Wisconsin, 2002

Winter Storm in Wisconsin, January 13 to 14, 2002

January 13 to 14, 2002 · NWS MPX · 2 events in 2 counties and zones

Low pressure tracked from near Sioux Falls SD to the La Crosse WI area, then east toward Lake Michigan. The low produced a narrow area of heavy snow, including 9 inches at Bloomer and 8 inches at Wheeler.

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

Open the live radar over this ground

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 MPX wrote it up.

Low pressure tracked from near Sioux Falls SD to the La Crosse WI area, then east toward Lake Michigan. The low produced a narrow area of heavy snow, including 9 inches at Bloomer and 8 inches at Wheeler.

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 Twin Cities, MN wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jan 13, 3:00 PM CST, 4 hours earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jan 13, 3:00 PM CST, 4 hours before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TWIN CITIES/CHANHASSEN MN
300 PM CST SUN JAN 13 2002

SML PTN WC MN POUNDED PRETTY GUD THIS AFTN WITH A FEW SPOTS SEEING
ARND 6 INCHES.  PRETTY GUD LOCATION WITH NICE LIFT N OF DVLPG CIRC
AND NICE UPSLOPE ELY WNDS BRNGG IN ENUF DRY AIR TO CHG WHAT MAY HAVE
BRFLY BEEN A MIX TO ALL SNOW.   ISSUED WS WRNG FOR A FEW EXT WC MN
SINCE ADTL ACCUMS OF UP TO 4 INCHES EXPECTED YET THRU THE EVE. NICE
ISENTROPIC LIFT ACRS MUCH OF CWA BROUGHT BRIEF PRD OF MDT SNW AS FAR
E AS MSP.   ONCE JUICE IS INGESTED INTO SYSTEM THIS EVE EXPECT SNW
TO EXPAND RATHER QUICKLY EAST.  SFC LOW HAS MVG VRY LITTLE LAST SVRL
HRS...REMAINING IN SW MN...AS SECOND VORT DIVES ACRS W SODAK. UPR
LOW SHUD CONSOLIDATE ITSELF BETTER THIS EVE AND THEN BGN MVG SLOWLY
EAST. UVV NOT REAL IMPRESSIVE BUT SYSTEM SHUD PRODUCE ENUF SNOW FOR
AN EXTENDED PRD OF TIME TO WARRANT ADVYS ACRS MUCH OF CWA.  AVN
DUMPS .3 TO .4 INCHES ACRS MUCH OF CNTL CWA NEXT 24 HRS.  18Z ETA
FOUS ALSO SMWHT WETTER THAN 12Z RUN.  SHUD SEE A BAND OF 3 TO 5
INCHES ACRS ALL BUT FAR S CWA AND PERHAPS SM OF THE EXT N MN CWA
COUNTIES.  SFC TEMPS HV CLIMBED WELL INTO THE 40S ACRS N IA INTO EXT
S MN.  THUS WILL MENTION SM -RA INITIALLY THIS EVE SC MN.  WILL KEEP
ADVY INTO MON MRNG ACRS WI CWA AND EC MN...AND JUST TNGHT WESTERN
AREAS. MAY GET ENUF WND FOR SM DRIFTING LT TNGT WEST AREAS BUT APRS
BEST PRES RISE AREA WILL STAY ACRS DKTS. NICE LITTLE CLIPPER
DIVING ACRS AREA MON NITE SHUD PRODUCE SM -SN AGN MAINLY NE CWA.
DIDNT HV A LOT OF TIME TO SPEND ON EFP.  CURRENT SYSTEM ALNG WITH
THAT COMING MON NITE WILL DRAG DOWN SOME COOLER AIR AND SHUD KEEP
TUES INTO WED DRY.  SML SNOW CHCS FOR RMDR OF EFP WITH SMWT OF A
WARMUP NEXT WKND BFR PLUNGE OF COLD AIR ERLY NEXT WEEK.

.MSP...WINTER STORM WRNING TNGHT EXT WC MN ZONES 47 54 55 56
       WINTER WX ADVY TNGHT CNTRL PTN CWA GNRLY W OF STC AND MKT
       WINTER WX ADVYS TNGHT AND MON MRNG WI CWA AS WELL AS EC MN
PAULSON

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, Chippewa

When
January 13, 7:00 PM CST to January 14, 9:00 AM CST
Where
Chippewa forecast zone
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
45.069, -91.280 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Dunn

When
January 13, 7:00 PM CST to January 14, 9:00 AM CST
Where
Dunn forecast zone
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
44.947, -91.896 (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 Wisconsin in 2002Every state in 2002This day in weather historyWarnings in Wisconsin, 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: 5282188, 5282189.