Tennessee, 2002

Damaging Wind in Tennessee, August 24, 2002

August 24, 2002 · NWS MRX · 1 event in 1 county or zone

Two trees were downed along Isley Road in Blountville.

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
$3,000
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.

Two trees were downed along Isley Road in Blountville.

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 24, 2:00 PM EST, 30 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 24, 2:00 PM EST, 30 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MORRISTOWN TN
300 PM EDT SAT AUG 24 2002

THE FOLLOWING ARE ALL THE FORECAST DISCUSSIONS FROM THE PAST 24
HOURS...WITH THE MOST RECENT ON TOP. THIS PROVIDES A HISTORY OF THE
DEVELOPMENT OF THE CURRENT FORECAST.
********************************************************************
EVENING FORECAST DISCUSSION (UPDATE)
915 PM EDT SAT AUG 24 2002

MOST OF THE SHOWERS HAVE DIMINISHED OVER THE FORECAST AREA SO HAVE
UPDATED FORECAST TO REFLECT THIS CHANGE.  AVN MODEL SHOWS CURRENT
PRECIP OVER MIDDLE AND WEST TENNESSEE MAY IMPACT THE SOUTHERN VALLEY
LATER TONIGHT...SO HAVE LEFT CHANCE PRECIPITATION IN SOUTHEAST
TENNESSEE AND SOUTHWEST NORTH CAROLINA COUNTIES.

NO OTHER CHANGES.

********************************************************************
AFTERNOON FORECAST DISCUSSION
300 PM EDT SAT AUG 24 2002

CURRENT SURFACE ANALYSIS SHOWS A WEAK COLD FRONT ALONG THE OHIO AND
MID MISSISSIPPI VALLEYS...WITH AREA RADARS SHOWING SCATTERED TSTORMS
ACROSS THE FORECAST AREA. SOUNDINGS INDICATE THAT THE LOCAL AIRMASS
IS VERY MOIST (PRECIPITABLE WATER VALUES NEAR 2 INCHES) AND
MODERATELY UNSTABLE (LIFTED INDICES NEAR -6 AND CAPES AROUND 3500
J/KG). THUS...WILL PLAN TO CONTINUE A MENTION OF SCATTERED TSTORMS
OVERNIGHT AS THIS FRONT SLOWLY MOVES INTO THE AREA. MODELS ARE NOW
INDICATING THAT THIS FRONT WILL NOT MAKE IT THROUGH THE FORECAST AREA
UNTIL TOMORROW NIGHT...WHERE IT WILL LIKELY BECOME STATIONARY ALONG
THE SPINE OF THE APPALACHIANS. THUS...WILL INTRODUCE A MENTION OF
TSTORMS EVERYWHERE TOMORROW. AN UPPER-LEVEL LOW IS EXPECTED TO THEN
DEVELOP SUNDAY NIGHT ACROSS THE TN VALLEY...WHICH WILL HELP DEVELOP A
SURFACE LOW ALONG THIS STATIONARY FRONT ON MONDAY.

IN THE EXTENDED...MODELS INDICATE THAT THE UPPER-LEVEL AND SURFACE
LOWS WILL LINGER ACROSS THE TN VALLEY THROUGH THE REST OF THE WEEK.
THUS...WILL INCLUDE A MENTION OF SHOWERS AND TSTORMS EVERY DAY FROM
TUESDAY THROUGH SATURDAY. EXPECT MAINLY AFTERNOON AND EVENING
ACTIVITY...BUT WILL NOT MENTION THIS IN THE ZONES SINCE CONVECTION
COULD FORM ANY TIME DURING THE DAY OR NIGHT.

AS FOR TEMPS...WILL TREND TOWARD THE WARMER NGM AND ETA NUMBERS
THROUGH THE FORECAST PERIOD...SINCE BREAKS IN CLOUD COVER EXPECTED
WITH ONLY SCATTERED CONVECTION. TEMPS LOOK TO RETURN TO MORE SEASONAL
LEVELS FOR NEXT WEEK.

