As a cold front approached and moved through Middle Tennessee during the morning through late evening hours, the atmosphere became increasingly unstable. With the aid of daytime heating and passage of upper level disturbances, thunderstorms developed across the mid state as a result.
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 OHX wrote it up.
As a cold front approached and moved through Middle Tennessee during the morning through late evening hours, the atmosphere became increasingly unstable. With the aid of daytime heating and passage of upper level disturbances, thunderstorms developed across the mid state as a result. Some of these thunderstorms produced damaging thunderstorm winds, heavy rainfall resulting in flash flooding, and lightning damage.
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 Jul 15, 1:05 PM CST, 59 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NASHVILLE TN 205 PM CDT WED JUL 15 2009 .DISCUSSION... EXPECT SCATTERED SHOWERS/TSTMS THROUGH THE AFTERNOON ESPECIALLY PLATEAU AND ACROSS NORTHERN MIDDLE TN. OUTFLOW BOUNDARY HAS PULLED UP NEAR KY/TN BORDER WITH NEW DEVELOPMENT BEGINNING TO FIRE IN THE LAND BETWEEN THE LAKES AREA. THERE IS GOOD WARM ADVECTION FROM THE SOUTHWEST RUNNING UP AGAINST THE BOUNDARY. MID-LEVEL LAPSE RATES ARE WEAK ACROSS WESTERN MIDDLE TN AT THIS TIME. INSTABILITY CONTINUES TO INCREASE THIS AFTERNOON ACROSS WESTERN MIDDLE TENNESSEE AND BACK ACROSS WEST TENNESSEE INTO EASTERN ARKANSAS. COLD FRONT AT MID-AFTERNOON EXTENDS FROM LAKE MICHIGAN DOWN THROUGH CENTRAL ILLINOIS AND ACROSS CENTRAL MISSOURI INTO NORTH CENTRAL OKLAHOMA. EXPECT FRONT TO WORK DOWN INTO WESTERN KY BY DAYBREAK AS WEAK LOW MOVES UP THE FRONT. BELIEVE WE WILL SEE THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY HERE IN MIDDLE TN IN THE OVERNIGHT HOURS ESPECIALLY WEST OF INTERSTATE 65. FRONTAL BOUNDARY STALLS ACROSS MIDDLE TN THURSDAY INTO FRIDAY SO EXPECT SHOWERS/TSTMS WITH SOME LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL POSSIBLE. DEEP UPPER LOW OVER THE GREAT LAKES REGION WILL KEEP MID STATE IN UPPER TROUGH THROUGH THE WEEKEND AND A GOOD PART OF THE UPCOMING WORK WEEK. THIS WILL KEEPS TEMPS BELOW SEASONAL NORMALS BEGINNING WITH SATURDAY AND CONTINUING THROUGH ABOUT MID WEEK. RECORD LOWS COULD BE APPROACHED SUNDAY...MONDAY AND TUESDAY MORNINGS. && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... NASHVILLE 73 86 69 86 / 60 60 40 40 CLARKSVILLE 71 85 68 84 / 60 60 40 30 CROSSVILLE 67 81 65 82 / 50 60 40 40 COLUMBIA 72 88 70 86 / 60 60 40 40 LAWRENCEBURG 72 89 71 86 / 50 60 40 40 WAVERLY 71 86 69 85 / 60 60 40 30 && .OHX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... NONE. && BOYD
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NASHVILLE TN 215 PM CDT WED JUL 15 2009 TNZ005>011-022>034-056>066-075-077>080-093>095-161130- 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- 215 PM CDT WED JUL 15 2009 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR MIDDLE TENNESSEE. .DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT THE STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS PLACED MOST MIDDLE TENNESSEE IN A SLIGHT RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS. STRONG TO SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ARE POSSIBLE ACROSS AREA DURING THE AFTERNOON AND EVENING HOURS. THE MAIN HAZARD WITH ANY SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE DAMAGING WINDS...LARGE HAIL AND HEAVY DOWNPOURS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY THERE IS AN INCREASED CHANCE OF STRONG TO SEVERE WEATHER AGAIN THURSDAY AND THURSDAY NIGHT...AS A COLD FRONT MOVES INTO THE REGION. SEVERE STORMS COULD PRODUCE INTENSE RAINFALL...WIND GUSTS TO 60 MPH AND LARGE HAIL. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE REQUIRED TODAY INTO THIS EVENING...AND AGAIN THURSDAY AFTERNOON AND EARLY THURSDAY EVENING. 72/MED
