A cold front moved into the region later in the evening when instability was weak creating only isolated convection.
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.
A cold front moved into the region later in the evening when instability was weak creating only isolated convection.
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 8, 9:30 PM CST, 15 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MORRISTOWN TN 1030 PM EST TUE JAN 8 2008 .DISCUSSION...COLD FRONT APPROACHING THE AREA TODAY. MAIN RAIN BAND NOT EXPECTED TO PUSH IN UNTIL THIS EVENING. HOWEVER...MAY SEE A FEW ISOLATED SHOWERS OUT AHEAD DURING THE AFTERNOON. OF CONCERN FOR THIS AFTERNOON WILL BE INCREASING WINDS AT THE HIGH ELEVATIONS. STRONG 850MB JET WILL BE OVER THE REGION TODAY AND COULD SEE WINDS REACH INTO ADVISORY LEVEL MAINLY OVER EASTERN MOUNTAINS. WILL UPDATE ZONE PACK LATE MORNING TO INCREASE WINDS...ALL ELSE LOOKS GOOD IN FORECAST. && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... CHATTANOOGA AIRPORT, TN 70 46 61 46 65 / 30 90 10 50 80 KNOXVILLE AIRPORT, TN 69 49 58 44 62 / 20 90 10 50 80 OAK RIDGE, TN 67 47 58 43 60 / 20 90 10 50 80 TRI CITIES AIRPORT, TN 68 47 56 35 57 / 10 90 20 30 80 && .MRX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... NC...NONE. TN...NONE. VA...NONE. && MJB
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MORRISTOWN TN 357 AM EST TUE JAN 8 2008 NCZ060-061-TNZ012>018-035>047-067>074-081>087-098>102-VAZ001-002- 005-006-008-090900- 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- 357 AM EST TUE JAN 8 2008 /257 AM CST TUE JAN 8 2008/ THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF SOUTHWEST NORTH CAROLINA...EAST TENNESSEE AND SOUTHWEST VIRGINIA. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT A STRONG LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM WILL APPROACH THE SOUTHERN APPALACHIAN REGION FROM THE WEST TODAY AND TONIGHT. SOME STRONG WINDS CAN BE EXPECTED AHEAD OF THIS SYSTEM LATE THIS AFTERNOON AND THIS EVENING ACROSS THE HIGHER ELEVATIONS. A COLD FRONT WILL MOVE ACROSS THE AREA LATER TONIGHT...BRINGING SHOWERS AND A CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS. STRONG WINDS ALOFT COULD BE BROUGHT DOWN TO THE SURFACE BY THE THUNDERSTORMS...AND PRODUCE LOCALLY STRONG WIND GUSTS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY ANOTHER STRONG LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM WILL AFFECT THE AREA ON THURSDAY AND THURSDAY NIGHT. GUSTY WINDS AHEAD OF THE SYSTEM WILL AGAIN BE POSSIBLE...ALONG WITH A CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS. AT THIS TIME THERE DOES APPEAR TO BE A POTENTIAL FOR SOME SEVERE WEATHER. STAY TUNED TO LATER FORECASTS AND OUTLOOKS FOR MORE DETAILS AND INFORMATION. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE NEEDED TONIGHT AND AGAIN ON THURSDAY.
The Northeast Alabama radar (KHTX), 78 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 03:45 UTC.
1 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.
A few trees were reported down on West Valley Road.
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: 67956.