Winter Storm in Wisconsin, March 8 to 9, 2002

Name: Winter Storm in Wisconsin, March 8 to 9, 2002
Start: 2002-03-08T18:00
End: 2002-03-09T16:00
Location: Wisconsin

March 8 to 9, 2002 · NWS MPX · 9 events in 9 counties and zones

A winter storm that intensified over Eastern Kansas during the evening hours on the 8th, tracked northeast across central Iowa by midnight, and then moved into West Central Wisconsin by the late morning hours on the 9th. Freezing rain fell in a band from South Central Minnesota to West Central Wisconsin, depositing one quarter of an inch to three quarters of an inch of ice across this region.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 9 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: 9

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.

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 Mar 8, 3:30 PM CST, 2 hours 30 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Mar 8, 3:30 PM CST, 2 hours 30 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION...CORRECTED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TWIN CITIES/CHANHASSEN MN
330 PM CST FRI MAR 8 2002

UPON REVIEW OF MESOETA AND ETA MODEL SOUNDINGS FOR WEST CENTRAL
WISCONSIN COUNTIES WE HAVE OPTED TO RESOLVE OUR WINTER STORM WATCHES
WITH WINTER STORM WARNINGS FOR TONIGHT...PER COORDINATION WITH ARX.
A SIGNIFICANT GLAZING SITUATION APPEARS LIKELY OVER PART OF WESTERN
WISCONSIN THROUGH THIS EVENING WITH A TRANSITION TO SNOW LATER
TONIGHT.  HOPEFULLY...ANY ICE ACCUMULATION CAN BE WORKED OFF LATER
TONIGHT THROUGH A COMBINATION OF RAIN LATER THIS EVENING...OR A
BRIEF MOVE ABOVE FREEZING. VERY STRONG NORTHWEST WINDS ON
SATURDAY WILL CAUSE MAJOR HAVOC IF WIRE OR TREE LIMBS REMAIN ICE LADEN.

FURTHER WEST...HEAVY SNOW WITH VERY STRONG BACKSIDE WINDS CONTINUE
AS THE FORECAST THEME WITH WINTER STORM WARNINGS CONTINUED.
ARGUMENTS CONCERNING THE DYNAMIC FORCING FROM FAVORABLE JET
CONFIGURATIONS...TOGETHER WITH STRONG MOISTURE INFLUX INTO THIS
SYSTEM REMAIN AS PRINCIPAL JUSTIFICATION FOR OUR WARNINGS.

PRECIPITATION MENTIONED FOR SUNDAY NIGHT AND MONDAY...AND AGAIN ON
WEDNESDAY IN EXTENDED WITH MEX FIGURES FOLLOWED CLOSELY.

.MSP...WINTER STORM WARNING TONIGHT AND SATURDAY MORNING NORTH AND
WEST OF A LINE FROM FAIRMONT TO FARIBAULT TO OSCEOLA.  WINTER STORM
WARNING TONIGHT TO THE SOUTH AND EAST OF THE SAME ABOVE MENTIONED
LINE.
WET

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Mar 8, 1:45 PM CST, 4 hours 15 minutes before

MNZ045-082000-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT...TEST
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TWIN CITIES/CHANHASSEN MN
145 PM CST FRI MAR 8 2002

...TEST...

THIS IS A TEST OF A COMMUNICATIONS CIRCUIT.
TDK

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

9 winter storm. Local standard time, as filed.

Winter Storm, Barron

When: March 8, 6:00 PM CST to March 9, 4:00 PM CST
Where: Barron forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 45.424, -91.848 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Chippewa

When: March 8, 6:00 PM CST to March 9, 4:00 PM 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: March 8, 6:00 PM CST to March 9, 4:00 PM CST
Where: Dunn forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 44.947, -91.896 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Eau Claire

When: March 8, 6:00 PM CST to March 9, 4:00 PM CST
Where: Eau Claire forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 44.727, -91.286 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Pepin

When: March 8, 6:00 PM CST to March 9, 4:00 PM CST
Where: Pepin forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 44.483, -92.150 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Pierce

When: March 8, 6:00 PM CST to March 9, 4:00 PM CST
Where: Pierce forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 44.720, -92.422 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Polk

When: March 8, 6:00 PM CST to March 9, 4:00 PM CST
Where: Polk forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 45.461, -92.441 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Rusk

When: March 8, 6:00 PM CST to March 9, 4:00 PM CST
Where: Rusk forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 45.475, -91.133 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, St. Croix

When: March 8, 6:00 PM CST to March 9, 4:00 PM CST
Where: St. Croix forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 45.034, -92.453 (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 Wisconsin in 2002 Every state in 2002 This day in weather history Warnings in Wisconsin, 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: 5286923, 5286924, 5286925, 5286926, 5286927, 5286928, 5286929, 5286930, 5286931.