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NASHVILLE TN 158 PM CDT WED JUL 15 2009 TNZ005>007-152000- MONTGOMERY-ROBERTSON-STEWART- 158 PM CDT WED JUL 15 2009 ...STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WILL AFFECT PARTS OF MONTGOMERY...ROBERTSON AND STEWART COUNTIES... AT 154 PM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR WAS TRACKING A CLUSTER OF THUNDERSTORMS...SOME STRONG...IN THE LAND BETWEEN THE LAKES AREA. THESE STORMS ARE MOVING EAST SOUTHEAST AT 15 MPH...AND WILL LIKELY AFFECT AREAS BETWEEN DOVER...CLARKSVILLE...AND SPRINGFIELD BY 300 PM THE STRONGER STORMS WILL PRODUCE BRIEF HEAVY DOWNPOURS...WIND GUSTS OF 30 TO 40 MPH...DANGEROUS LIGHTNING STRIKES...AND POSSIBLY SMALL HAIL. 19
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NASHVILLE TN 244 PM CDT WED JUL 15 2009 TNZ005-006-152045- MONTGOMERY-STEWART- 244 PM CDT WED JUL 15 2009 ...A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING CONTINUES FOR WESTERN AND CENTRAL MONTGOMERY COUNTY UNTIL 330 PM... ...A LINE OF STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WILL ALSO AFFECT STEWART COUNTY BETWEEN NOW AND 330 PM... AT 238 PM CDT...A LINE OF STRONG THUNDERSTORMS EXTENDED FROM JUST NORTH OF CLARKSVILLE...TO DOVER...AND WAS MOVING EAST SOUTHEAST AT 15 MPH. THESE STORMS WILL PRODUCE FREQUENT...AND DANGEROUS...LIGHTNING...BRIEF WIND GUSTS TO 30 TO 40 MPH...HEAVY DOWNPOURS...AND POSSIBLY HAIL. 19
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
5 thunderstorm wind, 5 flash flood, 2 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.
Several trees were downed.
Dozens of trees were blown down across Northern Dickson County. Franklin Road east of Charlotte was still blocked by fallen trees the next morning.
A tree was downed.
A tree was downed.
Trees were downed county wide.
Numerous secondary roads were closed and several roads were washed out across|southern portions of the county.
Minor creek flooding was reported over roads throughout the county.
Flash flooding reported at several locations across the county. State Highway 42 was impassible along southern portions of the county. Oak Street in Livingston was closed due to flooding.
Newspaper reported the following information. A section of Windle Community Road was left rippled and broken away after the flash flood in that area caused a small creek to swell and flow over the road. A large travel trailer was marked by emergency management officials after flood waters carried it approximately 300 feet from a residence on the other side of East Howard Road. Masters Road had extensive damage near two culverts where flood waters washed the road away. A 25 foot section of Bilbrery Road was missing after being washed out. Sink hole developed|on Thursday, July 16th on Fair Street. Water gushed over the spillway at Livingston City Lake, and the nearby bridge on Old Highway 42 was underwater for a time. A car was submerged under flood waters off West Volunteer Drive as the road collapsed, leading to the rescue of a man and women who were in the car and had to cling to a tree until they could be pulled away from the flooded waters. Neither was seriously injured. Several homes were damaged from flooding. Extent of damage to homes unknown.
Total maximum rainfall amount reported to the National Weather Service Office in Old Hickory was 8.9 inches.
Overton County 911 Center was damaged by a direct lightning strike which caused a power surge and did major damage to the operations center.
Norris Body Shop was destroyed when it was struck by lightning.
South Willow Avenue and Spring Street were under water.
Several city streets in Celina were flooded as well as a few secondary roads off State Highway 53 south of Celina.
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, July 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: 187003, 187085, 187086, 187087, 187088, 186997, 186998, 187209, 187214, 187215, 187001, 187002.