Tennessee, 2008

Winter Weather in Tennessee, December 17 to 18, 2008

December 17 to 18, 2008 · NWS OHX · 1 event in 1 county or zone

A mixture of rain, sleet, and snow started to occur during the late afternoon hours across Smith County on Wednesday, December 17th. It resulted in treacherous road conditions across the county through the morning hours of Thursday, December 18th.

Where it happened

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

The toll

Deaths
0
Injuries
0
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 happened

The episode as NWS OHX wrote it up.

A mixture of rain, sleet, and snow started to occur during the late afternoon hours across Smith County on Wednesday, December 17th. It resulted in treacherous road conditions across the county through the morning hours of Thursday, December 18th. Several accidents were reported,but no critical injuries.

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 Dec 16, 5:05 PM CST, 23 hours 25 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Dec 16, 5:05 PM CST, 23 hours 25 minutes before
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The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 winter weather. Local standard time, as filed.

Winter Weather, Smith

When
December 17, 4:30 PM CST to December 18, 8:00 AM CST
Where
Smith forecast zone
Reported by
Newspaper
Coordinates
36.251, -85.957 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

A mixture of rain, sleet, and snow had resulted in the build up of slush on most roadways including state highways and Interstate 40.

The first wrecks occurred on Highway 25 in Carthage around 1730CST. One person was transported from the accident scene with non-critical injuries to Riverview Regional Medical Center North. Shortly after that, a tractor-trailer truck traveling west bound on Interstate 40 slid into the median. The driver was not injured in the wreck.

Wrecks occurred in Gordonsville, Defeated, and South Carthage. The heavier accumulations of snow were in the Chestnut Mound area and the northern sections of the county including the cities of Pleasant Shade and Difficult.

No information in the Carther Courier Newspaper Article where information referenced from mentioned accumulation amounts of ice or snow.

What these are

Winter Weather
Snow, sleet or freezing rain below warning levels that still caused disruption, damage or casualties.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in Tennessee in 2008Every state in 2008This day in weather historyWarnings in Tennessee, December 2008

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 2026-10-01. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 147876.