Damaging Wind in Virginia, May 31, 2004

Name: Damaging Wind in Virginia, May 31, 2004
Start: 2004-05-31T03:20
End: 2004-05-31T03:20
Location: Virginia

May 31, 2004 · NWS MRX · 1 event in 1 county or zone

A few trees were reported down in Gate City.

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: $10,000
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.

A few trees were reported down in Gate City.

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 May 31, 2:00 AM EST, 1 hour 20 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 31, 2:00 AM EST, 1 hour 20 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MORRISTOWN TN
300 AM EDT MON MAY 31 2004

.DISCUSSION...AREA RADARS CURRENTLY SHOW WAVY LINE OF CONVECTION
APPROACHING THE WESTERN COUNTIES OF OUR FORECAST AREA. MODELS AND
SHORT RANGE ENSEMBLES GENERALLY AGREE THAT THIS LINE WILL BE NEAR
THE SPINE OF THE APPALACHIANS BY 12Z MONDAY. ANTICIPATE THAT PRECIP
BEHIND THE LINE WILL LINGER INTO THE FIRST PERIOD AND THUS WILL
CONTINUE HIGH LIKELY TO CATEGORICAL POPS EARLY IN THE PERIOD BEFORE
RAPIDLY DROPPING OFF THE POPS BY 18Z AS DRIER AIR IS USHERED INTO THE
AREA. REMAINDER OF THE WORK WEEK WILL BE DOMINATED BY GREAT
LAKES UPPER LOW THAT WILL ONLY SLOWLY MOVE EASTWARD. HEIGHTS WILL
FALL TO UNSEASONABLY LOW LEVELS AND SHORTWAVES ROTATING AROUND THE
UPPER LOW WILL PROVIDE OCCASIONAL UNSETTLED WEATHER. HOWEVER...
GENERALLY BENIGN WEATHER WILL BE THE RULE AS RELATIVELY DRY AIR
REMAINS ENTRENCHED OVER THE AREA.
&&

.PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS...
Chattanooga, TN   81  59  85  60 /  70  10  10  10
Knoxville, TN     78  58  82  59 /  70  20  10  10
Bristol, TN       77  52  80  57 /  70  20  10  10
Oak Ridge, TN     79  57  83  59 /  70  10  10  10
&&

.MRX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
NC...TORNADO WATCH FOR EARLY THIS MORNING FOR NCZ060...NCZ061.
TN...TORNADO WATCH FOR EARLY THIS MORNING FOR ZONES TNC007...
TNC065...TNC115...TNC143...TNC153.

VA...TORNADO WATCH FOR THIS MORNING FOR ZONES VAC105...
VAC167...VAC169...VAC191...VAC195.

&&

LCM

Hazardous weather outlook, May 30, 5:00 AM EST, 22 hours 20 minutes before

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MORRISTOWN TN
600 AM EDT SUN MAY 30 2004

NCZ060-061-TNZ012>018-035>047-067>074-081>087-098>102-VAZ001-002-005-
006-008-311000-
ANDERSON-BLEDSOE-BLOUNT SMOKY MTN-BRADLEY-CAMPBELL-CHEROKEE-
CLAIBORNE-CLAY-COCKE SMOKY MTN-EAST POLK-GRAINGER-HAMBLEN-HAMILTON-
HANCOCK-HAWKINS-JEFFERSON-JOHNSON-KNOX-LEE-LOUDON-MARION-MCMINN-
MEIGS-MORGAN-NORTH SEVIER-NORTHWEST CARTER-NORTHWEST COCKE-
NORTHWEST GREENE-NORTHWEST MONROE-NW BLOUNT-RHEA-ROANE-RUSSELL-
SCOTT TN-SCOTT VA-SEQUATCHIE-SEVIER SMOKY MTN-SOUTHEAST CARTER-
SOUTHEAST GREENE-SOUTHEAST MONROE-SULLIVAN-UNICOI-UNION-
WASHINGTON TN-WASHINGTON VA-WEST POLK-WISE-
600 AM EDT (500 AM CDT) SUN MAY 30 2004

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR EAST TENNESSEE...SOUTHWEST
VIRGINIA AND EXTREME SOUTHWEST NORTH CAROLINA.

