A boundary across the area brought scattered severe thunderstorms during the afternoon and evening hours in east Tennessee. Storm reports contained both damaging thunderstorm winds and large hail.
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 boundary across the area brought scattered severe thunderstorms during the afternoon and evening hours in east Tennessee. Storm reports contained both damaging thunderstorm winds and large hail.
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 Aug 4, 2:20 PM EST, 55 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MORRISTOWN TN 320 PM EDT TUE AUG 4 2009 .SHORT TERM (TUESDAY NIGHT THROUGH THURSDAY)...RELATIVELY ACTIVE PATTERN EXPECTED THROUGH THE 24 HOUR PERIOD WITH THUNDERSTORM COMPLEXES BUILDING SOUTHEAST THROUGH THE MIDWEST STATES TOWARD THE SOUTHERN APPALACHIANS. ATMOSPHERE BECOMING MODERATELY UNSTABLE ACROSS THE FORECAST AREA WITH SCATTERED CONVECTION POPPING MAINLY ON THE MAJOR TERRAIN FEATURES WITH BETTER COVERAGE ACROSS SOUTHWEST VIRGINIA WHERE OUTFLOW BOUNDARY FROM FAST MOVING OHIO VALLEY MCS. NAM/GFS DIDNT SEEM TO QUITE MODEL ALL THIS MIDWEST ACTION CORRECTLY WHICH LEADS TO SOME DIFFICULTY WITH THE FORECAST PROCESS. BANKING ON SCATTERED CONVECTION SOUTH WITH HIGHER PROBABILITIES NORTH IN ASSOCIATION WITH OUTFLOW BOUNDARY FROM MAJOR LEAGUE OHIO VALLEY MCS LIKELY BUILDING INTO THE NORTHERN HALF OF THE VIEWING AREA. CRANKED UP THE POPS AGAIN LATER TONIGHT INTO WEDNESDAY WITH POSSIBILITY OF YET ANOTHER MCS DEVELOPING TO THE WEST AND DRIVING EAST SOUTHEAST ACROSS MRX CWFA. TWEAKED TEMPS ONLY SLIGHTLY OFF GUIDANCE THROUGH THE PERIOD. .LONG TERM...(THURSDAY NIGHT THROUGH TUESDAY)...WEAK IMPULSE MAY BRING SOME MID LEVEL CLOUDS ACROSS SW VA/NE TN ON SAT. OTHERWISE...UPPER RIDGE BUILDS IN FROM THE SW BECOMING CENTERED OVER SOUTHERN APPALACHIANS/ N GA ON SUNDAY. SIGNIFICANT HEIGHT RISES WITH TEMPS EXPECTED TO CLIMB TO ABOVE CLIMO. HIGHS IN THE 90S WILL BE COMMON OUTSIDE THE MOUNTAINS. ISOLATED TSTMS LIMITED TO AFTN HEATING/OROGRAPHIC LIFT. UPPER RIDGE BEGINS TO RETROGRADE ON MONDAY AS UPPER TROF SLIDES INTO THE OH VALLEY. INCREASED PCPN CHC RETURNS LATE IN PERIOD IN ASSOCIATION WITH COLD FRONT. && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... CHATTANOOGA AIRPORT, TN 72 89 69 90 70 / 50 50 30 20 20 KNOXVILLE MCGHEE TYSON AIRPORT, TN 69 86 67 89 68 / 60 60 30 20 20 OAK RIDGE, TN 69 85 68 89 68 / 60 60 30 20 20 TRI CITIES AIRPORT, TN 65 84 64 85 63 / 60 60 30 20 20 && .MRX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... NC...NONE. TN...NONE. VA...NONE. &&
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MORRISTOWN TN 500 AM EDT TUE AUG 4 2009 NCZ060-061-TNZ012>018-035>047-067>074-081>087-098>102-VAZ001-002- 005-006-008-051000- 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- 500 AM EDT (400 AM CDT) TUE AUG 4 2009 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR EAST TENNESSEE...SOUTHWEST VIRGINIA AND EXTREME SOUTHWEST NORTH CAROLINA. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT UPPER-LEVEL DISTURBANCES WILL MOVE ACROSS THE REGION THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT...PRODUCING SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS. SOME STORMS MAY BECOME SEVERE THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT...BRINGING THE POSSIBILITY OF DAMAGING WINDS...LARGE HAIL...LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL AND CLOUD TO GROUND LIGHTNING. