2 hail, 2 thunderstorm wind, 1 flash flood, 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.
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 May 17, 8:56 AM CST, 49 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION...CORRECTED TO ADD FFA NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NASHVILLE TN 920 AM CDT FRI MAY 17 2002 THUNDERSTORM COMPLEX HAS BEEN AFFECTING EXTREME NORTHWEST COUNTIES THIS MORNING. NO FLOODING REPORTED YET...BUT GROUND IS GETTING PRIMED FOR PROBLEMS TO QUICKLY DEVELOP. ETA/MESOETA AND SOMEWHAT AVN SUGGEST GREATEST LOW LEVEL CONVERGENCE COUPLED WITH UPPER LEVEL DIVERGENCE WILL REMAIN OVER OUR NORTHWEST ZONES MOST OF THE DAY...UNTIL WAVE AND FRONT GET MOVING THROUGH THE AREA. WILL GO WITH A FLOOD WATCH THROUGH THE REST OF THE DAY FOR AREAS GENERALLY NORTH OF INTERSTATE 40 AND WEST OF INTERSTATE 65...NOT INCLUDING NASHVILLE FOR NOW. COULD BE VERY LATE AFTERNOON BEFORE ANY RAIN AT ALL REACHES SOUTHEAST COUNTIES OF THE FORECAST AREA. OTHERWISE...SOME CHANCE FOR SEVERE WEATHER ALTHOUGH INSTABILITY MAY BE SOMEWHAT LIMITED BY CLOUDS AND PRECIPITATION. LOOK FOR AN UPDATE BEFORE 10 AM WITH THESE AND A FEW OTHER MINOR CHANGES. .BNA...FLOOD WATCH UNTIL MIDNIGHT NORTHWEST MID TN. SH
TNZ005>011-022>034-056>066-075>080-093>097-181030- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NASHVILLE TN 530 AM CDT FRI MAY 17 2002 A COLD FRONT WILL MOVE INTO MIDDLE TENNESSEE EARLY THIS AFTERNOON FROM THE CENTRAL MISSISSIPPI AND OHIO RIVER VALLEYS. ALONG AND AHEAD OF THIS COLD FRONT...SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL DEVELOP. SOME OF THESE THUNDERSTORMS COULD BE STRONG WITH GUSTY WINDS AND HEAVY RAINFALL...ESPECIALLY AS THE AFTERNOON HOURS PROGRESS. SOME THUNDERSTORMS COULD EVEN REACH SEVERE THRESHOLDS. THE COLD FRONT WILL MOVE SLOWLY SEWD TO NEAR A LAWRENCEBURG TO CROSSVILLE LINE BY EARLY FRIDAY EVENING. THIS WILL RESULT IN SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS NORTHWESTERN ZONES... BUT NUMEROUS SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL CONTINUE ELSEWHERE. AS THE COLD FRONT MOVES SOUTH AND EAST OF REGION LATE FRIDAY EVENING...LOOK FOR SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS TO END LATE EVENING NORTHWEST TO AROUND MIDNIGHT CENTRAL PORTIONS OF MID STATE. SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL CONTINUING ACROSS THE CUMBERLAND PLATEAU THROUGH THE EARLY MORNING HOURS ON SATURDAY. AS A RESULT...ACTIVATIONS OF EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT PERSONNEL AND SPOTTER GROUPS ARE POSSIBLE TODAY AND TONIGHT. STAY TUNED FOR FURTHER UPDATES ON THIS DEVELOPING WEATHER SITUATION. 14 JBW
TNZ005>011-022>034-056>066-075>080-093>097-181030- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...CORRECTED FOR WORDING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NASHVILLE TN 530 AM CDT FRI MAY 17 2002 A COLD FRONT WILL MOVE INTO MIDDLE TENNESSEE EARLY THIS AFTERNOON FROM THE CENTRAL MISSISSIPPI AND OHIO RIVER VALLEYS. ALONG AND AHEAD OF THIS COLD FRONT...SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL DEVELOP. SOME OF THESE THUNDERSTORMS COULD BE STRONG WITH GUSTY WINDS AND HEAVY RAINFALL...ESPECIALLY AS THE AFTERNOON HOURS PROGRESS. SOME THUNDERSTORMS COULD EVEN REACH SEVERE THRESHOLDS. THE COLD FRONT WILL MOVE SLOWLY SOUTHEASTWARD TO NEAR A LAWRENCEBURG TO CROSSVILLE LINE BY EARLY FRIDAY EVENING. THIS WILL RESULT IN SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS NORTHWESTERN MIDDLE TENNESSEE...BUT NUMEROUS SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL CONTINUE ELSEWHERE. AS THE COLD FRONT MOVES SOUTH AND EAST OF REGION LATE FRIDAY EVENING...LOOK FOR SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS TO END LATE EVENING NORTHWEST TO AROUND MIDNIGHT CENTRAL PORTIONS OF MID STATE. SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL CONTINUING ACROSS THE CUMBERLAND PLATEAU THROUGH THE EARLY MORNING HOURS ON SATURDAY. AS A RESULT...ACTIVATIONS OF EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT PERSONNEL AND SPOTTER GROUPS ARE POSSIBLE TODAY AND TONIGHT. STAY TUNED FOR FURTHER UPDATES ON THIS DEVELOPING WEATHER SITUATION. 14 JBW
