Damaging Wind in Tennessee, May 21, 2001

Name: Damaging Wind in Tennessee, May 21, 2001
Start: 2001-05-21T18:15
End: 2001-05-21T18:15
Location: Tennessee

May 21, 2001 · NWS MRX · 1 event in 1 county or zone

1 thunderstorm wind, as filed by the National Weather Service.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it. 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

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: $11,000
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 Morristown, TN wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at May 21, 2:16 PM EST, 3 hours 59 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 21, 2:16 PM EST, 3 hours 59 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MORRISTOWN TN
316 PM EDT MON MAY 21 2001

COLD FRONT ACROSS EASTERN IL...MO BOOTHEEL AND INTO CENTRAL AR.
UPPER SHORTWAVE TRIGGERING FAIRLY STRONG BAND OF THUNDERSTORMS OVER
NORTHEAST ZONES WHERE WE HAD SOME CLEARING EARLIER...BUT IT'S
MOVED TO THE EAST.  JUST SOME ISOLATED SHOWERS REMAINING....WITH
ANOTHER BAND NEARING THE PLATEAU.  ALL MODELS IN GOOD AGREEMENT
ON BRINGING A DEEP TROUGH AND COLD FRONT THROUGH OUR AREA TONIGHT.
GOOD LIFT AND MOISTURE ASSOCIATED WITH IT.  PW'S ALSO ABOVE 1.5
INCHES...MAY SEE SOME MUCH NEEDED MODERATE OR HEAVY RAIN.  WILL KEEP
THE CATEGORICAL POPS FOR TONIGHT.  STILL UNSTABLE THROUGH TONIGHT...
SO THUNDERSTORMS THAT FORM AHEAD OF THE FRONT WILL MAINTAIN INTO OUR
AREA.  SINCE FROPA IS TOWARDS MORNING...DON'T THINK WE'LL SEE MANY
SEVERE STORMS.

FRONT THROUGH THE AREA TOMORROW MORNING...BUT STILL STRONG LIFT AND
GOOD MOISTURE LINGERING BEHIND THE FRONT...AHEAD OF THE UPPER
TROUGH.  WILL KEEP CATEGORICAL POPS FOR THE MORNING...THEN SCATTERED
IT OUT IN THE AFTERNOON...WITH COOL AND DRY AIR PUSHING IN BEHIND THE
FRONT FOR TUESDAY NIGHT.  BELOW NORMAL TEMPERATURES LINGER THROUGH
THE REMAINDER OF THE PERIOD.  THE NEXT CHANCE OF RAIN ON WEDNESDAY
NIGHT WITH ANOTHER TROUGH MOVING IN.

CHA   65  70  50  71 / 100  80  0  10
TYS   63  68  49  69 / 100  90  0  10
TRI   61  66  46  67 / 100  90  0  10
OQT   63  68  49  69r / 100  90  0  10

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

GH

In the hours before

Special weather statement, May 21, 2:42 PM EST, 3 hours 33 minutes before

NCZ060-061-TNZ012>018-035>047-067>074-081>087-098>102-VAZ001-002-005-
006-008-220800-

AREA THUNDERSTORM OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MORRISTOWN TN
342 PM EDT MON MAY 21 2001

...THERE IS A SLIGHT RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS THIS EVENING AND
OVERNIGHT ACROSS SOUTHWEST VIRGINIA...EAST TENNESSEE...AND SOUTHWEST
NORTH CAROLINA...

A STRONG COLD FRONT WILL MOVE ACROSS THE AREA TONIGHT.  WITH THE
UNSTABLE ATMOSPHERE...AND ABUNDANT MOISTURE AROUND...THUNDERSTORMS
ARE EXPECTED TO FORM AHEAD OF IT.   THERE IS A RISK THAT SOME OF THE
STORMS MAY BECOME STRONG OR SEVERE THIS EVENING AND OVERNIGHT.

THE MAIN THREAT FROM THESE STORMS...WILL BE DAMAGING STRAIGHT LINE
WINDS IN EXCESS OF 50 MPH.  ISOLATED OCCURRENCES OF HAIL OF DIME SIZE
OR LARGER WILL ALSO BE POSSIBLE.  SOME LOCALLY HEAVY RAINS CAN ALSO
BE EXPECTED WITH THE STRONGER STORMS...POSSIBLY CAUSING MINOR FLASH
FLOODING OF LOW LYING OR FLOOD PRONE AREAS.

SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE REQUIRED TONIGHT.  EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AND
LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICIALS SHOULD CLOSELY MONITOR WEATHER
DEVELOPMENTS.  STAY TUNED TO THIS STATION FOR UPDATED STATEMENTS AND
FORECASTS FROM YOUR NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE.

GH

Local storm report, May 21, 5:17 PM EST, 58 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MORRISTOWN, TN
617 PM EDT MON MAY 21 2001

TIME(EDT)  .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE   ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0120 PM    KINGSPORT                 TN   .88 INCH HAIL
05/21/01   SULLIVAN                       REPORTED BY LAW
                                          ENFORCEMENT

0120 PM    KINGSPORT                 TN   WIND DAMAGE
05/21/01   SULLIVAN                       SEVERAL TREES DOWN,
                                          POWERLINES DOWN AND A TREE
                                          FELL ON A CAR IN WEST
                                          KINSPORT.REPORTED BY LAW
                                          ENFORCEMENT

0548 PM    NEAR MAYNARDVILLE         TN   WIND DAMAGE
05/21/01   UNION                          SEVERAL LARGE TREE LIMBS
                                          REPORTED DOWNED ONTO6
                                          ROADWAY IN NORTHERN UNION
                                          COUNTY.REPORTED BY LAW
                                          ENFORCEMENT

Local storm report, May 21, 5:17 PM EST, 58 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT...CORRECTION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MORRISTOWN, TN
617 PM EDT MON MAY 21 2001

TIME(EDT)  .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE   ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0120 PM    KINGSPORT                 TN   .88 INCH HAIL
05/21/01   SULLIVAN                       REPORTED IN WEST
                                          KINGSPORT. REPORTED BY
                                          LAW ENFORCEMENT.

0120 PM    KINGSPORT                 TN   WIND DAMAGE
05/21/01   SULLIVAN                       SEVERAL TREES DOWN,
                                          POWERLINES DOWN AND A TREE
                                          FELL ON A CAR IN WEST
                                          KINGSPORT. REPORTED BY LAW
                                          ENFORCEMENT.

0548 PM    NEAR MAYNARDVILLE         TN   WIND DAMAGE
05/21/01   UNION                          SEVERAL LARGE TREE LIMBS
                                          REPORTED DOWNED ONTO
                                          ROADWAY IN NORTHERN UNION
                                          COUNTY. REPORTED BY LAW
                                          ENFORCEMENT.

END/FERRELL

The radar

The Knoxville radar (KMRX), 130 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 23:15 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.

Thunderstorm Wind, McMinn

When: May 21, 6:15 PM EST
Where: McMinn County, 5 mi N of Athens
Crop damage: $11,000
Reported by: UTILITY COMPANY
Coordinates: 35.517, -84.600

Trees down in northern part of the county. Reported also by trained spotter.

What these are

Thunderstorm Wind: Winds from a thunderstorm of 50 knots (58 mph) or more, or lower winds that caused damage or casualties. Measured gusts are marked MG, estimated EG.

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, May 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: 5243600.