Heavy Snow in Washington, March 7 to 8, 2002

Name: Heavy Snow in Washington, March 7 to 8, 2002
Start: 2002-03-07T20:00
End: 2002-03-08T04:00
Location: Washington

March 7 to 8, 2002 · NWS SEW · 10 events in 10 counties and zones

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 10

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 SEW wrote it up.

Snow showers fell over most of western Washington, creating large traffic jams and closing some highways. Up to 5 inches of "thundersnow" fell over interstate 405, causing many people to abandon their vehicles, the ensuing traffic jam closed the highway for several hours. Parts of I-90 and I-5 were also closed. Along the coast up to 6 inches of snow fell, while other inland areas from Lewis to Whatcom county got about 2 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 Seattle, WA wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Mar 7, 2:00 PM PST, 6 hours earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Mar 7, 2:00 PM PST, 6 hours before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SEATTLE WA
200 PM PST THU MAR 7 2002

.SYNOPSIS...A COLD LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM WITH SHOWER ACTIVIITY WILL
REMAIN OVER WESTERN WASHINGTON THROUGH FRIDAY. WARMER AIR WILL SPREAD
INTO THE REGION FRIDAY NIGHT OR SATURDAY. RAIN AND WINDY WEATHER CAN
BE EXPECTED THIS WEEKEND AS A VIGOROUS FRONTAL SYSTEM MOVES INTO THE
REGION.

.DISCUSSION...COLD UPR TROF OVR WRN WA THRU FRI. CONSIDERABLE COLD CU
ON SATIMG...AND WILL CONTINUE A SNOW ADVISORY THRU TNGT FOR ALL OF
WRN WA...LCL AMTS UP TO 3 INCHES. I THINK THE SHOWERS ARE LIKELY TO
DIMINISH ON FRIDAY...BUT I WILL LEAVE THE POPS IN THE LIKELY CATAGORY
FOR NOW. H850 TEMPS ARE ARND -11C THRU TNGT...THEN MODERATE FRI NITE
AND SAT MORNING AS VIGOROUS OCFNT APPROACHES. I WILL NUDGE THE FCST
AWAY FROM TURNING OVER TO RAIN FRI NITE...AND I COULD SEE THE CHANGE
TO RAIN HOLDING OFF TIL SATURDAY BASED ON THE MESOETA...NOT SURE HOW
THE OVERRUNNING IS GOING TO DVLP AND PCPN RATES AND ELY SFC FLOW MAY
PLAY AN IMPORTANT PART IN THE CHANGE OVER. McFarland

UIL 7678  SEA 7678 OLM 7678

.SEW...SNOW ADVISORY THROUGH TONIGHT ALL OF WRN WA.

.KATX...VCP21/CSR21...OPERATIONAL.

In the hours before

Local storm report, Mar 7, 5:32 PM PST, 2 hours 28 minutes before

WAC027-080432-

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SEATTLE WA
532 PM PST THU MAR 07 2002

TIME(PST)  CITY LOCATION           STATE   EVENT/SPOTTER/REMARKS
           COUNTY LOCATION

532 PM     ABERDEEN                   WA   SNOW
03/07/02   GRAYS HARBOR                    GRAYS HARBOR 8H
                                           8 INCHES OF SNOW
                                           OVERNIGHT.

Local storm report, Mar 7, 6:25 PM PST, 1 hour 35 minutes before

WAC009-080525-

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SEATTLE WA
625 PM PST THU MAR 07 2002

TIME(PST)  CITY LOCATION           STATE   EVENT/SPOTTER/REMARKS
           COUNTY LOCATION

625 PM     PORT ANGELES               WA   SNOW
03/07/02   CLALLAM                         CLALLAM 20
                                           6 INCHES OF SNOW FROM 11
                                           AM TO 6:20 PM.

Local storm report, Mar 7, 6:27 PM PST, 1 hour 33 minutes before

WAC061-080527-

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SEATTLE WA
627 PM PST THU MAR 07 2002

TIME(PST)  CITY LOCATION           STATE   EVENT/SPOTTER/REMARKS
           COUNTY LOCATION

626 PM     SNOHOMISH                  WA   SNOW
03/07/02   SNOHOMISH                       SNOHOMISH 36
                                           1 INCH OF SNOW IN THE
                                           LAST HALF HOUR, ENDING
                                           AT 6:20 PM. STILL SNOWING.