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY A WEAK COLD FRONT WILL SETTLE INTO THE OHIO RIVER VALLEY ON WEDNESDAY...AND BECOME STATIONARY NEAR THE SOUTHERN APPALACHIAN REGION THROUGH THE WEEKEND. AS AS RESULT...THERE WILL BE A CHANCE FOR SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS EACH DAY INTO THE WEEKEND...WITH A FEW STORMS POSSIBLY BECOMING SEVERE EACH AFTERNOON AND EVENING. THE MAIN THREATS WILL BE THE POSSIBILITY OF DAMAGING WINDS...LARGE HAIL... LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL AND CLOUD TO GROUND LIGHTNING. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE NEEDED THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT. DMG
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MORRISTOWN TN 254 PM EDT TUE AUG 4 2009 TNZ014-015-VAZ001-042000- CLAIBORNE-HANCOCK-LEE- 254 PM EDT TUE AUG 4 2009 ...A STRONG THUNDERSTORM WILL BE AFFECTING CLAIBORNE...HANCOCK AND LEE COUNTIES... AT 253 PM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR WAS TRACKING A STRONG THUNDERSTORM NEAR FERNDALE...MOVING EAST AT 15 MPH. PEA SIZE HAIL...AND WINDS 30 TO 40 MPH ARE EXPECTED 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 ASSOCIATED WITH THUNDERSTORMS. REMEMBER...IF YOU CAN HEAR THUNDER...YOU ARE CLOSE ENOUGH TO BE STRUCK BY LIGHTNING. DH
The Knoxville radar (KMRX), 106 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 20:15 UTC.
13 thunderstorm wind, 3 hail. Local standard time, as filed.
Law enforcement officials reported a few trees downed by thunderstorm winds in and around Oneida.
Law enforcement officials reported a few trees downed by thunderstorm winds countywide.
Law enforcement officials reported a few trees downed by thunderstorm winds along Highway 25W northeast of La Follette.
Law enforcement officials reported one tree downed by thunderstorm winds in Sharps Chapel.
Law enforcement officials reported numerous trees downed by thunderstorm winds from Sharps Chapel to Maynardville.
Law enforcement officials reported one tree downed by thunderstorm winds in Luttrell.
A trained spotter reported two trees downed by thunderstorm winds in Rutledge.
Law enforcement personnel reported a few trees downed by thunderstorm winds countywide.
Law enforcement officials reported one tree downed by thunderstorm winds south of Clinton.
The public reported nickle-size hail fell from a thunderstorm west of Oliver Springs.
Newspaper reporters reported numerous trees and powerlines downed by thunderstorm winds on Beth Drive in Russellville. A tree fell on a vehicle. The winds also damaged a roofs on a few homes.
Law enforcement officials reported a few trees downed by thunderstorm winds near Harriman Highway northeast of Harriman.
A trained spotter reported quarter-size hail fell from a thunderstorm at the corner of Liberty Street and Western Avenue in Knoxville.
An amateur radio operator reported quarter-size hail fell from a thunderstorm at Denson Avenue in Knoxville.
Law enforcement officials reported numerous trees downed by thunderstorm winds countywide.
The local newspaper reported a few trees downed by thunderstorm winds in Athens along with scattered power outages.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Tennessee in 2009Every state in 2009This day in weather historyWarnings in Tennessee, August 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: 187851, 187852, 187853, 187855, 187857, 187858, 187860, 192179, 187861, 187876, 187877, 187879, 187880, 187881, 187882, 194425.