Tennessee, 2002

Lightning Strike in Tennessee, July 2, 2002

July 2, 2002 · NWS MRX · 1 event in 1 county or zone

Lightning struck the roof of the Great American Mountain Magic Restaurant and caused significant 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.

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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.

Lightning struck the roof of the Great American Mountain Magic Restaurant and caused significant damage.

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 Jul 2, 2:45 PM EST, 15 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 2, 2:45 PM EST, 15 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MORRISTOWN TN
345 PM EDT TUE JUL 2 2002

AREA RADARS APPEAR SIMILAR TO YESTERDAY AT THIS TIME. 48-60 HR FCST
OFFERS MORE OF THE SAME AS UPR RIDGE REMAINS GENERALLY IN SAME
LOCATION ACROSS THE MIDWEST. THE RIDGE DOES SLIDE A BIT SE TWD THE
FA ON THU SO MAY BE A DEGREE WARMER MOST SPOTS. FLO REMAINS NE-E
THRU PD AND MODELS CONTINUE TO HINT AT WEAK VORTS DROPPING SW
ACROSS REGION IN THIS FLO REGIME. INSTABILITY STILL IMPRESSIVE
ALTHOUGH MAY DECREASE SLIGHTLY ON THU AS UPR RIDGE BUILDS CLOSER.
NOT CONFIDENT ENOUGH TO TWEAK POPS DOWN THOUGH ON THE 4TH. MAIN
QUESTION THIS FCST IS WILL CD FNT BUILD S CLOSE TO ENOUGH TO BRING
SIGNIFICANT INCREASE IN POP TO NRN PORTION OF FA LATER THU INTO THU
NITE. DONT BELIEVE WEAK FNT WILL BE ABLE TO MOV CLOSER TO FA UNTIL
FRI AND WILL ARRANGE FCST IN THIS MANNER. WILL INCREASE POP
SLIGHTLY ACROSS SW VA/NE TN ON THU/THU NITE TO INDICATE POSSIBLILTY
OF SOME GREATER COVERAGE OF TSRA IN ASSOCIATION WITH PRE-FRONTAL
TROF. ADDED POPS TO FRI FCST TO ALLOW FOR THIS BOUNDARY AND
ASSOCIATED LIFT.

CHA   72  94  72  94 /  30  30  20  30
TYS   72  92  71  93 /  30  30  20  30
TRI   66  90  65  91 /  40  30  20  40
OQT   72  92  71  93 /  30  30  20  30

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

In the hours before

Local storm report, Jul 2, 1:38 PM EST, 1 hour 22 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MORRISTOWN, TN
238 PM EDT TUE JUL 2 2002

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

0235 PM    2 E MT CARMEL             TN   .75 INCH HAIL
07/02/02   HAWKINS                        REPORTED BY DISPATCH.

0235 PM    1 W KINGSPORT             TN   .75 INCH HAIL
07/02/02   SULLIVAN                       REPORTED BY DISPATCH.

DAE

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.

Lightning, Hawkins

When
July 2, 3:00 PM EST
Where
Hawkins County, Rogersville
Reported by
NEWSPAPER
Coordinates
36.441, -82.945 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

What these are

Lightning
A lightning strike that killed, injured or caused damage.

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, July 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: 5308928.