4 flood, as filed by the National Weather Service.
Every event with a place to put it; 4 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.
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.
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 Dec 12, 9:45 AM CST, 5 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION...UPDATED NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MEMPHIS TN 945 AM CST WED DEC 12 2001 LATEST SFC ANALYSIS HAS THE WARM FRONT MOVING INTO OUR SRN ZONES W/ MID 50F DWPTS NOT FAR AWAY. LATEST PROFILER DATA CONTINUES TO SHOW STRONG LLJ 40-50 KTS FEEDING DEEP LAYERED MOISTURE INTO THE MID SOUTH. AS A RESULT...RAIN CONTINUES TO OVERSPREAD THE REGION. PRECIP ESTIMATES INDICATES HEAVIEST BANDS SO FAR IN THE MEMPHIS TO MARIANNA TO STUTTGART CORRIDOR. AN INCH OR TWO HAS PROBABLY ALREADY FALLEN ACROSS THE DELTA WITH A BIT MORE TO COME. CURRENT PLACEMENT OF FLOOD WATCH LOOKS GOOD FOR THE MOST PART. NOT SURE THAT NE AR/MO BOOTHEEL WILL SEE HIGH AMOUNTS...BUT CANT SEE REMOVING THEM FROM THE WATCH ATTM EITHER. FFA MAY NEED TO BE ADJUSTED EWD FOR THIS AFTN BASED ON MOVEMENT OF HEAVIER PRECIP BANDS AND THE FACT THAT SATURATED GROUNDS WILL PRODUCE IMMEDIATE RUNOFF PROBLEMS IN THOSE AREAS. WILL TAKE A LOOK AT 16Z TEMPS TRENDS WITH SOME MINOR ADJUSTMENTS POSSIBLE. .MEG...FLOOD WATCH TODAY FOR EXTREME WRN TN...ERN AR...MO BOOTHEEL AND NE MS. CBD
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
4 flood. Local standard time, as filed.
Several streets in the Memphis area were flooded.
Several roads were under water.
Several main roads were under water.
A few roads were under water.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Tennessee in 2001Every state in 2001This day in weather historyWarnings in Tennessee, December 2001
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: 5276398, 5276395, 5276396, 5276397.