Fast moving line of severe convection coincident with very strong cold front passed across the mid south and entered the MRX warning area late in the evening resulting in widespread wind damage across Southwest Virginia, East Tennessee, and Southwest North Carolina.
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.
Fast moving line of severe convection coincident with very strong cold front passed across the mid south and entered the MRX warning area late in the evening resulting in widespread wind damage across Southwest Virginia, East Tennessee, and Southwest North Carolina.
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 29, 6:18 PM CST, 2 hours 57 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION...UPDATED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MORRISTOWN TN
718 PM EST TUE JAN 29 2008
.DISCUSSION...QUICK UPDATE TO FORECAST GRIDS AND PRODUCTS AS WINDS
ARE ALREADY GUSTING TO 64 KNOTS AT COVE MOUNTAIN (SEVIER COUNTY)
JUST OVER 4000 FEET. MRX VAD WIND PROFILE SHOWING LOW LEVEL JET
REACHING 50 KNOTS WITH UPSTREAM WIND PROFILES INDICATING A 60 TO 65
KNOT LOW LEVEL JET. SHOWERS TO COME THROUGH EARLY WOULD NOT APPEAR
TO BE ORGANIZED ENOUGH TO TRANSPORT DAMAGING WINDS TO THE SURFACE.
HOWEVER...MUCH STRONGER CONVECTION FIRING IN A NARROW LINE ALONG
THE COLD FRONT BETWEEN MEM AND BNA HAS A MUCH GREATER POTENTIAL TO
DO SO.
UPDATED NPWMRX PRODUCT AND ISSUED ALREADY WITH HIGH WIND WARNING
AND STRONGER WORDING. UPDATED ZFPMRX AND WEB PRODUCTS TO FOLLOW.
&&
.PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS...
CHATTANOOGA AIRPORT, TN 33 47 28 52 38 / 100 0 0 50 90
KNOXVILLE MCGHEE TYSON AIRPORT, TN 33 44 24 51 36 / 100 0 0 40 80
OAK RIDGE, TN 33 44 24 52 36 / 100 0 0 40 80
TRI CITIES AIRPORT, TN 32 39 20 49 35 / 100 10 0 20 80
&&
.MRX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
NC...HIGH WIND WARNING UNTIL 7 AM EST WEDNESDAY FOR THE FOLLOWING
ZONES: CHEROKEE...CLAY.
TN...HIGH WIND WARNING UNTIL 7 AM EST WEDNESDAY FOR THE FOLLOWING
ZONES: BLOUNT SMOKY MOUNTAINS...COCKE SMOKY MOUNTAINS...
EAST POLK...JOHNSON...SEVIER SMOKY MOUNTAINS...SOUTHEAST
CARTER...SOUTHEAST GREENE...SOUTHEAST MONROE...UNICOI.
WIND ADVISORY UNTIL 7 AM EST /6 AM CST/ WEDNESDAY FOR THE
FOLLOWING ZONES: ANDERSON...BLEDSOE...BRADLEY...CAMPBELL...
CLAIBORNE...GRAINGER...HAMBLEN...HAMILTON...HANCOCK...
HAWKINS...JEFFERSON...KNOX...LOUDON...MARION...MCMINN...
MEIGS...MORGAN...NW BLOUNT...NORTH SEVIER...NORTHWEST
CARTER...NORTHWEST COCKE...NORTHWEST GREENE...NORTHWEST
MONROE...RHEA...ROANE...SCOTT TN...SEQUATCHIE...SULLIVAN...
UNION...WASHINGTON TN...WEST POLK.
VA...WIND ADVISORY UNTIL 7 AM EST WEDNESDAY FOR THE FOLLOWING ZONES:
LEE...RUSSELL...SCOTT...WASHINGTON...WISE.
&&
TGHAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MORRISTOWN TN 429 AM EST TUE JAN 29 2008 NCZ060-061-TNZ012>018-035>047-067>074-081>087-098>102-VAZ001-002- 005-006-008-301000- 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- 429 AM EST TUE JAN 29 2008 /329 AM CST TUE JAN 29 2008/ THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF SOUTHWEST NORTH CAROLINA...EAST TENNESSEE AND SOUTHWEST VIRGINIA. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT A COLD FRONT WILL APPROACH FROM THE WEST TODAY...AND WILL PUSH THROUGH THE AREA EARLY TONIGHT. WINDS WILL INCREASE THIS AFTERNOON AND WILL BE STRONG AND GUSTY TONIGHT...WITH WIND GUSTS TO 40 MPH POSSIBLE OVER THE VALLEY...AND GUSTS UP TO 50 MPH POSSIBLE OVER THE HIGHER TERRAIN. IN ADDITION TO THE GUSTY WINDS...THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE POSSIBLE LATE THIS AFTERNOON INTO EARLY TONIGHT...AND SOME OF THESE THUNDERSTORMS MAY BECOME SEVERE. DAMAGING WINDS WILL BE THE PRIMARY THREAT...ALTHOUGH LARGE HAIL OR AN ISOLATED TORNADO ALSO CANNOT BE RULED OUT. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE NEEDED LATE THIS AFTERNOON OR THIS EVENING.
The Northeast Alabama radar (KHTX), 110 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 03:16 UTC.
19 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.
Numerous trees were reported down in Pikeville. Also, doors were blown off of buildings in the area.
Numerous trees were reported down across the county.
Trees were reported down at 6218 South Route 297 in Pioneer.
Several trees were reported down across the county.
Several trees were reported down across the county.
From 1045 to 1055 pm, Trees were reported down county across the county between 1045 and 1055 pm est.
Trees and power lines were reported down county wide.
Numerous trees were reported down across the eastern third of the county.
Numerous trees were reported down in Marlow.
Several trees were reported down in the Clairfield area.
Numerous trees were reported down across the county.
Numerous trees and power lines down county wide.
One tree was reported down in Blaine.
One tree was reported down on Lone Road seven miles west southwest of Sneedville.
Between 1145 pm and 1200 am, more than 50 trees were reported down. Also, numerous power lines were downed across the county.
One tree was reported down in Bean Station.
A 40 foot tall tree was reported down across Alpha Valley Home Road near Nelson School Road.
Between 1215 and 1225 am, numerous trees were reported down county wide. Roof and porch damage also was reported.
Between 105 and 110 am, numerous trees were reported down county wide.
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: 67978, 67980, 67982, 67983, 67984, 67985, 67987, 67989, 67995, 68008, 68010, 68013, 68016, 68018, 68020, 68021, 68022, 68023, 68024.