Local storm report, Mar 7, 6:54 PM PST, 1 hour 6 minutes before

WAC033-080554-

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SEATTLE WA
654 PM PST THU MAR 07 2002

TIME(PST)  CITY LOCATION           STATE   EVENT/SPOTTER/REMARKS
           COUNTY LOCATION

654 PM     BOTHELL                    WA   FREQUENT LIGHTNING
03/07/02   KING                            KING 57H
                                           ONE STRIKE AT 1828,
                                           FOLLOWED INSTANTLY BY
                                           THUNDER.  SMALL (1/8)
                                           HAIL BEFORE, AND SNOW FOR
                                           15 MINUTES AFTER.

Local storm report, Mar 7, 7:16 PM PST, 44 minutes before

WAC061-080616-

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SEATTLE WA
716 PM PST THU MAR 07 2002

TIME(PST)  CITY LOCATION           STATE   EVENT/SPOTTER/REMARKS
           COUNTY LOCATION

716 PM     SNOHOMISH                  WA   SNOW
03/07/02   SNOHOMISH                       SNOHOMISH 36
                                           2.75 INCHES OF SNOW
                                           BETWEEN 6 AND 7 PM, STILL
                                           SNOWING.

Local storm report, Mar 7, 7:40 PM PST, 20 minutes before

WAC061-080645-

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SEATTLE WA
740 PM PST THU MAR 07 2002

TIME(PST)  CITY LOCATION           STATE   EVENT/SPOTTER/REMARKS
           COUNTY LOCATION

740 PM     MONROE                     WA   HEAVY SNOW
03/07/02   SNOHOMISH                       SNOHOMISH 79
                                           4 INCHES OF SNOW ON GROUND
                                           SINCE 6 PM, STILL SNOWING.

Event by event

10 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.

Heavy Snow, W King/X Se Kitsap

When: March 7, 8:00 PM PST to March 8, 4:00 AM PST
Where: W King/X Se Kitsap forecast zone
Reported by: BROADCAST MEDIA

Heavy Snow, C King/C Pierce/X Ne Thurston/C Lewis

When: March 7, 8:00 PM PST to March 8, 4:00 AM PST
Where: C King/C Pierce/X Ne Thurston/C Lewis forecast zone
Reported by: BROADCAST MEDIA

Heavy Snow, C Skagit/C Snohomish

When: March 7, 8:00 PM PST to March 8, 4:00 AM PST
Where: C Skagit/C Snohomish forecast zone
Reported by: BROADCAST MEDIA

Heavy Snow, Mason T Sw & Nw/Kitsap T X Se/Ec&se Jefferson

When: March 7, 8:00 PM PST to March 8, 4:00 AM PST
Where: Mason T Sw & Nw/Kitsap T X Se/Ec&se Jefferson forecast zone
Reported by: BROADCAST MEDIA

Heavy Snow, Sw Snohomish

When: March 7, 8:00 PM PST to March 8, 4:00 AM PST
Where: Sw Snohomish forecast zone
Reported by: BROADCAST MEDIA

Heavy Snow, Thurston T X Se/Sw Mason/C&se Grays Harbor/W Lewis

When: March 7, 8:00 PM PST to March 8, 4:00 AM PST
Where: Thurston T X Se/Sw Mason/C&se Grays Harbor/W Lewis forecast zone
Reported by: BROADCAST MEDIA

Heavy Snow, W Grays Harbor

When: March 7, 8:00 PM PST to March 8, 4:00 AM PST
Where: W Grays Harbor forecast zone
Reported by: BROADCAST MEDIA

Heavy Snow, W Pierce

When: March 7, 8:00 PM PST to March 8, 4:00 AM PST
Where: W Pierce forecast zone
Reported by: BROADCAST MEDIA

Heavy Snow, W Skagit/Nw Snohomish

When: March 7, 8:00 PM PST to March 8, 4:00 AM PST
Where: W Skagit/Nw Snohomish forecast zone
Reported by: BROADCAST MEDIA

Heavy Snow, Western Whatcom

When: March 7, 8:00 PM PST to March 8, 4:00 AM PST
Where: Western Whatcom forecast zone
Reported by: BROADCAST MEDIA

What these are

Heavy Snow: Snowfall reaching the local warning threshold without the other hazards of a winter storm.

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

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Washington in 2002 Every state in 2002 This day in weather history Warnings in Washington, 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: 5280479, 5280480, 5280481, 5280482, 5280483, 5280484, 5280485, 5280486, 5280487, 5280488.