Amplified upper trough with deep surface low pressure system and occluded front moved through the region creating widespread wind damage.
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.
Amplified upper trough with deep surface low pressure system and occluded front moved through the region creating widespread wind damage.
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 Jan 10, 2:06 PM CST, 3 hours 36 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MORRISTOWN TN
306 PM EST THU JAN 10 2008
.SHORT TERM (TONIGHT AND FRIDAY)...
AT 21Z...WARM FRONT WAS STILL TRYING TO PUSH INTO THE SOUTHERN
SECTIONS OF THE FORECAST AREA. STILL FEEL STRONG LOW LEVEL JET OF
50KTS+ WILL PULL BOUNDARY NORTH. LATEST NAM SHOWS FRONT PULLING
NORTH ACROSS MOST OF TENNESSEE THIS EVENING. A LINE OF STRONG TO
SEVERE STORMS HAVE DEVELOPED ACROSS MIDDLE TENNESSEE AND ALABAMA.
MODELS SHOW STRONG UPPER DYNAMICS MOVING OVER THE REGION LATE TODAY AND
THIS EVENING AS RIGHT ENTRANCE REGION OF A 130KT JET MOVES OVER THE EASTERN
TENNESSEE VALLEY. ALSO...PRE-FRONTAL TROUGH WILL MOVE THROUGH THIS
EVENING AS WELL. STRONG LOW LEVEL SHEAR-HELICITY ANTICIPATED THIS
AFTERNOON AND EVENING...BUT POTENTIAL BOUYANCY MARGINAL WITH CAPES
OF 300-700J/KG ANTICIPATED. GIVEN THE EXPECTED STRONG UPPER DYNAMICS...STILL
EXPECT THE POTENTIAL OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH THE MAIN THREAT
BEING CONVECTIVE DOWNDRAFTS TAPPING LOW LEVEL JET TO PRODUCE
DAMAGING WINDS. ALSO...GIVEN WBZ OF AROUND 10KFT...LARGE HAIL WILL
BE POSSIBLE. FINALLY...CAN NOT RULE OUT AN ISOLATED TORNADO GIVEN
THE LOW LEVEL SHEAR...ESPECIALLY OVER THE WESTERN AND SOUTHERN
AREAS.
FAILY DECENT RAINS ARE ANTICIPATED WITH MOST AREAS RECEIVING
BETWEEN ONE-HALF AND ONE INCH...BUT UP TO 2 INCHES ARE POSSIBLE
OVER THE SOUTHERN SECTIONS. BESIDES THE STORMS...TIGHTENING
PRESSURE GRADIENTS WITH 850MB WIND OF 50-60KTS WILL PRODUCE WINDY
CONDITIONS OVERNIGHT.
FOR FRIDAY...FRONT IS EAST OF THE FORECAST AREA WITH PRECIPITATION
ENDING BY MID-MORNING OVER THE NORTHEAST.
.LONG TERM (FRIDAY NIGHT THROUGH THURSDAY)...GENERALLY TRANQUIL
WEATHER WILL RETURN FOR THE EARLY PART OF THE WEEKEND PER MODEL AND
ENSEMBLE CONSENSUS. A SERIES OF WEAK NORTHERN STREAM SHORT WAVES
WILL BRING A RETURN TO SOMEWHAT UNSETTLED WEATHER FOR MUCH OF THE
BALANCE OF THE LONG TERM PERIOD. MODELS/ENSEMBLES ARE IN RELATIVELY
GOOD AGREEMENT WITH THIS PATTERN UNTIL LATE IN THE PERIOD WHEN GFS
AND ECMWF DEPICTS ANOTHER SYSTEM APPROACHING THE SOUTHERN
APPALACHIAN REGION ON THURSDAY. HOWEVER...CANADIAN ENSEMBLES DO NOT
SUPPORT THIS FEATURE. HAVE INTRODUCED SLIGHT CHANCE POPS ON
THURSDAY...BUT CONFIDENCE NOT HIGH WITH THIS UNCERTAINTY.
OVERALL...DID NOT MAKE ANY SIGNIFICANT CHANGES TO PRECEDING
GRIDS/FORECAST.
&&
.PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS...
CHATTANOOGA AIRPORT, TN 44 52 35 56 35 / 100 0 0 0 20
KNOXVILLE MCGHEE TYSON AIRPORT, TN 46 49 35 55 35 / 100 10 0 0 20
OAK RIDGE, TN 44 51 35 52 34 / 100 10 0 0 20
TRI CITIES AIRPORT, TN 45 54 30 51 30 / 100 20 0 0 10
&&
.MRX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
NC...WIND ADVISORY UNTIL 4 AM EST FRIDAY FOR THE FOLLOWING ZONES:
CHEROKEE...CLAY.
TN...WIND ADVISORY UNTIL 4 AM EST /3 AM CST/ FRIDAY FOR THE FOLLOWING
ZONES: ANDERSON...BLEDSOE...BLOUNT SMOKY MOUNTAINS...
BRADLEY...CAMPBELL...CLAIBORNE...COCKE SMOKY MOUNTAINS...
EAST POLK...GRAINGER...HAMBLEN...HAMILTON...JEFFERSON...
JOHNSON...KNOX...LOUDON...MARION...MCMINN...MEIGS...
MORGAN...NW BLOUNT...NORTH SEVIER...NORTHWEST COCKE...
NORTHWEST MONROE...RHEA...ROANE...SCOTT TN...SEQUATCHIE...
SEVIER SMOKY MOUNTAINS...SOUTHEAST CARTER...SOUTHEAST
GREENE...SOUTHEAST MONROE...UNICOI...UNION...WEST POLK.
