Name: Flash Flood in Tennessee, August 12, 2001
Start: 2001-08-12T14:00
End: 2001-08-12T16:00
Location: Tennessee

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 1 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

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The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: $1.0 million
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 1

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 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 Memphis, TN wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Aug 12, 1:10 PM CST, 50 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 12, 1:10 PM CST, 50 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MEMPHIS TN
210 PM CDT SUN AUG 12 2001

ANALYSIS INDICATES A BROAD STATIONARY FRONT OVER THE NRN HALF OF
THE FCST AREA INTO CENTRAL AR. A WEAK SFC LOW OVER AR WAS RIDING EWD
ALONG THE FRONT. TSTMS WERE BREAKING OUT OVER A GOOD PART OF THE
AREA WITH THE MOST CONCENTRATED ACTIVITY NEAR THE SFC LOW.

THE WEAK SFC LOW WILL TRACK EWD ACROSS THE CENTER OF OUR AREA LATER
THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING. THE COLD FRONT WILL PUSH INTO NRN MS THIS
EVENING AND CLEAR THE ENTIRE CWA BETWEEN 12Z AND 18Z MON. TSTMS WILL
BE NUMEROUS NEAR AND SOUTH OF THE FRONT THROUGH THE EVENING...
ESPECIALLY NEAR THE SFC LOW. A FEW STORMS COULD LINGER ALONG THE
FRONT OVERNIGHT. DEWPOINTS WILL DROP A LITTLE MONDAY BUT FALL MORE
SIGNIFICANTLY BEHIND A SECONDARY FRONT MONDAY NIGHT.

THE NEXT COLD FRONT WILL MOVE THROUGH FRIDAY AND BRING ANOTHER
CHC OF TSTMS. THE UPCOMING WEEKEND LOOKS TO BE DRY.

PRELIM VALUES
MEM 73/90/70/89 5100
MKL 69/90/66/87 4100
JBR 70/90/66/88 4100
TUP 74/90/70/88 6210

.MEG...NONE.

012

The radar

The Memphis radar (KNQA), 18 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 19:59 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.

Flash Flood, Shelby

When: August 12, 2:00 PM CST to 4:00 PM CST
Where: Shelby County, Memphis
Property damage: $1.0 million
Reported by: EMERGENCY MANAGER
Coordinates: 35.184, -89.896 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

A line of strong thunderstorm produced very heavy rain over Shelby County. Over 4 inches of rain fell over central parts of the county in about 2 hours time. Many structures in low lying areas were flooded and many streets were covered with water which disrupted traffic. Twenty-nine mobile homes were destroyed and another 100 were damaged.

What these are

Flash Flood: Flooding that begins within six hours of the rain that causes it, or of a dam or levee failure or ice jam release, often with deadly speed.

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

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in Tennessee in 2001 Every state in 2001 This day in weather history Warnings in Tennessee, August 2001

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: 5265885.