Convection developed in isolated fashion across Southeast Tennessee during the mid to late afternoon hours. Dry air aloft and in the lowest levels of the atmosphere led to strong down burst winds across this region.
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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.
Convection developed in isolated fashion across Southeast Tennessee during the mid to late afternoon hours. Dry air aloft and in the lowest levels of the atmosphere led to strong down burst winds across this region.
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 31, 12:53 PM EST, 37 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MORRISTOWN TN 153 PM EDT THU JUL 31 2008 .AVIATION...SCATTERED CONVECTION WILL CONTINUE OVER THE REGION THROUGH THE AFTERNOON. THIS WILL ALLOW FOR THE POTENTIAL FOR OCCASIONAL TSRA AND MVFR CONDITIONS OVER TAF SITES THROUGH 00Z. CONVECTION WILL EXIT THE AREA FOR MAINLY VFR CONDITIONS OVERNIGHT. SOME PATCHY FOG FORMATION IS POSSIBLE BETWEEN 08Z AND 12Z...CAUSING LOCALIZED MVFR CONDITIONS. THEN...VFR THROUGH THE REST OF THE TAF PERIOD. && .MRX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... NC...NONE. TN...NONE. VA...NONE. && MJB
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...UPDATED NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MORRISTOWN TN 1000 AM EDT THU JUL 31 2008 NCZ060-061-TNZ012>018-035>047-067>074-081>087-098>102-VAZ001-002- 005-006-008-011000- 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- 1000 AM EDT (900 AM CDT) THU JUL 31 2008 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR EAST TENNESSEE...SOUTHWEST VIRGINIA AND EXTREME SOUTHWEST NORTH CAROLINA. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT AN UPPER-LEVEL DISTURBANCE WILL MOVE ACROSS THE REGION TODAY... PRODUCING SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS. SOME OF THESE STORMS MAY BECOME SEVERE THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING...BRINGING DAMAGING WINDS...LARGE HAIL...FREQUENT CLOUD TO GROUND LIGHTNING...AND LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE NEEDED THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING.
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MORRISTOWN TN 127 PM EDT THU JUL 31 2008 TNZ101-102-311830- EAST POLK-WEST POLK- 127 PM EDT THU JUL 31 2008 ...STRONG THUNDERSTORM WILL AFFECT POLK COUNTY THROUGH 230 PM... AT 123 PM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR WAS TRACKING A STRONG THUNDERSTORM NEAR BENTON...MOVING EAST AROUND 25 MPH. WINDS UP TO 40 MPH...SMALL HAIL...AND LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL WILL BE POSSIBLE WITH THIS STORM. IN ADDITION TO SMALL HAIL AND GUSTY WINDS...FREQUENT CLOUD TO GROUND LIGHTNING IS OCCURRING WITH THIS STORM. MOVE INDOORS IMMEDIATELY LIGHTNING IS ONE OF NATURES PRIMARY KILLERS. REMEMBER...IF YOU CAN HEAR THUNDER...YOU ARE CLOSE ENOUGH TO BE STRUCK BY LIGHTNING. DMG
The Knoxville radar (KMRX), 99 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 18:31 UTC.
3 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.
One tree was reported down on a power line in the Stockton Valley area.
Trees and power lines were reported down in the Walden area and five miles southeast of Shady Grove on Sims Road.
Trees and power lines were reported down from Signal Mountain east to Hixson Pike.
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, 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: 129875, 129877, 129878.