VA...WIND ADVISORY UNTIL 4 AM EST FRIDAY FOR THE FOLLOWING ZONES:
LEE...RUSSELL...SCOTT...WASHINGTON...WISE.
&&
DH/LCMHAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MORRISTOWN TN 200 PM EST THU JAN 10 2008 NCZ060-061-TNZ012>018-035>047-067>074-081>087-098>102-VAZ001-002- 005-006-008-110900- 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- 200 PM EST THU JAN 10 2008 /100 PM CST THU JAN 10 2008/ THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF SOUTHWEST NORTH CAROLINA...EAST TENNESSEE AND SOUTHWEST VIRGINIA. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT ...SEVERE STORMS POSSIBLE LATE THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING FOR THE PLATEAU AND SOUTHERN HALF OF THE TENNESSEE VALLEY. A STRONG LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM WILL AFFECT THE AREA TODAY AND TONIGHT. STRONG GUSTY WINDS AHEAD OF THE SYSTEM ARE EXPECTED...ESPECIALLY IN THE HIGHER ELEVATIONS. STRONG TO SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ARE ALSO EXPECTED LATE THIS AFTERNOON AND THIS EVENING. THE MAIN THREAT WILL BE DAMAGING WINDS...AND ISOLATED TORNADOES WILL ALSO BE POSSIBLE. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL LIKELY BE NEEDED ON THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING FOR THE PLATEAU AND SOUTHERN HALF OF THE TENNESSEE VALLEY.
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MORRISTOWN TN 144 PM EST THU JAN 10 2008 TNZ012>014-035>040-067>071-073-081>086-098>101-102200- SCOTT TN-CAMPBELL-CLAIBORNE-MORGAN-ANDERSON-UNION-GRAINGER- HAMBLEN-NORTHWEST COCKE-ROANE-LOUDON-KNOX-JEFFERSON-NW BLOUNT- NORTH SEVIER-SEQUATCHIE-BLEDSOE-RHEA-MEIGS-MCMINN- NORTHWEST MONROE-MARION-HAMILTON-BRADLEY-WEST POLK- INCLUDING THE CITIES OF...ONEIDA...LA FOLLETTE...TAZEWELL... WARTBURG...CLINTON...OAK RIDGE...MAYNARDVILLE...RUTLEDGE... MORRISTOWN...NEWPORT...KINGSTON...LENOIR CITY...KNOXVILLE... DANDRIDGE...MARYVILLE...SEVIERVILLE...DUNLAP...PIKEVILLE... DAYTON...DECATUR...ATHENS...MADISONVILLE...JASPER...CHATTANOOGA... CLEVELAND...BENTON 144 PM EST THU JAN 10 2008 /1244 PM CST THU JAN 10 2008/ ...SEVERE STORMS POSSIBLE LATE THIS AFTERNOON AND THIS EVENING... A WARM FRONT WILL MOVE NORTH ACROSS EAST TENNESSEE ALLOWING WARM... MOIST...AND UNSTABLE AIR TO PULL INTO THE REGION BY THIS EVENING. A COLD FRONT WILL PULL EAST ACROSS THE SOUTHERN APPALACHIANS OVERNIGHT. WINDS ABOVE THE SURFACE WILL BE QUITE STRONG...CREATING WIND SHEAR. WARM MOIST AIR NEAR THE SURFACE WILL ALSO CREATE UNSTABLE CONDITIONS. THE WIND SHEAR AND INSTABILITY WILL COMBINE TO GENERATE STRONG TO POSSIBLY SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS LATE THIS AFTERNOON AND THIS EVENING ACROSS THE TENNESSEE VALLEY AND CUMBERLAND PLATEAU. THE MAIN THREAT WITH THESE STORMS WILL BE DAMAGING WINDS AND HAIL. ISOLATED TORNADOES WILL ALSO BE POSSIBLE. LOCATIONS WITH THE BEST CHANCES OF SEVERE WEATHER WILL BE IN THE SOUTHERN CUMBERLAND PLATEAU AND THE SOUTHERN TENNESSEE VALLEY...INCLUDING THE CHATTANOOGA AREA. RESIDENTS ACROSS THE PLATEAU AND SOUTHERN HALF OF THE TENNESSEE VALLEY NEED TO STAY ABREAST OF THE LATEST STATEMENTS FROM THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE. STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO AND OTHER LOCAL MEDIA FOR FURTHER DETAILS OR UPDATES. DH
The Northeast Alabama radar (KHTX), 63 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 23:42 UTC.
16 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.
A few trees were reported down three miles east of Whitwell.
Numerous trees were reported down across the county.
Several trees and large limbs were reported down near clairfield.
A few trees were reported down one mile southwest of Harrogate.
Several trees were reported down in Athens.
A few trees were reported down in Madisonville.
One tree was reported down in Greenback.
One tree was reported down on Foshee road near Philadelphia.
A few trees were reported down four miles west of Sevierville.
One tree was reported down in Rogersville.
One 4 foot diameter tree and powerlines were reported down on Clear Creek Road.
One tree was reported down on Christians Bend Road.
Two trees and several powerlines were reported down in Greeneville.
A few trees and powerlines were reported down countywide.
Several trees were reported down near Luttrell.
Several trees were reported down across the county.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Tennessee in 2008Every state in 2008This day in weather historyWarnings in Tennessee, January 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: 67957, 67958, 67959, 67960, 67961, 67962, 67963, 67964, 67965, 67966, 67967, 67968, 67969, 67970, 67971, 67972.