Local Atmosphere became strongly unstable during the afternoon and evening and severe convection erupted in this environment ahead of an outflow boundary.
Every event with a place to put it. 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 episode as NWS MRX wrote it up.
Local Atmosphere became strongly unstable during the afternoon and evening and severe convection erupted in this environment ahead of an outflow boundary.
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 22, 2:27 PM EST, 3 hours 3 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MORRISTOWN TN 327 PM EDT TUE JUL 22 2008 .SHORT TERM...(TONIGHT THROUGH WEDNESDAY)...ANOTHER ACTIVE DAY TODAY AS MOIST UNSTABLE AIRMASS ACROSS FORECAST AREA AND BOUNDARIES MOVING ACROSS KY AND TN SETTING OFF CONVECTION ACROSS SOUTHERN PLATEAU AND SOUTHERN VALLEY. TEMPERATURES NOT QUITE AS HIGH NE TN AND SW VA SO NO CONVECTION IN THAT AREA AS YET. HOWEVER COMPLEX ACROSS SE KY MOVING THAT DIRECTION AND EXPECTING ALL AREAS WILL BE AFFECTED. LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS POSSIBLE WITH STRONG THUNDERSTORMS THROUGH ABOUT SUNSET. MODELS SHOW UPPER TROUGH DIGGING SOUTH TONIGHT AND WEDNESDAY WITH ENOUGH OF A PUSH TO FINALLY BRING WEAK FRONT ACROSS THE FORECAST AREA. WILL KEEP LIKELY POPS GOING TONIGHT AND WEDNESDAY. FORECASTING TEMPERATURES TO BE SEVERAL DEGREES COOLER WITH CLOUDS AND SHOWERS WEDNESDAY AND THERE SHOULD BE ONLY ISOLATED SEVERE STORMS WITH WEAK FRONTAL BOUNDARY AS BEST INSTABILITY SHIFTS TO THE EAST OF THE APPALACHIANS AND SOUTHWEST INTO WEST TN AND AR. .LONG TERM...(WEDNESDAY NIGHT THROUGH TUESDAY)...MODELS ARE IN GOOD AGREEMENT THAT A WEAK COLD FRONT WILL MOVE THROUGH THE FORECAST AREA BY WEDNESDAY EVENING...WHICH SEEMS REASONABLE CONSIDERING A STRONG UPPER-LEVEL TROUGH WILL AMPLIFY OVER THE OHIO RIVER VALLEY (WHICH SHOULD GIVE THE FRONT A GOOD PUSH). HIGH PRESSURE WILL THEN BRING DRY AND TRANQUIL WEATHER FOR THURSDAY AND FRIDAY. HOWEVER...WILL CONTINUE TO MENTION SLIGHT CHANCE POPS ON FRIDAY AS MOISTURE BEGINS TO GRADUALLY INCREASE. ANOTHER WEAK COLD FRONT IS PROGGED TO SLOWLY APPROACH THE FORECAST AREA ON SATURDAY...AND THEN STALL-OUT AROUND THE FORECAST AREA THROUGH TUESDAY. BOTH THE GFS AND ECMWF MODELS SUGGEST THAT MULTIPLE MCSS WILL BE POSSIBLE ALONG THIS FRONTAL BOUNDARY DURING THE SATURDAY THROUGH TUESDAY TIME PERIOD. ITS TOO EARLY TO BE CONFIDENT OF THIS SCENARIO...BUT WILL CONTINUE TO MENTION CHANCE POPS THROUGH THIS PERIOD. AS FOR TEMPS...WILL BASICALLY GO WITH A PERSISTENCE FORECAST THROUGH MOST OF THE FORECAST PERIOD...BUT WITH GRADUALLY INCREASING MINS AS MOISTURE LEVELS SLOWLY INCREASE AFTER FRONTAL PASSAGE ON THURSDAY. && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... CHATTANOOGA AIRPORT, TN 70 87 69 93 70 / 50 50 20 10 10 KNOXVILLE AIRPORT, TN 68 86 66 90 66 / 60 50 20 10 10 OAK RIDGE, TN 69 86 66 90 66 / 60 50 20 10 10 TRI CITIES AIRPORT, TN 65 83 62 88 63 / 60 60 20 10 10 && .MRX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... NC...NONE. TN...NONE. VA...NONE. && TD/DGS
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MORRISTOWN TN 930 AM EDT TUE JUL 22 2008 NCZ060-061-TNZ012>018-035>047-067>074-081>087-098>102-VAZ001-002- 005-006-008-231000- CHEROKEE-CLAY-SCOTT TN-CAMPBELL-CLAIBORNE-HANCOCK-HAWKINS- SULLIVAN-JOHNSON-MORGAN-ANDERSON-UNION-GRAINGER-HAMBLEN- NORTHWEST COCKE-COCKE SMOKY MOUNTAINS-NORTHWEST GREENE- SOUTHEAST GREENE-WASHINGTON TN-UNICOI-NORTHWEST CARTER- SOUTHEAST CARTER-ROANE-LOUDON-KNOX-JEFFERSON-NW BLOUNT- BLOUNT SMOKY MOUNTAINS-NORTH SEVIER-SEVIER SMOKY MOUNTAINS- SEQUATCHIE-BLEDSOE-RHEA-MEIGS-MCMINN-NORTHWEST MONROE- SOUTHEAST MONROE-MARION-HAMILTON-BRADLEY-WEST POLK-EAST POLK-LEE- WISE-SCOTT-RUSSELL-WASHINGTON- 930 AM EDT (830 AM CDT) TUE JUL 22 2008 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR EAST TENNESSEE...SOUTHWEST VIRGINIA AND EXTREME SOUTHWEST NORTH CAROLINA. