Tennessee, 2002Lightning Strike in Tennessee, March 15, 2002
March 15, 2002 · NWS OHX · 1 event in 1 county or zone
1 lightning, as filed by the National Weather Service.
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.
- 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
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 1
- 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 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 Nashville, TN wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Mar 15, 9:45 AM CST, 3 hours 15 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Mar 15, 9:45 AM CST, 3 hours 15 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NASHVILLE TN
945 AM CST FRI MAR 15 2002
14Z SURFACE ANALYSIS SHOWED COLD FRONT EXTENDING FROM LOWER MI
THROUGH S IL AND SE MO...CONTINUING ACROSS NW AR AND INTO CENTRAL
TX. 850 MB ANALYSIS SHOWED AXIS OF MAX WINDS FROM NE TX...ACROSS AR
AND W TN AND CONTINUING INTO KY.
BNA SOUNDING THIS MORNING SHOWED MOSTLY LOW LEVEL MOISTURE...WHICH
EXTENDED UP TO ABOUT 800 MB. NOT MUCH MOISTURE SO FAR ABOVE THIS
LAYER. THIS SAME SCENARIO WAS OBSERVED FOR THE RAOBS AT SHREVEPORT
...LITTLE ROCK...AND LAKE CHARLES. SO IT WILL BE AWHILE BEFORE THE
DEPTH OF MOISTURE INCREASES. I DO NOT EXPECT A LARGE AREA OF
PRECIPITATION UNTIL LATER TONIGHT...WHEN THE COLD FRONT MOVES INTO
OUR AREA.
EVEN WITH THE RATHER SHALLOW MOIST LAYER...SCATTERED SHOWERS HAVE
DEVELOPED AND EXTENDED FROM NW MS TO NEAR THE TN RIVER...AND THEN NE
ACROSS W AND INTO N CENTRAL KY.
THE ETA MODEL IS MOST AGGRESSIVE WITH ITS DEVELOPMENT OF A SURFACE
LOW AND MOVING IT INTO AR BY THIS EVENING. BOTH THE NGM AND AVN
MODELS WERE SLOWER AND WEAKER WITH THIS SCENARIO.
LATEST RUC MODEL FORECASTS THE BEST 850 MB CONVERGENGE ALONG WITH
THE BEST 300 AND 200 MB DIVERGENCE TO REMAIN WELL W AND NW OF OUR
AREA THROUGH 00Z.
AS TO THE CURRENT FORECASTS...THEY LOOK REASONBLE AT THIS TIME. MAY
END UP TWEAKING TEMPS UP SLIGHTLY...BUT WILL DECIDE THIS IN THE NEXT
HOUR OR SO.
.BNA...NONE.
STEIGERWALDT
Lightning, Sumner
- When
- March 15, 1:00 PM CST
- Where
- Sumner County, Gallatin
- Injuries
- 1 direct, 0 indirect
- Reported by
- NEWSPAPER
- Coordinates
- 36.469, -86.460 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Bill Haynes, a 24 year old veteran of the Gallatin Fire Department, was answering an emergency call when lightning surged through the telephone line. The jolt threw him back in his chair. Haynes was treated and released from Sumner Medical Center. He was left with a tingling sensation in his arm. The lightning knocked out the telephones and computers at the fire hall and nearby Gallatin City Hall.
- Lightning
- A lightning strike that killed, injured or caused damage.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
- Avalanche in Colorado, March 15, 20021 death · 1 injured · 1 event
- Tornadoes and Hail in Mississippi, March 15 to 16, 2002$4.8 million · F1 · 12 events
- Heat in Georgia, March 15 to 21, 200297 events
- Hail and Damaging Wind in Kentucky, March 15, 2002$15,000 · 55 kt wind · 2 events
- Winter Storm in Michigan, March 15, 20029 events
- Blizzard in Alaska, March 15 to 16, 20025 events
- Heavy Snow in Oregon, March 15 to 17, 20024 events
- Frost and Freeze in California, March 15, 20024 events
- Heavy Snow in Washington, March 15 to 17, 20023 events
- Blizzard and High Wind in Alaska, March 15, 200252 kt wind · 2 events
- Heavy Snow in Washington, March 15 to 17, 20022 events
- Hail in Oklahoma, March 15, 20021 in hail · 2 events
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: 5287359.