Hoosier Posted November 19, 2012 Share Posted November 19, 2012 Probably one of my favorite events that never gets talked about. Not the biggest storm in the world by any stretch but there were some pretty interesting occurrences. Here are some maps followed by excerpts from the February 2003 issue of Storm Data. An Alberta Clipper type low pressure passed to the north of Iowa during the day on the 11th as the vorticity center slid southeast across the area passing just northeast of Iowa. Very strong northwest winds were in place in the mid and upper levels of the atmosphere. An interesting thing with this event was the occurrence of the first convective system of the season. A line of thunderstorms developed just to the southwest of the vorticity center along the cold frontal boundary. The line was very fast moving. Combined with the already strong ambient winds, very strong gusts occurred with the line along with whiteout conditions in brief heavy snow and blowing snow. Though visibility was reduced to near zero with the thunderstorms, the period of visibility reduction was under 30 minutes. The first winter storm of the 2002-03 season, to affect parts of south-central and southeast Wisconsin, was centered in a 25-mile wide corridor from the Madison area east to the Milwaukee area. A 2 to 2.5 hour burst of snow accumulating to 4 to 7 inches was followed by west to northwest winds gusting to 35 to 50 mph. Lightning and thunder were observed during the peak snowfall rates, with snowflakes reported to be at least 1 inch in diameter, and visibilities reduced to 1/4 mile or less. A short wave trough, associated with an arctic frontal boundary, moved through southern Lower Michigan during the late evening of the 11th. As this system moved across the region, it brought one to three inches of snowfall to eastern Michigan, with the exception of 4 to 5 inches along the Interstate 69 corridor from Owosso to Port Huron. High winds followed in the wake of the snowfall and even led to a brief period of blizzard conditions. One of the more memorable aspects was the fact that the Lincoln NWS issued several severe thunderstorm warnings. Here are some snips from the 4 warnings that were issued: BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LINCOLN IL 602 PM CST TUE FEB 11 2003 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN LINCOLN HAS ISSUED A * SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR... MARSHALL COUNTY IN CENTRAL ILLINOIS * UNTIL 645 PM CST * AT 602 PM CST...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM...WITH HEAVY SNOW... OVER SPARLAND...OR ABOUT 6 MILES NORTHWEST OF LACON...MOVING EAST AT 65 MPH. ====================================== BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LINCOLN IL 632 PM CST TUE FEB 11 2003 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN LINCOLN HAS ISSUED A * SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR... WOODFORD COUNTY IN CENTRAL ILLINOIS MCLEAN COUNTY IN CENTRAL ILLINOIS TAZEWELL COUNTY IN CENTRAL ILLINOIS * UNTIL 715 PM CST * AT 632 PM CST...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A LINE OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS FROM 11 MILES NORTH OF GRIDLEY TO 9 MILES WEST OF SOUTH PEKIN...MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 45 MPH. * THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE NEAR... TREMONT GRIDLEY GOODFIELD EL PASO MACKINAW CARLOCK MINIER HUDSON AT 632 PM...WOODFORD COUNTY ESDA REPORTED 62 MPH WINDS AT ROANOKE. DAMAGING WINDS IN EXCESS OF 75 MPH WILL ACCOMPANY THIS DANGEROUS STORM. ====================================== BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LINCOLN IL 706 PM CST TUE FEB 11 2003 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN LINCOLN HAS ISSUED A * SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR... LOGAN COUNTY IN CENTRAL ILLINOIS * UNTIL 730 PM CST * AT 706 PM CST...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM OVER MIDDLETOWN...OR ABOUT 9 MILES SOUTHEAST OF MASON CITY...MOVING EAST AT 45 MPH. * THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WILL BE NEAR... LINCOLN BROADWELL CHESTNUT BEASON MOUNT PULASKI LATHAM DAMAGING WINDS IN EXCESS OF 60 MPH WILL ACCOMPANY THIS DANGEROUS STORM. GO TO A BASEMENT OR AN INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR OF A STURDY BUILDING. ABANDON CARS AND MOBILE HOMES IF YOU ARE IN THE WARNED AREA. ALSO...EXPECT VERY HEAVY SNOWFALL REDUCING VISIBILITIES TO LESS THAN A MILE IN SOME LOCATIONS. ====================================== BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LINCOLN IL 717 PM CST TUE FEB 11 2003 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN LINCOLN HAS ISSUED A * SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR... EASTERN MCLEAN COUNTY IN CENTRAL ILLINOIS PIATT COUNTY IN CENTRAL ILLINOIS DE WITT COUNTY IN CENTRAL ILLINOIS MACON COUNTY IN CENTRAL ILLINOIS * UNTIL 745 PM CST * AT 717 PM CST...