March 11-17, 2002: Spring Snows to the North, Floods to the South.

The period March 11-17 was generally fair in the Midwest, with two storms affecting fairly limited portions of the region. Precipitation was copious in two bands, one from central-south Minnesota to the UP of Michigan, and another along the southern and southeastern edge of the Midwest (Figure 13). Most of the rest of the Midwest was very dry, especially in a swath from Iowa to southern Michigan which received less than 25% of normal precipitation (Figure 14). A very moist spring snowstorm dumped up to 2 feet of snow on March 14-15 (Figure 15). Dawson, MN, received 21 inches of snow. Marquette, MI, set a new daily record of 12.8 inches on March 15, and also set the all-time seasonal snowfall record of 276.8 inches (more would fall and increase the record further). Minneapolis received 10.8 inches of snow, resulting in a number of impacts there and in south-central Minnesota. About 300 flights were cancelled at the international airport, 350 regional school districts postponed school, 200 auto accidents occurred, killing two, and a small cargo plane crashed due to icing, resulting in one death. Temperatures were a bit below normal in the snowy areas of the Midwest, and 3-5°F above normal in the eastern Midwest (Figure 16). Drought status worsened in Kentucky during the past week (Figure 17), National Drought Mitigation Center), but on the last day of the period, a strong low pressure center reversed that trend. Heavy rain caused dangerous flash flooding that destroyed much property in far southeastern Kentucky.