2 heavy snow, as filed by the National Weather Service.
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.
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.
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 Northern Indiana wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jan 23, 2:50 AM EST, 15 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORTHERN INDIANA 250 AM EST THU JAN 23 2003 SHORT TERM DISCUSSION... COLD AIR MASS CURRENTLY OVER REGION WITH TEMPERATURES IN SINGLE DIGITS. TEMPERATURES UPSTREAM OVER WISCONSIN AND MINNESOTA ARE BELOW ZERO WITH DEW POINTS 10 TO 20 BELOW ZERO. THIS VERY COLD DRY AIR WILL CONTINUE TO ADVECT INTO REGION NEXT 36 HOURS. STRONG 1048 MB HIGH OVER PLAINS AT 06Z WILL CONTINUE TO MOVE TO THE SOUTHEAST THROUGH THE SHORT TERM. CENTER OF RIDGE MOVES TO SOUTHEASTERN CONUS BY 00Z SATURDAY. SOUTHERLY FLOW WEST OF THE HIGH WILL ALLOW FOR A SLIGHT WARMUP OVER THE WEEKEND. WITH VERY COLD AIR MOVING INTO REGION FROM NORTHWEST LAKE EFFECT SNOW IS GENERATING SIGNIFICANT ACCUMULATIONS OVER SOUTHWEST LOWER MICHIGAN AND NORTHWEST INDIANA. UP TO 5 INCHES OF SNOW HAS FALLEN OVER THE LAKE EFFECT REGIONS OF CWFA AND ANOTHER 5 INCHES IS POSSIBLE TODAY AS WINDS REMAIN OUT OF NORTHWEST. THIS FAVORABLE TRAJECTORY IS A RESULT OF THE PLAINS RIDGE STAYING WEST OF REGION. AT 00Z 850 MB TEMPERATURES WERE AROUND -25C OVER THE WESTERN GREAT LAKES AND UPPER MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. THIS COLD AIR WILL KEEP LAKE SURFACE-850 MB DELTA T/S GREATER THAN 25 DEGREES. THIS WILL HELP TO GENERATE LAKE EFFECT SNOW. HOWEVER...INVERSION HEIGHTS NOW AT 5000 FT WILL DROP THIS MORNING AS SUBSIDENCE MOVES IN. THIS WILL GRADUALLY BRING AN END TO THE STRONGEST LAKE EFFECT SNOW BANDS. AS RIDGE MOVES TO SOUTHEAST OUR WINDS OVER SOUTHEAST LAKE MICHIGAN WILL START TO BACK TO WESTERLY. THIS WILL ALSO CONTRIBUTE TO LAKE EFFECT SNOW MOVING NORTH OF CWFA. FRIDAY SHOULD REMAIN MOSTLY CLOUDY WITH WIND TRAJECTORIES STILL OFF OF LAKE MICHIGAN. LOW LEVEL MOISTURE WILL BE NEGLIGIBLE AND LACK OF UPPER DYNAMICS SHOULD ALLOW FOR FLURRIES AT MOST. NORTHERLY STREAM BRINGS A SYSTEM ACROSS SOUTHERN CANADA ON SATURDAY. A COLD FRONT WILL SWEEP THROUGH MISSISSIPPI VALLEY AND INTO SOUTHERN GREAT LAKES LATE SATURDAY. THIS WILL BRING OUR NEXT CHANCE OF SNOW. WITH LACK OF SIGNIFICANT LOW LEVEL MOISTURE...AND MAIN DYNAMICS STAYING NORTH OF CWFA...DO NOT BELIEVE SNOW ACCUMULATION WILL BE SIGNIFICANT WITH FROPA SATURDAY NIGHT. EXTENDED DISCUSSION... GFS HAS CONTINUED ITS RECENT TREND IN BRINGING A GOOD SHOT OF COLD AIR INTO REGION ON SUNDAY. WITH LAKE MICHIGAN AND 85H TEMPERATURE DIFFERENTIAL AROUND 20 C AND NORTHWEST FLOW...EXPECT SOME LAKE EFFECT. SHORT DURATION OF EVENT AND SHEAR SHOULD LIMIT ACCUMULATIONS. NO SIGNIFICANT CHANGES WERE MADE TO OTHER PERIODS. .IWX... IN...LAKE EFFECT SNOW WARNING FOR TODAY FOR ZONE INZ004. WINTER STORM WARNING FOR TODAY FOR ZONES INZ003...INZ005...INZ014. WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FOR TODAY FOR ZONES INZ006...INZ008...INZ016. WIND CHILL ADVISORY FOR THIS MORNING FOR ZONES INZ007...INZ009... INZ012>013...INZ015...INZ017>018...INZ020...INZ022>027...INZ032>034. MI...LAKE EFFECT SNOW WARNING FOR TODAY FOR ZONES MIZ077>078. WINTER STORM WARNING FOR TODAY FOR ZONE MIZ079. WIND CHILL ADVISORY FOR THIS MORNING FOR ZONES MIZ080>081. OH...WIND CHILL ADVISORY FOR THIS MORNING FOR ZONES OHZ001>002...OHZ004>005...OHZ015>016...OHZ024>025. OHARA/BARJENBRUCH
INZ003>009-012>018-020-022>027-032>034-MIZ077>081-OHZ001-002-004-005- 015-016-024-025-231015- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORTHERN INDIANA 524 AM EST WED JAN 22 2003 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR NORTHERN INDIANA...NORTHWEST OHIO AND SOUTHWEST LOWER MICHIGAN. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT STRONG NORTHWESTERLY WINDS WILL PRODUCE LAKE EFFECT SNOW SHOWERS ACROSS PORTIONS OF SOUTHWEST LOWER MICHIGAN AND NORTHWEST INDIANA TODAY AND TONIGHT. OVER 6 INCHES OF SNOWFALL IS POSSIBLE DOWNWIND OF LAKE MICHIGAN BY DAYBREAK THURSDAY. VERY COLD AIR IS ALREADY IN PLACE OVER THE SOUTHERN GREAT LAKES REGION. THE STRONG WINDS TODAY AND TONIGHT WILL CAUSE DANGEROUSLY LOW SUBZERO WIND CHILL READINGS. TRAVEL WILL BE HAZARDOUS TODAY AND TONIGHT DUE TO THE STRONG WINDS...BLOWING AND DRIFTING SNOW AND DANGEROUS SUBZERO WIND CHILLS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY LAKE EFFECT SNOW SHOWERS AND SQUALLS CAN BE EXPECTED THURSDAY. THERE WILL ALSO BE A CHANCE FOR SNOW SATURDAY AND SUNDAY. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SNOW SPOTTERS ARE REQUESTED TO CALL IN REPORTS. STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO FOR FURTHER DETAILS OR UPDATES, OR CHECK OUR WEB SITE AT WWW.CRH.NOAA.GOV/IWX OHARA/BARJENBRUCH
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
2 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.
Lake effect snow developed as a result of very cold air moving over the relatively warm waters of Lake Michigan. Away from the lake, amounts generally ranged from 2 to 5 inches. Reports of 6 to 7 inches of lake effect snow was received from Bridgman, with Niles reporting 4 to 6 inches.
Lake effect snow developed as a result of very cold air moving over the relatively warm waters of Lake Michigan. Away from the lake, amounts generally ranged from 2 to 5 inches. A spotter 5 miles north of Dowagiac, bear the Van Buren County line reported a foot of snow.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Michigan in 2003Every state in 2003This day in weather historyWarnings in Michigan, January 2003
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: 5339440, 5339441.