9 flash flood, as filed by the National Weather Service.
Every event with a place to put it; 9 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.
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.
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 17, 2:25 PM CST, 3 hours 35 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NASHVILLE TN 225 PM CST SUN MAR 17 2002 FORECAST QUANDARIES...FLOOD WATCH EXTENSION CURRENT ASOS/AWOS OBS AND REGIONAL SAT/RADAR MOSIAC IMAGERY SHOWING TRAINING SHWRS/TS FROM JAMESTOWN...TO BNA...TO N OF MEM..TO LIT...TO N OF SHV...AND STARTING TO MOVE NWD. TEMPS/DEWPOINTS IN THE MID 50S TO MID 60S...WITH SWLY SFC WINDS. WARM FRONT MOVING INTO N INTO E KY... WITH COLD FRONT STRECHING FROM BNA...TO JUST W OF MEM. ALOFT...PROGRESSIVE SWLY FLOW. 12Z SUN REGIONAL MODEL EVOLUTIONS ARE GENERALLY SIMILAR THRU 12Z WED... ESPECIALLY IN THE UPPER LEVELS. AVN MODEL VERIFYING BEST AS OF LATE... AND CONTINUES TO LOOK AS THE MOST REASONABLE SOLUTION. THUS...WILL LEAN ACCORDINGLY. SFC FRONTAL SYSTEM SHOULD SLOWLY MOVE TO E REMAINDER OF THIS AFTERNOON AND MOVE INTO E TN...WITH WEAK HIGH PRESSURE BUILDING IN BEHIND. HOWEVER... WITH THIS PRONOUNCED OF AN OVERRUNNING EVENT...EFFECTS FROM WEAK HIGH PRESSURE WILL BE NON SIGNIFICANT. FRONT THEN SHOULD SAG SEWD INTO N MS ..N AL...AND SE E TN...WITH ANOTHER FRONT APPROACHING MID STATE FROM THE MS-OHIO VALLEYS AND BE POSITIONED NEAR THE LAND BETWEEN THE LAKES REGION BY 12Z MON. FRONT TO WILL BECOME A WARM FRONT...AS WELL A FRONT TO OUR N...AS IT DRIFTS N. BEST INSTABILITY WILL REMAIN TO OUR SE THRU 12Z MON...THEN REDEVELOP ACROSS MID STATE BY 00Z TUE...AND BECOMING EVEN MORE PRONOUNCED AFTER 12Z TUE. LOOK FOR MOST CONVECTION TO BE ELEVATED IN NATURE. CAN NOT RULE OUT ISOLATED SVR TS DEVELOPMENT THRU PERIOD...BUT WITH LITTLE CAPE AND WET-BULB/FREEZING LEVEL HEIGHTS RELATIVELY HIGH... HAIL PRODUCTION WOULD BE LIMITED...STRONG DAMAGING WINDS WOULD BE THE MAJOR CONCERN. BELIEVE BEST CHANCE FOR SVR WOULD BE ON TUE...AS MENTIONED IN DAY THREE CONVECTIVE OUTLOOK. WILL NOT MENTION SVR IN ZONES. MAIN FORECAST QUANDARY CENTERS AROUND EXTENSION OF FLOOD WATCH TONIGHT... AND EVEN INTO MON. HPC PROGGING A 2 INCH BULLS-EYE ACROSS E PORTIONS OF MID STATE...WITH W PORTIONS 1-1.5 INCHES...AND KEEPING THIS PATTERN IN TACT THRU 00Z TUE...ALTHOUGH SOME WEAKENING IS EXPECTED BY THE AVN SOLUTION. 1 INCH MAX EXPECTED ACROSS MID STATE BY 00Z WED. AVN MOCKS THIS NICELY AS SWLY FLOW CONTINUES UNTIL UPPER LEVEL LOW PASSAGE AFTER 12Z WED. AVN SHOWING BEST SWLY LOW LEVEL JET DYNAMICS ON TUE...BUT 30-40KTS EXPECTED THRU MAJORITY OF PERIOD. MID TO UPPER LEVEL SWLY JET DYNAMICS WILL BE STRONG THRU MAJORITY OF PERIOD ALSO...MOVING QUICKLY ANY DISTURBANCES ALOFT. WITH ALL THIS IN MIND...WILL GO WITH CAT POPS TONIGHT AND THRU MON MORNING ACROSS ENTIRE CWA. CONVECTION MAY BE MORE IN THE LIKELY CAT MON AFTERNOON BEFORE REDEVELOPING AFTER 00Z TUE. THUS...WILL EXTEND WATCH THRU 00Z TUE. WILL GO WITH LIKELY POPS THRU WED MORNING. WILL MENTION SCATTERED TS THRU TUE. WITH BEST CHANCE OF TS AFTER 12Z TUE...WILL GO NUMEROUS THRU WED MORNING. REST OF WEEK...FRONT WILL HAVE PUSHED INTO APPALACHIANS BY 12Z WED... WITH HIGH PRESSURE SYSTEM BUILDING IN FROM CNTRL ROCKIES. HIGH PRESSURE WILL DOMINATE REGION/S WX PATTERN THRU REMAINDER OF THE PERIOD... PROVIDING FOR PTCDLY SKIES. A WEAK FRONTAL PASSAGE WILL OCCUR ON FRI. MORNING...POSSIBLY BRINGING SOME ADDITIONAL CLOUDINESS...BUT AT THIS TIME WILL NOT MENTION AND LEAVE TO LATER SOLUTIONS. TEMPS...WILL GO CLOSE TO AVN SOLUTION ON TEMPS...EXCEPT FOR MON WHERE FAN AND ETA IN HOUSE BOUNDARY TEMP SCHEME VALUES MORE APPROPRIATE. THANKS FOR COORDINATION MEM...JKL...BHM...MRX...SDF PRELIMINARY NUMBERS FOR COORDINATION PURPOSES ONLY... BNA WT 054/065/053/072 9876 CSV WT 052/063/050/068 9876 .BNA...FLOOD WATCH IN EFFECT UNTIL 00Z TUE. 14 JBW
The Nashville radar (KOHX), 47 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 00:02 UTC.
9 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.
EMA reported several roads closed around the county.
EMA reported state and county roads closed due to high water. One bridge was washed out. School was cancelled on Monday March 18.
EMA reported minor flooding on secondary roads.
EMA reported minor flooding in back roads.
EMA reported minor flooding on secondary roads. 2 families had to be evacuated from their mobile homes.
EMA reported 2 roads closed. One public building, a dentist's office and a Hardee's received moderate flood damage.
EMA reported 5 roads closed. One home had major damage, and another home had moderate damage. 2 people had to be evacuated.
Newspaper reported high water on many roads.
EMA reported many roads closed due to high water. Some land and gravel was washed out at a bridge. There were missing culverts and tiles, and debris was covering the roads. School was cancelled on Monday March 18.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Tennessee in 2002Every state in 2002This day in weather historyWarnings in Tennessee, March 2002
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: 5285819, 5285815, 5285817, 5285747, 5285818, 5285820, 5285814, 5285821, 5285816.