The 2002 Antarctic winter stratosphere was characterized by a series of large amplitude wave events that weakened and warmed the polar vortex. Beginning in early June, episodic enhancements of the zonal variance in UKMO geopotential height were observed in the middle and upper stratosphere. These enhancements coincided with unusually large POAM ozone variability in the polar stratosphere from 25-60 km. The frequency at which POAM observed PSCs during this winter was the lowest of the 8-year POAM record. In spite of reduced PSCs, POAM observed lower stratospheric (400-550 K) ozone decreasing in typical fashion within the vortex. In late September, a major stratospheric warming caused a poleward influx of much higher ozone from mid-latitudes above about 20 km. Synoptic evolution of the polar vortex from isentropic advection simulations reveals the complicated structure that resulted from this highly unusual event.