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A LINE OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS FROM 7 MILES NORTHEAST OF SAYBROOK TO 19 MILES WEST OF KENNEY...MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 50 MPH. * THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE NEAR... LEROY FARMER CITY WELDON MAROA MANSFIELD WARRENSBURG FORSYTH DE LAND ARGENTA DAMAGING WINDS IN EXCESS OF 75 MPH WILL ACCOMPANY THIS DANGEROUS STORM. ALSO...EXPECT VERY HEAVY SNOWFALL REDUCING VISIBILITIES TO LESS THAN A MILE IN SOME LOCATIONS. SPC issued a 5% damaging wind area on the 01z outlook: http://www.spc.noaa.gov/products/outlook/archive/2003/day1otlk_20030212_0100.html Unofficial gusts of 65-75 mph were measured in some areas. Other peak wind gusts across the region: LAF: 59 mph CID: 58 mph DTW: 56 mph BTL: 54 mph DPA: 54 mph RFD: 54 mph CLE: 53 mph FWA: 53 mph GRR: 53 mph SBN: 53 mph CMH: 52 mph DVN: 52 mph JXN: 52 mph ARR: 51 mph CMI: 51 mph DAY: 51 mph AZO: 50 mph ZZV: 50 mph DEC: 48 mph GEZ: 48 mph MIE: 48 mph MLI: 48 mph MTO: 48 mph VPZ: 48 mph MDW: 47 mph BRL: 46 mph DBQ: 46 mph IOW: 46 mph ORD: 46 mph PIA: 46 mph IND: 45 mph LAN: 45 mph MFD: 45 mph MKG: 45 mph BIV: 44 mph FNT: 44 mph TOL: 44 mph MKE: 43 mph PWK: 43 mph UGN: 41 mph Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hoosier Posted November 19, 2012 Author Share Posted November 19, 2012 Also, an unusual phenomenon known a snow rollers occurred over a widespread area. Here is a description along with some pictures from ILX: http://www.crh.noaa.gov/ilx/events/roller/roller.php Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A-L-E-K Posted November 19, 2012 Share Posted November 19, 2012 whoa at snow rollers...how have i not heard of those Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmc76 Posted November 19, 2012 Share Posted November 19, 2012 This front was amazing! Never seen those kinds of winds in winter. The snowfall made it that much better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cyclone77 Posted November 20, 2012 Share Posted November 20, 2012 Yeah this was a very cool event. We had a nice sunny day going and this thing blew in in a hurry. Full-on blizzard conditions developed and lasted a few minutes. It snowed so hard you could literally watch the ground whiten up. Had to be some unbelievable rates with that thing. I modified the winter color palette I made for GREarth for GR2A and strung together some archived NCDC images in movie maker. Youtube degrades the hell out of video but you get the idea. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nelson Posted November 20, 2012 Share Posted November 20, 2012 whoa at snow rollers...how have i not heard of those I was thinking the same damn thing! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geos Posted November 20, 2012 Share Posted November 20, 2012 High for the 11th here was 32° and then the next morning it was +2°! That was a pretty crazy frontal passage. Snow rollers - never heard of them either! Those pictures of them somehow remind me of those rocks that travel mysteriously at the Devil's Raceway in Death Valley! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michsnowfreak Posted November 20, 2012 Share Posted November 20, 2012 I am definitely in the group of those who never talk about this cold front. So many better things to talk about that winter (Christmas snowstorm, Feb 22/23 snowstorm, April 7 snowstorm, just to name a few). 2002-03 was an excellent winter for Detroit (in fact the first 60"+ winter since 1981-82, so the first of my lifetime, but hey thats old now Ive seen 5 of them ). But for pretty much everyone west of eastern MI it was a cold, dry winter with below normal snow. This was definitely the highlight of the winter for the midwest, but I was not a fan at all. I can remember coming home from school and seeing I think a Blizzard Warning issued, and I was shocked as this came out of nowhere. We had a 2-inch snowcover at the time. I saw that the wind was the story moreso than the several inches of snow we were forecast. But hey, Id take it. It was a cool observation for DTW right at midnight, Heavy Snow, visib 0.2 mi, temp 21F, wind WNW 30mph gusting to 56mph. The temp wasnt really a huge issue - ive seen many other fronts do more impressive temp drops) . It was very cold BEFORE the cold front got here, after an afternoon of temps in the upper teens to just over 20F, temps rapidly ROSE to 26F by 10pm as the snow began and the front approached and quickly fell down to 12F by 5am after the front passed. I estimated the snowfall from the front at just 1.2" (DTW had 1.3"). But when I woke up the next morning, I was disappointed. Instead of what could have been 3" of powder on the ground (the old 2" and the new 1"), what had been a nice white blanket of snow, there were