Part time manual transmission.

So I have a 1998 Cherokee with manual transmission. It got really snowy where I was parked and threw it in 4wheel drive to get out, and that “part time” light came on the instant I put it in 4WD. I drove it out of the parking lot which was snowy and it drove just fine in the snow, and my 4WD worked well. as soon as I put it back in 2wd the light immediately went away. All the things I’ve read have been automatic transmissions and it being that it disengages when both of you axles gain traction so you don’t mess up you car driving on dry pavement. I’m confused because I was driving in a half a foot of snow when the 4WD was engaged because I know better than to drive with it on dry pavement and it came on before I had even moved sliding it in to 4WD while I was parked. Thanks in advance

 

Welcome @Cooter25 ....most Cherokee and Wranglers from that time had part-time 4WD systems and you used yours correctly as they are not designed for long-term use on dry roads. There were some Cherokees with the optional Selec-Trac 4WD system that had all the strengths of the part-time 4 WD plus a full-time mode.

 

Welcome from Oklahoma.
Not sure what you read but it's way off.
The part time light tells you that you are in 4wd. Part Time as you noted means you should only use it part of the time when you are on a terrain that allows the tires to turn at different rates. In Part Time 4wd your front and rear axles are locked together and turn at the same rate and on dry pavement this isn't possible and can cause damage.
If you had a NP242 transfer case it would also have Full Time 4wd which has a differential in the tcase to allow the axles to turn at different rates which in turn allows you to drive it in 4wd all the time even on pavement. You would have a light that said Full Time as well.