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT A COMPLEX OF THUNDERSTORMS OVER THE OHIO RIVER VALLEY WILL MOVE SOUTHEAST INTO THE SOUTHERN APPALACHIAN REGION THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING. SOME OF THESE STORMS WILL LIKELY BE SEVERE...PRODUCING DAMAGING WINDS...LARGE HAIL...FREQUENT CLOUD TO GROUND LIGHTNING AND LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...WEDNESDAY THROUGH TUESDAY A WEAK COLD FRONT WILL MOVE INTO THE REGION ON WEDNESDAY...WITH SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOPING AGAIN. SOME OF THESE STORMS COULD POSSIBLY BE SEVERE...PRODUCING DAMAGING WINDS...LARGE HAIL...FREQUENT CLOUD TO GROUND LIGHTNING AND LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL. ANOTHER COLD FRONT WILL SLOWLY APPROACH THE REGION BY THE END OF THE WEEK...WITH ISOLATED SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS POSSIBLE EACH DAY FROM FRIDAY THROUGH SUNDAY. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE NEEDED THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING...AND AGAIN ON WEDNESDAY.
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MORRISTOWN TN
421 PM EDT TUE JUL 22 2008
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0410 PM TSTM WND DMG DEERLODGE 36.20N 84.76W
07/22/2008 MORGAN TN LAW ENFORCEMENT
SEVERAL TREES DOWN IN DEERLODGE.
&&
SEPPRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MORRISTOWN TN
436 PM EDT TUE JUL 22 2008
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0430 PM TSTM WND DMG OOLTEWAH 35.06N 85.09W
07/22/2008 HAMILTON TN LAW ENFORCEMENT
TREES AND POWER LINES DOWN IN OOLTEWAH.
&&
SEPPRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MORRISTOWN TN
442 PM EDT TUE JUL 22 2008
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0430 PM TSTM WND DMG 5 NE PIKEVILLE 35.66N 85.13W
07/22/2008 BLEDSOE TN LAW ENFORCEMENT
FEW TREES DOWN.
&&
SEPPRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MORRISTOWN TN
507 PM EDT TUE JUL 22 2008
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0430 PM TSTM WND DMG SUNBRIGHT 36.24N 84.67W
07/22/2008 MORGAN TN LAW ENFORCEMENT
TREES DOWN ON HUGH JONES RD.
0450 PM TSTM WND DMG 4 S SUNBRIGHT 36.18N 84.67W
07/22/2008 MORGAN TN LAW ENFORCEMENT
TREES DOWN ON PILOT MOUNTAIN RD.
&&
SEPPRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MORRISTOWN TN
612 PM EDT TUE JUL 22 2008
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0530 PM TSTM WND DMG 7 WSW DEERLODGE 36.16N 84.88W
07/22/2008 MORGAN TN TRAINED SPOTTER
LARGE TREE LIMB DOWN ON VEHICLE.
&&
SEPPRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MORRISTOWN TN
630 PM EDT TUE JUL 22 2008
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0615 PM TSTM WND DMG GATLINBURG 35.72N 83.49W
07/22/2008 SEVIER TN LAW ENFORCEMENT
TREES AND POWER LINES DOWN IN GATLINBURG.
&&
SEPThe Knoxville radar (KMRX), 133 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 22:30 UTC.
1 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.
Numerous trees were reported down across the western half of the county.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in North Carolina in 2008Every state in 2008This day in weather historyWarnings in North Carolina, July 2008
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: 128912.