.DAY ONE (TODAY AND TONIGHT)...

A LARGE SEVERE WEATHER OUTBREAK IS EXPECTED TO DEVELOP THIS EVENING
OVER THE LOWER MISSISSIPPI RIVER VALLEY...AND MOVE EAST OVERNIGHT
ACROSS THE TENNESSEE RIVER VALLEY. ALTHOUGH THIS COMPLEX OF
THUNDERSTORMS IS EXPECTED TO WEAKEN AS IT MOVES EAST OVERNIGHT...
THERE REMAINS THE POTENTIAL FOR A WIDESPREAD DAMAGING WIND EVENT WITH
LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL ACROSS EAST TENNESSEE...SOUTHWEST VIRGINIA AND
EXTREME SOUTHWEST NORTH CAROLINA AFTER MIDNIGHT TONIGHT. IN
ADDITION...AN ISOLATED TORNADO OR TWO WILL BE POSSIBLE.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN (MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY)...

SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH DAMAGING WINDS AND LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL
WILL BE POSSIBLE DURING THE MORNING HOURS ON MEMORIAL DAY.
OTHERWISE...NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE REQUIRED AFTER MIDNIGHT TONIGHT THROUGH THE
MORNING HOURS OF MEMORIAL DAY.

PLEASE STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO OR VISIT OUR WEBSITE AT
WWW.SRH.NOAA.GOV/MRX.

DMG

In the hours before

Local storm report, May 31, 2:08 AM EST, 1 hour 12 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MORRISTOWN TN
308 AM EDT MON MAY 31 2004

..TIME...   ...EVENT...     ...CITY LOCATION...      ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....     ..COUNTY LOCATION...ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0230 AM     TSTM WND DMG     LA FOLLETTE             36.37N 84.13W
05/31/2004                   CAMPBELL           TN   LAW ENFORCEMENT

            A FEW TREES DOWN.

0240 AM     TSTM WND DMG     TAZEWELL                36.46N 83.58W
05/31/2004                   CLAIBORNE          TN   LAW ENFORCEMENT

            A FEW TREES DOWN.

&&

DAE

Local storm report, May 31, 2:21 AM EST, 59 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MORRISTOWN TN
321 AM EDT MON MAY 31 2004

..TIME...   ...EVENT...     ...CITY LOCATION...      ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....     ..COUNTY LOCATION...ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0300 AM     TSTM WND DMG     SOUTH PITTSBURG         35.02N 85.71W
05/31/2004                   MARION             TN   LAW ENFORCEMENT

            A FEW TREES DOWN.

&&

DAE

Local storm report, May 31, 2:25 AM EST, 55 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MORRISTOWN TN
325 AM EDT MON MAY 31 2004

..TIME...   ...EVENT...     ...CITY LOCATION...      ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....     ..COUNTY LOCATION...ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0320 AM     HAIL             CHATTANOOGA             35.07N 85.26W
05/31/2004  0.75 INCH        HAMILTON           TN   TRAINED SPOTTER

&&

DAE

Local storm report, May 31, 3:09 AM EST, 11 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MORRISTOWN TN
409 AM EDT MON MAY 31 2004

..TIME...   ...EVENT...     ...CITY LOCATION...      ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....     ..COUNTY LOCATION...ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0325 AM     TSTM WND DMG     CHATTANOOGA             35.07N 85.26W
05/31/2004                   HAMILTON           TN   BROADCAST MEDIA

            NUMEROUS TREES DOWN

0400 AM     TSTM WND DMG     CLEVELAND               35.18N 84.87W
05/31/2004                   BRADLEY            TN   LAW ENFORCEMENT

            NUMEROUS TREES DOWN.

&&

DAE

The radar

The Knoxville radar (KMRX), 90 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 08:19 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.

Thunderstorm Wind, Scott

When: May 31, 3:20 AM EST
Where: Scott County, Gate City
Measured: 60 kt (69 mph) estimated gust
Property damage: $10,000
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 36.633, -82.583

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

Every storm in Virginia in 2004 Every state in 2004 This day in weather history Warnings in Virginia, May 2004

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: 5395440.