Flash Flood in Tennessee, August 4, 2001

Name: Flash Flood in Tennessee, August 4, 2001
Start: 2001-08-04T03:00
End: 2001-08-04T19:00
Location: Tennessee

August 4, 2001 · NWS MRX · 1 event in 1 county or zone

Very heavy rain Friday night into Saturday caused widespread flooding and damage as creeks, streams and rivers overflowed. No homes were destroyed in Washington County, but 84 sustained damage.

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: None recorded
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 happened

The episode as NWS MRX wrote it up.

Very heavy rain Friday night into Saturday caused widespread flooding and damage as creeks, streams and rivers overflowed. No homes were destroyed in Washington County, but 84 sustained damage. Most of this occurred in the Limestone, Telford, Chuckey, South Central, and Clark's Creek communities.

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 Morristown, TN wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Aug 4, 2:30 AM EST, 30 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 4, 2:30 AM EST, 30 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MORRISTOWN TN
330 AM EDT SAT AUG 4 2001

CURRENT SURFACE ANALYSIS SHOWS A LOW PRESSURE AREA OVER EASTERN
KENTUCKY ALONG A COLD FRONT WHICH STRETCHES FROM WEST VIRGINIA
SOUTHWEST INTO MIDDLE TENNESSEE. THIS FRONT IS EXPECT TO CONTINUE
SLOWLY MOVING SOUTH INTO THE FORECAST AREA TODAY...AND SHOULD BECOME
STATIONARY ALONG THE MOUNTAINS BY THIS EVENING. AFTER THAT...THE
FRONT SHOULD EVENTUALLY WASH OUT. A SMALL MESOSCALE CONVECTIVE
SYSTEM IS CURRENTLY OCCURRING ACROSS SOUTHWEST VIRGINIA AND NORTHEAST
TENNESSEE...AND IS SLOWLY MOVING SOUTHEAST. THIS MCS HAS THE
POTENTIAL TO PRODUCE SOME FLASH FLOODING ACROSS NORTHEAST TENNESSEE
THIS MORNING...BUT THINK THAT THE THREAT WILL BE ISOLATED IN NATURE
AND SHOULD DECREASE LATER THIS MORNING AS THE MCS WEAKENS. THUS...
WILL MENTION 'RAIN HEAVY AT TIMES' FOR THE NORTHEAST MOUNTAIN ZONES.
OTHERWISE...SCATTERED SHOWERS AND TSTORMS WILL BE POSSIBLE ACROSS
THE FORECAST AREA TODAY UNTIL THIS FRONT MOVES THROUGH TONIGHT. A
TYPICAL SUMMER-TIME PATTERN APPEARS TO DEVELOP FOR THE FIRST PART OF
THE WEEK...WITH AFTERNOON AND EVENING TSTORMS DEVELOPING EACH DAY...
ESPECIALLY IN THE HIGHER ELEVATIONS. LONG-RANGE MODELS INDICATE THAT
MOISTURE FROM TROPICAL STORM BARRY WILL AFFECT THE FORECAST AREA BY
MID WEEK. THUS...WILL CONTINUE MENTION OF SHOWERS AND TSTORMS FOR
THE REST OF THE WEEK.

AS FOR TEMPS...NGM AND AVN NUMBERS CONTINUE TO BE IN GOOD AGREEMENT
THROUGH THE FORECAST PERIOD AND LOOK REASONABLE. SHOULD BASICALLY BE
A PERSISTENCE FORECAST WITH WARMER TEMPS TOMORROW WITH MORE SUNSHINE
EXPECTED.

THE FOLLOWING NUMBERS ARE PRELIMINARY AN FOR COORDINATION ONLYz:

CHA   86  71  90  71 /  40  10  20  10
TYS   83  70  88  69 /  40  10  20  10
TRI   80  65  86  64 /  50  10  20  10
OQT   83  70  88  69 /  40  10  20  10

.MRX...
NC...NONE.
TN...NONE.
VA...NONE.

DMG

The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.

Flash Flood, Washington

When: August 4, 3:00 AM EST to 7:00 PM EST
Where: Washington County, Countywide
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 36.293, -82.497 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

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

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: 5268522.