Winter Weather in Vermont, February 2, 2003

Name: Winter Weather in Vermont, February 2, 2003
Start: 2003-02-02T05:00
End: 2003-02-02T16:00
Location: Vermont

February 2, 2003 · NWS BTV · 3 events in 3 counties and zones

A storm system east of New England early Sunday, February 2nd moved north into Nova Scotia Canada Sunday night. Light snow fell across much of Vermont.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 3 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: $3,000
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 3

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 BTV wrote it up.

A storm system east of New England early Sunday, February 2nd moved north into Nova Scotia Canada Sunday night. Light snow fell across much of Vermont. The heaviest snowfall was east of the spine of the Green Mountains. A few snowfall amounts included: East Haven (Essex county) with 3.8 inches, East Burke (Caledonia county) with 3.5 inches and Chelsea (Orange county) with 2.3 inches. The remainder of Vermont generally received less than 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 Burlington, VT wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Feb 1, 8:05 PM EST, 8 hours 55 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Feb 1, 8:05 PM EST, 8 hours 55 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BURLINGTON VT
805 PM EST SAT FEB 1 2003

COASTAL STORM INTENSIFYING RAPIDLY NR 40N/70W BENCHMARK WL PRIMARILY
MV NNE DRG NXT 12-24HRS SHIFTING PCPN BACK NNW TOWARD UPR TROF AXIS
TO NW BUT THE WESTWARD EXTENT WL LKLY THREATEN NH AND PTNS OF NE VT
TOWARD DAYBRK SUN.

MEANWHILE...SOME MUCH LGTR MOISTURE BAND ADVECTING NNW TOWARD REST OF
VT AND GIVEN NEG-TILT TROF AXIS...SCT -SHSN ACTVTY PSBL OVRNGT. IN
NY...ERLR -SN/-SHSN FM PRIMARY H7 DEFORMATION ZONE DECAYING AS H7 LOW
CONTS TO REFORM S OF SRN NE COAST AND MV N INTO ERN NH/ME.

PRVS FCST LOOKS TO HAVE THINGS COVERED...THUS NO UPDATED ZONES
NEEDED.

SLW

...PREVS DISC...

WATER VAPOR SATELLITE PIX SHOW VORT MAX ROTATING THROUGH BOTTOM OF
500 MB TROUGH...AND MOVING OFF THE CAPE HATTERAS COAST. SFC LOW JUST
A BIT AHEAD OF UPPER TROUGH...WITH LEADING EDGE OF PRECIP
APPROACHING CAPE COD. AS THIS SFC LOW INTENSIFIES...PRECIP AREA OVER
NORTH CENTRAL NEW YORK WILL CONTINUE TO BE MINIMIZED.

LOW WILL BE FURTHER OFF COAST AS IT MOVES NORTHEAST OVERNIGHT
TONIGHT...WITH CORE OF PRECIP FURTHER AWAY. OVERALL BACKED OFF ON
PRECIP TONIGHT THROUGH SUNDAY. WENT FROM LIKELY TO CHANCE POPS
OVERNIGHT...EXCEPT CONTINUED LIKELY IN NORTHEAST VERMONT ZONES.
LINGERING WRAP AROUND WILL GIVE CHANCE SNOW SHOWERS ON SUNDAY...
TAPERING OFF TO JUST IN NE VERMONT ZONES BY SUNDAY.

REMOVED PRECIP FOR MONDAY AS WEAK RIDGING BUILDS AHEAD OF NEXT
PRECIP EVENT FOR TUESDAY. GFS MODEL VERY CONSISTENT WITH
BRINGING SURFACE LOW ACROSS NORTHERN PORTION OF BTVS FORECAST AREA.
KEPT FREEZING RAIN...SLEET...OR SNOW MIX IN FOR MONDAY NIGHT...WITH
MIX FOR TUESDAY. 1000-500 MB THICKNESS INCREASES TO 546 BRIEFLY
TUESDAY IN WARM AIR ADVECTION ZONES AHEAD OF COLD FRONT...AND
CHAMPLAIN VALLEY COULD SEE 40 DEGREES BEFORE COLD FRONT MOVES THROUGH
LATE IN DAY.

AFTER THAT...TEMPERATURES FALL THROUGH END OF NEXT WEEK AS
WINTERTIME TROUGH OVER THE EASTERN US IS RE-ESTABLISHED.

.BTV...NONE.

HANSON

Hazardous weather outlook, Feb 2, 5:00 AM EST, 0 minutes before

NYZ026>031-034-035-VTZ001>012-031000-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BURLINGTON VT
500 AM EST SUN FEB 2 2003

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR CENTRAL AND NORTHERN VERMONT
AS WELL AS NORTHERN NEW YORK.

.DAY ONE...TODAY

A WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY IS IN EFFECT FOR TODAY FOR ALL OF NORTH
CENTRAL AND NORTHEAST VERMONT. TOTAL ACCUMULATIONS OF 3 TO 7 INCHES
ARE EXPECTED ACROSS THE ADVISORY AREA. LIGHTER AMOUNTS ACROSS THE
REST OF THE AREA.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...

STORM SYSTEM MONDAY NIGHT WILL BRING A MIX OF WINTRY PRECIPITATION...
BEFORE CHANGING OVER TO ALL SNOW ON TUESDAY.

.SPOTTER CALL TO ACTION STATEMENT...

REQUESTING SPOTTER SNOWFALL INFORMATION.

JN

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

3 winter weather. Local standard time, as filed.

Winter Weather, Essex

When: February 2, 5:00 AM EST to 4:00 PM EST
Where: Essex forecast zone
Property damage: $1,000
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 44.728, -71.736 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Weather, Caledonia

When: February 2, 5:00 AM EST to 4:00 PM EST
Where: Caledonia forecast zone
Property damage: $1,000
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 44.465, -72.102 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Weather, Orange

When: February 2, 5:00 AM EST to 4:00 PM EST
Where: Orange forecast zone
Property damage: $1,000
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 44.006, -72.377 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

What these are

Winter Weather: Snow, sleet or freezing rain below warning levels that still caused disruption, damage or casualties.

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

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Vermont in 2003 Every state in 2003 This day in weather history Warnings in Vermont, February 2003

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: 5344233, 5344234, 5344235.