now grass pickers showing EVERYWHERE. I dont mean your typical drifty snow where you see an area here and there of grass tips with a drift nearby. I mean every lawn was showing grass throughout the whole lawn (with a look of not more than a heavy dusting of snow) with these HARDPACKED ruts of snow 3-6" deep against all the curbs, fences, etc. They were drifts with a rippled look but where so hardpacked you had too chip at them with the shovel. I went to a park near the river, and the entire park was baren of snow when near the fence the snow was 2+ feet deep but so hard you could stand on top of it and not fall more than few inches through. The wind had assaulted and stole my snow, and I was none-too-happy. I had never seen anything like it, and havent seen anything like it since. Of course 10 days later when I had over a foot of snow on the ground, all had been forgotten. But definitely NOT a cold-front I enjoyed! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SchaumburgStormer Posted November 20, 2012 Share Posted November 20, 2012 whoa at snow rollers...how have i not heard of those I lived in Macon county when this occurred, and the snow rollers where mind blowing. They were everywhere, and some were quite large. I remember walking around thinking children had began making snowmen everywhere. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stormtrackertf Posted November 21, 2012 Share Posted November 21, 2012 I remember this event very well. I was a teenager and putting things together for a Valentine's Day Party I was going to be having with some of my friends. It was really cold and windy all day, and for most of the evening the snowfall and wind were making for some pretty stormy conditions, but all heck broke loose about midnight when the snow became heavy and the winds kicked up to over 60 mph in places. I know for a couple of solid hours at DTW, winds were gusting around that point. Those winds were very intense and unrelenting for a while there and with the snow it was a whiteout at times. Probably the strongest winds I've ever seen with a snow event around these parts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hoosier Posted November 21, 2012 Author Share Posted November 21, 2012 And a few days after this, the infamous PDII storm which buried the east coast but was also a nice hit back through the Midwest/OH Valley especially south of I-80. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
McDude Posted November 21, 2012 Share Posted November 21, 2012 I believe I remember this storm. Went to classes at college only to find out the building had no power. Was very short and intense. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michsnowfreak Posted November 21, 2012 Share Posted November 21, 2012 I remember this event very well. I was a teenager and putting things together for a Valentine's Day Party I was going to be having with some of my friends. It was really cold and windy all day, and for most of the evening the snowfall and wind were making for some pretty stormy conditions, but all heck broke loose about midnight when the snow became heavy and the winds kicked up to over 60 mph in places. I know for a couple of solid hours at DTW, winds were gusting around that point. Those winds were very intense and unrelenting for a while there and with the snow it was a whiteout at times. Probably the strongest winds I've ever seen with a snow event around these parts. Oh no doubt the whiteouts and wind were cool, I just HATED the aftermath of tons of grasspickers (and hard-packed drifts). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michsnowfreak Posted November 21, 2012 Share Posted November 21, 2012 And a few days after this, the infamous PDII storm which buried the east coast but was also a nice hit back through the Midwest/OH Valley especially south of I-80. After the front was an awesome time in far eastern MI. First, we got unexpectedly moderate snow on Feb 17th as backlash of pdii (4.7" imby, 3.3" DTW). Then on Feb 22/23, it was my first experience with thundersnow as a blizzard-like storm (one that caused flooding to those areas affected by pdii) made the extreme eastern edge of MI the jackpot, 11.5" imby (only 7.3" at DTW). And then the next day, Feb 24th, an insane lake effect squall produced a whiteout and gave me another 2.6" (with 2.5" at DTW). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snowstormcanuck Posted November 21, 2012 Share Posted November 21, 2012 Have no recollection of this at all. Either overshadowed by other stuff (like Josh has mentioned) or it turned to crap by the time it got this far east. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chinook Posted November 21, 2012 Share Posted November 21, 2012 February 7 2003 Lake Effect snow MCV. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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