THE FOLLOWING NUMBERS ARE PRELIMINARY AND FOR COORDINATION ONLY:

CHA   72  88  68  86 /  30  40  30  40
TYS   70  87  66  84 /  30  30  30  40
TRI   66  85  63  82 /  30  20  30  40
OQT   70  87  66  84 /  30  30  30  40

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

DMG

*********************************************************************
LATE MORNING FORECAST DISCUSSION (UPDATE)
950 AM EDT SAT AUG 24 2002

NO UPDATES PLANNED THIS MORNING.  SHOWERS HAVE DISSIPATED ACROSS THE
CWA...BUT STILL EXPECTING SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS TO
REDEVELOP THIS AFTERNOON WITH AN UNSTABLE ATMOSPHERE AND A FEW
SHORTWAVES MOVING THROUGH.  COLD FRONT NOT EXPECTED UNTIL THIS
EVENING.  POPS AND TEMPERATURES LOOK GOOD.

GH

*********************************************************************
EARLY MORNING FORECAST DISCUSSION
315 AM EDT SAT AUG 24 2002

MODELS CONTINUE TO ADVERTISE A SIGNIFICANT LONG WAVE PATTERN CHANGE
OVER THE NEXT FEW DAYS AS THE PERSISTENT UPPER RIDGE OVER THE
SOUTHEASTERN CONUS GIVES WAY TO A TROUGH. THIS TRANSITION WILL CAUSE
AN INCREASE IN POPS OVER OUR FORECAST AREA AS A COLD FRONT APPROACHES
LATE SATURDAY. HAVE CONTINUED WITH THE ONGOING CHANCE POPS IN THE
FIRST PERIOD. AN UPPER LEVEL CLOSED LOW IS PROJECTED TO DEVELOP OVER
THE SOUTHERN APPALACHIAN REGION BE EARLY MONDAY. LOWERING HEIGHTS
ASSOCIATED WITH THIS TRANSITION SUGGESTS THAT THE SIGNIFICANTLY ABOVE
CLIMATOLOGY TEMPS WILL COME TO AN END ALSO...AT LEAST TEMPORARILY.

MODEL TIME HEIGHTS SHOW MID AND UPPER LEVELS DRYING OUT CONSIDERABLY
BY LATE SATURDAY. THEREFORE...EXPECT PRECIP TO GENERALLY END BY THE
SECOND PERIOD. THUS...TEND TO FAVOR LOWER NGM MOS POPS THROUGH THE
REMAINDER OF THE NEAR TERM.

ONCE AGAIN...GUIDANCE TEMPS ARE GENERALLY CLOSE AND APPEAR
REASONABLE. HAVE NOT STRAYED VERY FAR FROM THOSE NUMBERS.

PRELIMINARY TEMPS AND POPS FOLLOW FOR COORDINATION:

CHA   92  72  91  70 /  40  20  10  10
TYS   89  69  88  68 /  50  20  10  10
TRI   85  65  84  62 /  50  20  10  10
OQT   89  69  87  67 /  50  20  10  10

LCM

*********************************************************************

In the hours before

Local storm report, Aug 24, 2:30 PM EST, 0 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MORRISTOWN TN
330 PM EDT SAT AUG 24 2002

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

0325 PM    JOHNSON CITY              TN   WIND DAMAGE
08/24/02   WASHINGTON                     A FEW TREES DOWN ACROSS
                                          THE SOUTHERN HALF OF
                                          JOHNSON CITY.  REPORTED
                                          BY WASHINGTON COUNTY 911.

The radar

The Knoxville radar (KMRX), 104 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 19:30 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.

Thunderstorm Wind, Sullivan

When
August 24, 2:30 PM EST
Where
Sullivan County, Blountville
Property damage
$3,000
Reported by
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates
36.533, -82.333

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

More

Every storm in Tennessee in 2002Every state in 2002This day in weather historyWarnings in Tennessee, August 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: 5317118.