceptions occurred in Wise County with 6-12 inches, and Washington County with only a dusting.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 5 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: 5

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 MRX wrote it up.

A winter storm brought an average of 4-7 inches of snow to southwest Virginia. The two exceptions occurred in Wise County with 6-12 inches, and Washington County with only a dusting.

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 Morristown, TN wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jan 5, 9:00 PM EST, 2 hours earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jan 5, 9:00 PM EST, 2 hours before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MORRISTOWN TN
900 PM EST SAT JAN 5 2002

THE 00Z SURFACE ANALYSIS THIS EVENING INDICATED THE LOCATION OF THE
SURFACE LOW OVER THE MOUTH OF THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER IN EXTREME
SOUTHEAST LOUISIANA. THIS LOCATION IS FARTHER SOUTHEAST THAN MOST OF
THE 18Z MODEL RUN PROGS FOR 00Z...WHICH INDICATED THAT THE SURFACE
LOW WOULD GENERALLY BE NEAR BATON ROUGE LOUISIANA. THE AVN MODEL
PROG FOR 00Z LOOKS TO BE THE CLOSEST TO REALITY...BUT IS STILL A
LITTLE FARTHER NORTHWEST THAN REALITY. THIS WOULD INDICATE THAT THE
SURFACE LOW WILL TAKE A SLIGHTLY FASTER AND MORE SOUTHERLY TRACK
OVERNIGHT...WHICH SHOULD RESULT IN COLDER TEMPS OVER THE FORECAST
AREA BY TOMORROW MORNING. ALSO...THE NEW 18Z AVN RUN IS INDICATING A
SLIGHTLY COLDER PROFILE OVER THE FORECAST AREA THAN THE PREVIOUS 12Z
RUN.

MODELS ARE INDICATING THAT THE VERTICAL TEMP PROFILE BELOW 700 MB
OVER SOUTHEAST TN MAY HOVER ABOVE FREEZING OVERNIGHT...WITH PRECIP
BEGINNING AS RAIN. HOWEVER...THIS EVENINGS ATL SOUNDING INDICATED A
DEEP LAYER OF DRY AIR OVER NORTHERN GEORGIA...WHICH SHOULD CREATE
ENOUGH EVAPORATIVE COOLING FOR A WINTRY MIX OF PRECIP LATER TONIGHT
ACROSS SOUTHEAST TN. ALSO...WITH GOOD LIFT PROGGED BY THE MODELS
OVER THE FORECAST AREA BY TOMORROW MORNING...DYNAMIC COOLING
PROCESSES SHOULD ALSO AID IN THE PRODUCTION A FAVORABLE SNOW TEMP
VERTICAL PROFILE. CURRENT FORECAST WHICH MENTIONS A WINTRY MIX
BEGINNING LATE TONIGHT AND CHANGING TO ALL SNOW BY TOMORROW MORNING
STILL LOOKS TO BE ON TARGET. THE SHORT RANGE MODELS HAVE SHOWN SOME
CONSISTENCY WITH THEIR QPF AMOUNTS OVER THE FORECAST AREA WITH THIS
SYSTEM (3/4 INCH)...SO SNOWFALL AMOUNTS FOR TOMORROW LOOK TO BE ON
TARGET AS WELL. COLD GROUND TEMPS FROM THE RECENT COLD WEATHER SHOULD
AID IN THE QUICK ACCUMULATION OF SNOW TOMORROW.

WITH ALL OF THIS IN MIND...WILL UPDATE THIS EVENING MAINLY TO TWEAK
THE WORDING OF THE FORECAST...BUT WILL NOT CHANGE ANY OF THE
PREVIOUS FORECASTERS THOUGHTS. WILL ALSO LOWER THE MINS SLIGHTLY
ACROSS NORTHEAST TN AND SOUTHWEST VA...WHERE TEMPS ARE FALLING
FASTER THAN EXPECTED.

.MRX...
NC...WINTER STORM WARNING LATE TONIGHT THROUGH SUNDAY AFTERNOON FOR
CHEROKEE AND CLAY COUNTIES.

TN...WINTER STORM WARNING LATE TONIGHT THROUGH SUNDAY AFTERNOON FOR
ALL EAST TN ZONES.

VA...WINTER STORM WARNING LATE TONIGHT THROUGH SUNDAY AFTERNOON FOR
ALL SOUTHWEST VA ZONES.

DMG

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

5 winter storm. Local standard time, as filed.

Winter Storm, Lee

When: January 5, 11:00 PM EST to January 6, 7:00 PM EST
Where: Lee forecast zone
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 36.705, -83.128 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Russell

When: January 5, 11:00 PM EST to January 6, 7:00 PM EST
Where: Russell forecast zone
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 36.934, -82.096 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Scott

When: January 5, 11:00 PM EST to January 6, 7:00 PM EST
Where: Scott forecast zone
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 36.714, -82.603 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Washington / Bristol

When: January 5, 11:00 PM EST to January 6, 7:00 PM EST
Where: Washington / Bristol forecast zone
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 36.661, -82.074 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Wise / Norton

When: January 5, 11:00 PM EST to January 6, 7:00 PM EST
Where: Wise / Norton forecast zone
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 36.954, -82.625 (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 Virginia in 2002 Every state in 2002 This day in weather history Warnings in Virginia, 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: 5276726, 5276727, 5276728, 5276729, 5276730.