Damaging Wind in Tennessee, April 28, 2002

Name: Damaging Wind in Tennessee, April 28, 2002
Start: 2002-04-28T09:45
End: 2002-04-28T09:45
Location: Tennessee

April 28, 2002 · NWS MRX · 1 event in 1 county or zone

Metal buildings and trees blown down with a mobile home blown off its blocks. Metal siding was also blown off buildings.

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: $10,000
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.

Metal buildings and trees blown down with a mobile home blown off its blocks. Metal siding was also blown off buildings.

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 Apr 28, 8:59 AM EST, 46 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Apr 28, 8:59 AM EST, 46 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MORRISTOWN TN
959 AM EDT SUN APR 28 2002

RADAR TRENDS SHOW THE STORMS ACROSS MIDDLE TENNESSEE...PLATEAU AND
SOUTHWEST VIRGINIA ARE WEAKENING AS THEY MOVE INTO MORE STABLE AIR.
HOWEVER...SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS REMAIN AND WILL MOVE
ACROSS THE REGION THIS MORNING.  A GOOD DEAL OF CONVECTIVE DEBRIS
WILL MOVE OVER THE REGION THIS MORNING INTO POSSIBLY EARLY
AFTERNOON WHICH WILL INHIBIT DESTABILIZATION FOR A WHILE...BUT WITH
STRONG WARM AIR ADVECTION AND RETURN OF SUNSHINE LATER TODAY FEEL
AIRMASS WILL UNSTABLE.  I EXPECT LIFTED INDICES OF -5 TO -7 WITH
CAPES BETWEEN 2000-2500 J/KG.

COLD FRONT STILL WELL WEST/NORTHWEST OF THE AREA AND WILL NOT MOVE
ACROSS THE FORECAST AREA UNTIL THIS EVENING. I EXPECT ANOTHER ROUND
OF THUNDERSTORMS TO FIRE OVER CENTRAL/EAST KENTUCKY TO MIDDLE
TENNESSEE THIS AFTERNOON WHERE AIRMASS WITH BE QUITE UNSTABLE.  THE
ACTIVITY WILL THEN MOVE EAST INTO THE CWA LATE THIS
AFTERNOON/EVENING.  SOME OF THESE STORMS COULD BECOME SEVERE WITH
THE GREATEST THREAT OVER THE NORTHERN COUNTIES WHERE LOW LEVEL
INFLOW AND DYNAMICS WILL BE BEST.

BESIDES STORM THREAT...STRONG LOW LEVEL SOUTHWEST JET OVER THE
REGION TODAY (NEAR 40 KNOTS) WILL PRODUCE WINDY CONDITIONS AREA-WIDE.
HAVE EXPANDED WIND ADVISORY TO COVER THE ENTIRE FORECAST AREA.

.MRX...
NC...WIND ADVISORY FOR TODAY FOR ZONES NCZ060...061.
TN...WIND ADVISORY FOR TODAY FOR ZONES TNZ012>018...035>047...
     067>074...081>087...098>102.
VA...WIND ADVISORY FOR TODAY FOR ZONES VAZ001>002....VAZ005-006-008.

DH

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.

Thunderstorm Wind, Rhea

When: April 28, 9:45 AM EST
Where: Rhea County, 5 mi S of Spring City
Property damage: $10,000
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 35.633, -84.867

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 2002 Every state in 2002 This day in weather history Warnings in Tennessee, April 2002

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: 5289927.