A line of showers and thunderstorms,ahead of an approaching surface front and upper level trough, moved west to east from the southwest during the early afternoon hours through the late evening hours. Some of these thunderstorms were severe, and caused a tornado in Davidson County and flash flooding across mainly western portions of Middle Tennessee.
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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 OHX wrote it up.
A line of showers and thunderstorms,ahead of an approaching surface front and upper level trough, moved west to east from the southwest during the early afternoon hours through the late evening hours. Some of these thunderstorms were severe, and caused a tornado in Davidson County and flash flooding across mainly western portions of Middle Tennessee.
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 Apr 2, 9:53 AM CST, 2 hours 37 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NASHVILLE TN 1053 AM CDT THU APR 2 2009 .UPDATE... LATEST ANALYSIS SHOWING TIGHT SFC LOW ACROSS SOUTHEAST OK...WITH UPPER LOW JUST BEHIND. TEMPS AND DEWPTS RISING FAIRLY RAPIDLY THIS MORNING ACROSS THE CWA...WITH DEWPTS NOW IN THE MID 50S TO NEAR 60. CONVECTION AHEAD OF SYSTEM ALREADY APPROACHING THE MS RIVER. SFC/UPPER LOW EXPECTED TO PULL NORTHEAST TODAY AND MOVE JUST NORTH OF THE CWA TONIGHT. AIRMASS AHEAD WILL BECOME INCREASING UNSTABLE THIS AFTERNOON AND SHWRS/TSTMS ARE EXPECTED TO WIDESPREAD INTO LATE DAY. SEVERE POTENTIAL REMAINS FAVORABLE AS SHEAR AND UVV INCREASE AS WIND FIELDS TIGHTEN. WILL RAISE TEMPS SLIGHTLY FOR STRONG WARMING AHEAD OF COLD FRONT AND MOVE SEVERE POTENTIAL LITTLE FURTHER EAST WITH CONVECTION ALREADY NEARING MEM. && .OHX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...NONE. && 07
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NASHVILLE TN 541 AM CDT THU APR 2 2009 TNZ005>011-022>034-056>066-075-077>080-093>095-031045- STEWART-MONTGOMERY-ROBERTSON-SUMNER-MACON-CLAY-PICKETT-BENTON- HOUSTON-HUMPHREYS-DICKSON-CHEATHAM-DAVIDSON-WILSON-TROUSDALE- SMITH-JACKSON-PUTNAM-OVERTON-FENTRESS-PERRY-HICKMAN-LEWIS- WILLIAMSON-MAURY-MARSHALL-RUTHERFORD-CANNON-DEKALB-WHITE- CUMBERLAND-BEDFORD-COFFEE-WARREN-GRUNDY-VAN BUREN-WAYNE-LAWRENCE- GILES- 541 AM CDT THU APR 2 2009 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR MIDDLE TENNESSEE. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT A STRONG SPRING STORM IS MOVING OUT OF THE PLAINS. A COMBINATION OF FAVORABLE THERMODYNAMIC FACTORS AND LOW LEVEL WIND SHEAR WILL PRODUCE A CHANCE OF SEVERE STORMS OVER THE MIDSTATE DURING THE AFTERNOON AND EVENING. THE HEAVIEST STORMS WILL LIKELY ENTER THE WESTERN MIDSTATE IN THE AFTERNOON AND MOVE ACROSS THE AREA DURING THE AFTERNOON AND EVENING HOURS. THE MOST COMMON THREAT WILL BE DAMAGING HAIL AND WINDS. A FEW TORNADOES ARE ALSO POSSIBLE. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY ANOTHER COLD FRONT WILL ENTER THE MIDSTATE ON SUNDAY WITH SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS ALONG AND AHEAD OF THE FRONT. THESE STORMS ARE UNLIKELY TO REACH SEVERE LEVELS. A GOOD PUNCH OF COLD AIR BEHIND THE FRONT IS EXPECTED WITH SCATTERED SNOW SHOWERS IN THE CUMBERLAND PLATEAU. NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER AND EMERGENCY MANAGER ACTIVATION IS LIKELY THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING. JLM
The Nashville radar (KOHX), 85 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 18:27 UTC.
10 flash flood, 2 thunderstorm wind, 1 funnel cloud, 1 tornado. Local standard time, as filed.
Maury County Park was flooded.
Funnel Clould was reported northwest of Ashland City.
Flooding was reported on Chapel Road.
An EF1 Tornado with maximum estimated wind speed around 90 to 100 mph touched down in the Nashville Metro Area.
The tornado touched down south of Briley Parkway and Murfreesboro |Pike, where it caused minor damage to houses and downed several|trees. As the tornado crossed Murfreesboro Pike and it damaged several |businesses, some significantly. The tornado continued north and |caused minor damage to houses and downed trees, some very large,|then crossed Interstate 40 west of Briley Parkway and lifted near Elm Hill Pike. The path length of the tornado was almost two miles, and the maximum width was 50 to 100 yards wide. One minor injury was reported but no additional information was provided. Additional details provided by the public, trained spotters, and amateur radio included |2 overturned semi-trucks at Interstate 40 and Briley Parkway and at 1204 Murfreesboro Road roof damage to a building with 20 to 30 cars damaged in the parking lot. A newspaper reported an exterior wall collapsed onto a car at Bridgestone Firestone Tire Store, with two large power lines snapped and leaning over Murfreesboro Road and tires were tossed more than 300 yards.
Numerous large trees down at Kippling, Woodbury, Harold Drives in Donelson. 1,000 customers were without power for several hours.
Flash flooding reported near Centennial Park with water over wheel wells of cars. Newspaper also reported that manhole covers popped off because of the force of water and police closed a few streets because of flooding in the surrounding areas.
Four inches of water was reported on roads around Legion Park in Columbia. A newspaper report stated that the storm also flooded at least two campers and blew over several tents at the park.
Several roads were washed out in the northern end of the county.
Flooding was reported on U.S. Highway 64.
Street flash flooding was reported in Donelson.
A newspaper reported that a spokeswomen with the Davidson County Office of Emergency Management said that the roof was blown off an Internal Revenue Service Building and the building had significant water damage.
Storm spotters reported several roads covered with water in Manchester and Hillsboro.
Two cars were towed from low water crossing bridge in Summertown.
In the west end of the county, 6 to 10 inches of water over Highway 52 West and several inches of water over Highway 53 South.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Tennessee in 2009Every state in 2009This day in weather historyThe tornado archive for Tennessee, 2009Warnings in Tennessee, April 2009
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: 165610, 165330, 165604, 165305, 165802, 165817, 165645, 165556, 165665, 165823, 165831, 165641, 165562, 165565.