TNZ005>011-022>034-056>066-075>080-093>097-181030- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...CORRECTED FOR WORDING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NASHVILLE TN 530 AM CDT FRI MAY 17 2002 A COLD FRONT WILL MOVE INTO MIDDLE TENNESSEE EARLY THIS AFTERNOON FROM THE CENTRAL MISSISSIPPI AND OHIO RIVER VALLEYS. ALONG AND AHEAD OF THIS COLD FRONT...SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL DEVELOP. SOME OF THESE THUNDERSTORMS COULD BE STRONG WITH GUSTY WINDS AND HEAVY RAINFALL...ESPECIALLY AS THE AFTERNOON HOURS PROGRESS. SOME THUNDERSTORMS COULD EVEN REACH SEVERE THRESHOLDS. THE COLD FRONT WILL MOVE SLOWLY SOUTHEASTWARD TO NEAR A LAWRENCEBURG TO CROSSVILLE LINE BY EARLY FRIDAY EVENING. THIS WILL RESULT IN SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS NORTHWESTERN MIDDLE TENNESSEE...BUT NUMEROUS SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL CONTINUE ELSEWHERE. AS THE COLD FRONT MOVES SOUTH AND EAST OF REGION LATE FRIDAY EVENING...LOOK FOR SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS TO END LATE EVENING NORTHWEST TO AROUND MIDNIGHT CENTRAL PORTIONS OF MID STATE. SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL CONTINUING ACROSS THE CUMBERLAND PLATEAU THROUGH THE EARLY MORNING HOURS ON SATURDAY. AS A RESULT...ACTIVATIONS OF EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT PERSONNEL AND SPOTTER GROUPS ARE POSSIBLE TODAY AND TONIGHT. STAY TUNED FOR FURTHER UPDATES ON THIS DEVELOPING WEATHER SITUATION. 14 JBW
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
2 hail, 2 thunderstorm wind, 1 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.
Law enforcement reported water several inches deep on Cox Hollow Rd.
SKYWARN Spotter reported dime size hail.
Sheriff's office reported ahil the size of a hen egg.
Numerous trees were uprooted and power lines were down in the western part of the county, namely the Marsh Creek and Cypress Creek areas. One of the the hardest hit area was 1 mile west of Linden on U.S. Hwy 412. A tree fell on a car. Power was out for about 3 hours.
Numerous trees were uprooted. Several of these trees were 2 feet in diameter. 12 homes had roof damage mainly from fallen trees. The first damage was noted at a farm on a hilltop just south of Hwy 50 near Shipps Bend. The winds destroyed a barn and carried the tin roof a half a mile away into the trees. 2 grain silos were destroyed, and one of them was ripped from its foundation and carried 35 feet. This occurred on Upper Shipp Road or at about 1/4 mile north of Hwy 50. Debris from the silo was found 1.3 miles to the northeast at the county fair pavilion. Newspaper article described that the Meriwether Lewis Electric Cooperative crews spent hours replacing poles that were snapped in two by the force of the wind, across from Oakmont Cemetery. In the Defeated Community, on Puckett Hollow, fallen trees destroyed a 1979 Ford 4X4. Also, at Beacon Light Estates, which is located off Hwy 100 in Bon Aqua, a house had roof and siding damage on Hill Circle.
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, May 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: 5296731, 5296732, 5296733, 5296735, 5296734.